Shels stepped up after break
Victors’ scoreless first-half
SHELMALIERS SUMMONED up a storming second-half performance to make it three wins from three in Group A of the Tom Doyle Supplies Senior football championship at Innovate Wexford Park on Sunday.
Things looked as bleak as the miserable weather for the Over The Water side at the switch of ends, as they failed to register a score in the first-half, although they had played against the elements in the opening 30 minutes.
The north county side held a 0-4 to no score advantage at the interval, with Ben Brosnan accounting for all of their first-half tally, with only one point coming from play during a turgid half of football.
However, Shelmaliers had much more about them after the break, injecting pace and swagger to their attack and, when they ran at the Castletown defence, cracks began to appear in a rearguard which had looked impenetrable before half-time.
A disputed 43rd-minute goal from Andre O’Brien was the catalyst for the strong finish which saw them surge to victory, and Conor Hearne put the final nail in the Castletown coffin when he found the net in the third minute of injury time.
Castletown quickly sprang to life, with Ben Brosnan curling over a fine right-footed point from the left with just two minutes on the clock, but scores proved hard to come by in the early stages, although two Brosnan frees extended the advantage to 0-3 to nil by the midway point of the half.
The Gorey District side threatened to plunder a goal on 18 minutes when Joe Aherne stretched every sinew to get hand to a Donnacha Holmes pass, but his effort deflected the ball wide of the right post.
Brosnan arrowed over another placed ball in the 27th minute, while at the other end tigerish defending kept Shelmaliers at bay any time they tried to make inroads or take aim at the posts.
Having failed to raise a flag in the opening 30 minutes, the Shels managed to get an umpire’s arm aloft within 30 seconds of the restart as substitute Colin Cleary popped over a point.
Castletown weren’t long about responding at the other end though, with Richard Farrell swinging over a beauty with the outside of his boot.
Eoghan Nolan (free) and Ben Brosnan then swapped points, before Castletown created an opportunity to put real daylight between the sides on 38 minutes.
Brosnan picked out the run of Colin Kennedy, but his goal-bound effort was well saved by Aodhán Foley in the Shelmaliers goal.
Andre O’Brien and Eoghan Nolan then slotted over scores either side of a Conor Carty point, and the pep was well and truly back in the Shelmaliers step when O’Brien hit the back of the net to drag them level (1-4 to 0-7).
Conor Hearne played the ball across the face of goal and O’Brien swept it to the net off the ground, with strong calls for the effort to be ruled out due to a square ball infringement ringing in the ears of the officials.
Castletown responded well to the setback with frees from Ben Brosnan and Conor Carty but the Wexford District outfit assumed complete control for the final ten minutes, scoring 1-4 without reply.
Eoin Doyle, Conor Hearne, Aaron Murphy and Simon Donohoe all registered points and Hearne put the icing on the cake with a goal in the 63rd minute.
Hearne played a quick free to Aaron Murphy, whose shot was well saved by goalkeeper Anthony Masterson, and the corner-forward had the simple task of sliding the ball into the empty net.
Shelmaliers: Aodhán Foley; Andre O’Brien (1-1), James Cash, Graham Staples; Jody Donohoe, Ciarán O’Shaughnessy, Aaron Murphy (0-1); Aidan Cash, Glen Malone; Eoghan Nolan (0-2, 1 free), Brian Malone, Simon Dohonoe (0-1); Eoin Doyle (0-1), Barry O’Connor, Conor Hearne (1-1). Subs. - Colin Cleary (0-1) for O’Connor, Tommy Barron for B. Malone.
Castletown: Anthony Masterson; Frank Roche, Joe Gardiner, Joe Aherne; Peter Devine, Richard Farrell (0-1), Conor Carty (0-2, 1 free); Colin Kennedy, Danny Gardiner; Donnacha Holmes, Colm Morris, Stephen Maloney; Jody O’Shaughnessy, Andy Merrigan, Ben Brosnan (0-6, 4 frees). Subs. - Pierce Maxwell for Merrigan, James Holmes for D. Holmes, Robbie Brooks for Maxwell.
Referee: John Carton (Monageer-Boolavogue).