Mary’s crash out of running
and a third point from Murphy were countered by another Atkinson double as Bunclody took a comfortable 2-5 to 0-4 lead in at the changearound. It was soon padded further by scores from Kelly and Atkinson after the re-start.
David Murphy and Tiarnan Rossiter would be the only scorers of a half playing with the wind for Rosslare. They both registered to pull their side within seven before Kevin Dunne was sent-off for abusive language towards match official Eric Molloy.
A flashpoint that saw Bryan O’Hara suffering a nasty jaw injury stopped the game for several minutes. The incident happened behind play, meaning anybody that was following the ball couldn’t have seen it.
No action was taken which didn’t satisfy several completely out of line Bunclody personnel who harangued the referee at full-time.
Trailing by 2-9 to 0-7, Tiarnan Rossiter caught David Murphy’s pass in stride, drove at goal and sent a stunning shot to the top corner of Patrick Kavanagh’s net. However, Conor Kinsella netted in added-time after a fantastic team move to ensure Rosslare never got closer to a qualified Bunclody than five points. A LATE scoring blast propelled Craanford to a seven-point victory over a battling St. Patrick’s in this tense Joyces Expert Intermediate ‘A’ football championship Group A game in Farmleigh on Sunday.
It was an extraordinary finish, as just two points separated the sides (1-9 to 0-10) as the game entered the closing five minutes.
St. Patrick’s were down to 14 players, having had centre-back Dermot O’Leary dismissed on a second yellow card after 39 minutes, but they had battled their way back into contention after the game seemed to have earlier slipped from their grasp when they trailed by six points at the end of the third quarter.
As the game approached the end of the normal 60 minutes, a free-for-all developed under the stand involving a number of players, who were joined by substitutes from the St. Patrick’s bench, as mentors tried to separate the warring factions.
Referee Francis Neville brandished a red card to Tony Kavanagh (Craanford), in my view a case of mistaken identity which no doubt will be the subject of appeal, and Tommy Morris (St. Patrick’s), leaving the Camolin side to finish with 13 players.
In the five minutes of additional time, Craanford struck for 1-2, with the goal coming from corner-forward Ger Lyons, ensuring their place in the quarter-finals, while for St. Patrick’s their football season is over.
Through the opening 30 minutes little separated the sides, at the end of which Craanford led by 1-4 to 0-5, their goal arriving from a 19th-minute Pat Murray penalty which gave them a 1-2 to 0-3 lead.
Their earlier two points had also come from Murray frees, while Ashley Tully, Thomas Morris and John Doyle responded with St. Patrick’s points.
Craanford opened the second-half with quickfire points from Murray, Jamesie Nolan and John Fleming to stretch into a 1-7 to 0-5 lead.
Then came the dismissal of O’Leary, with a Ger Lyons point increasing the pressure, leaving the eventual winners leading by 1-9 to 0-6 at the end of the third quarter.
St. Patrick’s raised their game, responding with points through John Doyle (two, one free), Tomás Morris (free) and Stephen Morris, reducing the deficit to two points (1-9 to 0-10) with just five minutes remaining.
Then came that dramatic finish which led to Craanford grasping their opportunities to propel them into the knockout stages.