O Raghallaighs have no answer to Geraldines’ second-half blitz
Martin in the Blues goal.
The Blues countered straight away with a lighting quick move which ended up in the hands of Conor Brannigan who slotted the ball over the bar to seal a deserved quarter final spot for the Drogheda side. The Dreadnots will now face a do or die clash with Kilkerley Emmets to try and follow the Blues into the last eight.
NEWTOWN BLUES: Dean Martin, Niall Costello, Fergal Donohue, Ronan Levins, Kevin Carr, Cormac Reynolds, Paul Moore, Andrew McDonnell, John Kermode, Conor Moore 0-1, Colm Judge, Robert Carr 0-1, Ciaran Downey 0-4, Ross Nally 0-3, Conor Branigan 0-5. Subs: Hugh McGinn for Andy McDonnell.
DREADNOTS: Kenneth Shevlin, Brian Gargan, Padraig Rath, Derek Shevlin, Barry Faulkner 0-1, David O’Brien, Dermot Campbell, James Califf 0-7 (6f), Cian McEvoy, Pat Lynch 0-1, Darragh Shevlin, Liam Shevlin, Peter Kirwan 0-1, Richard Kirwan, Carl Monaghan. Subs: Paraic Smith for Carl Monaghan, Fergal McGuigan for Richard Kirwan. Carl Monaghan of Dreadnots and Ronan Levins of Newtown Blues tussle for possession on Friday at the Gaelic Grounds. GERALDINES charted a safe course to the quarter-finals on Saturday night, but there was a bit of early turbulence for Eamon McEneaney’s side to negotiate at The Grove.
Three black cards kept the former Louth boss and his selectors on their toes and when the sides adjourned all square at the interval, it looked like it might be a tricky enough evening.
But they eventually picked up where they left off in a devastating final 10 minutes against St Pat’s in round one, and when they did, O Raghallaigh’s just had no answer.
It looked like it would be all one-way traffic when the Gers cruised into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead.
Gerard Hoey opened the scoring and Jim McEneaney was dead-eyed over freekicks, but O Raghallaigh’s managed to find some traction as county man Ruairi Moore rose to the challenge.
The Drogheda men managed to draw level at the break, 0-7 apiece, but they suffered a hammer blow after the re-start when Ciaran Brassil was dismissed by Stephen Murphy.
Even before that Geraldines looked to have too much firepower with Shane O’Hanlon and Glen Trainor, back from suspension, posing a big threat in the top line, while McEneaney pulled ths trings from deeper.
The lightning quick Josh Arrowsmith also lived up to his name, piercing through the O Raghalaigh’s cover with some superb runs.
And the Gers slowly turned the screw on their 14-man opponents with O’Hanlon and Trainor on song from play and McEneneay adding to the damage from frees.
Barry Flanagan’s flicked goal gave O Raghallaigh’s some fleeting hope around the three-quarter mark, but just as they did in their opening game against the Pat’s, the Gers found another gear.
As the points sailed over, even Nicky Mackin and Paul Clarke got in on the act with rare scores.
By the finish the Gers were cruising and it’s next stop the quarter-finals, where the came Geraldines’ Nicky Mackin reaches highest against O Raghallaigh’s Graham Mulroy. Pictures: Aidan Dullaghan
a cropper last year to eventual champions Sean O’Mahony’s.
O Raghallaigh’s face St Pat’s back at the Grove on Sunday evening with the winners also advancing to the last eight, and the losers to the relegation play-offs. GERALDINES: Sean McEneaney; Kevin Pepper, Gareth Neacy, Paul Clarke 0-1; Jack Traynor, Gerard Hoey 0-1, Robert Lynch; Nicky Mackin 0-1, Paddy Hoey; Josh Arrowsmith 0-2, Jim McEneaney 0-10 (8f), Matt Corcoran 0-1; Neil Jones, Shane O’Hanlon 0-3, Glen Trainor 0-4. Subs:
Tiarnan Hand for K Pepper (BC 12), Killian Dempsey for N Jones (48), S Thornton for R Lynch (53), Andrew Lynch for T Hand (BC 55), R Lynch for J Traynor (BC 59).
O’RAGHALLAIGH’S: Joe Flanagan; Tomas Callan, Ciaran Brassil, Stephen Kermode; Eoin Moore; Chris Smith, Sean Grennan; Robert Mulroy, James Moonan; Andrew Rogan, Barry Flanagan 1-2, Ruairi Moore 0-4 (3f); Alan Doyle 0-1, Ben Rogan 0-3 (2f), Eoin Morrison. Subs: John Mathews for S Kermode (35), Stephen Murphy for E Morrison (39), Dean Byrne for A Rogan (47), Damien Boyle for S Grennan (53), Jack Carr for J Moonan (56).
REFEREE: Stephen Murphy.