Castletown advance to knockout stage
CASTLETOWN SHRUGGED off a determined Marshalstown-Castledockrell challenge to eventually emerge with a four-point victory in this Enniscorthy Farm Systems Junior football championship Group B game at Monageer on Saturday.
Castletown always looked the more likely side to win, but given that they had little to play for one must credit Marshalstown-Castledockrell for a battling display which saw them remain in contention until the closing stages.
The superior forward power of the eventual winners got them over the line, securing a quarter-final spot in the process.
Two Diarmuid Kinsella points, one from a free, saw Castletown open impressively, while one had to wait until the 18th minute for Marshalstown-Castledockrell’s opening score, a Michael Kehoe point.
Two minutes later a further Kehoe point had the sides level, but when Robbie Brooks got on the end of a Diarmuid Kinsella lobbing ball to punch to the net, it gave Castletown a 1-2 to 0-2 lead after 21 minutes, and they went on to a 1-5 to 0-3 interval lead.
While a Robbie Brooks point within five minutes of the re-start extended his side’s lead, Marshalstown-Castledockrell enjoyed their best spell, producing two points from substitute Colm Quigley.
After Kevin Morris and Frank Kelly (free) exchanged points, the sides struggled for scores in the closing ten minutes, with Mitch Jordan and Marc Halpin swapping points as Castletown moved on to victory and a place in the quarter-finals.
Castletown: Darragh Brooks; George Sunderland, Paul Nugent, Conor Cleary; Marc Halpin (0-1), Risteárd Kinsella, Danny Dixon; Michael O’Donoghue, Aaron Condren (0-1); Robbie Brooks (1-2), Kevin Morris (0-1), Seán Roche; Shane Halpin, Diarmuid Kinsella (0-3, 1 free), Ryan Murphy. Subs. -Oisín Condren for Murphy, Jimmy Fogarty for S. Halpin.
Marshalstown-Castledockrell: Eoin Bennett; Tom Bennett, Michael Kinsella, Richard Ormonde; Colm Bennett, Johnny Frayne, Mark Kehoe; Michael Kelly, Michael Morris; Michael Kehoe (0-2), Frank Kelly (0-2), James Finn; Michael Hughes, John Kinsella, Mitch Jordan (0-1). Subs. - Colm Quigley (0-2) for Finn, Patrick Kinsella for J. Kinsella, David O’Connor for Ormonde.
Referee: John Carton (Monageer-Boolavogue).