Rathnew rejoice
The Village come out on top in exciting encounter
RATHNEW and Kiltegan squared up to each other in this exciting game of football played in ideal conditions in Aughrim.
Rathnew were short a few regulars through injury and suspensions while John O Toole’s name did not appear on the Kiltegan team list for the first time in years.
Steven Farrell, captain of Kiltegan won the toss, and decided to play into the town goal with the aid off a moderate breeze.
Stephen Byrne scored the first point of the game after he won possession from a Theo Smith 45 that dropped short into the large square , with eight minutes on the clock.
Rory Finn won the resultant kick-out after two Rathnew midfielders clashed going for the same ball and Finn sent in an inch-perfect pass into full-forward Seanie Furlong who clinically found the bottom right hand corner off Peter Dignam’s goal.
John Manley found Jordan Graham with a fine hand pass but Graham’s goalbound effort was cleared for a 45 by Blaine Harmon. This time Theo Smith had the range but not the accuracy with 13 minutes on the clock.
Rathnew’s Andrew O’Brien was bearing down on goal only for Steven Farrell to get a vital block in . Cathal FitzGerald kicked a bad wide for Kiltegan as they started to dominate around the midfield area.
Leighton Glynn kicked a very good point from an acute angle to leave the minimum in it after 19 minutes gone.
Anthony Furlong won possession and found Seanie Furlong who fed Derek Daly a peach of a ball but somehow Daly dragged his shot wide with the goal at his mercy.
Damien Power had a great block on a Seanie Furlong effort that was score bound . Rathnew eased some of the pressure when Jordan Graham pointed after some tenacious build-up play by Leighton Glynn.
Geoffrey Birmingham kicked a long-range point from a Rathnew turnover to register Kiltegan’s first point with 21 minutes played. Jordan Graham pointed for the villagers and Liam Keogh then kicked a bad wide from a bad kick-out from Dignam.
Seanie Furlong pointed and minutes later Keogh redeemed himself when he pointed to restore the lead for Kiltegan. Liam Keogh was adjudged to have taken too many steps in the next attack by the Hollywood official while moments later Leighton Glynn was pulled up on the same foul as he was goalbound.
Geoffrey Birmingham pointed on 29 minutes to put the west men three up. Stephen Byrne and Nicky Byrne clipped on a point each going into the second minute of injury time as Mike Foley kicked a point on the half-time whistle with the score Rathnew 0-6 to 1-5 for Kiltegan .
Rathnew started the second half with the slight aid of a moderate breeze playing into the town end goal. Nicky Mernagh pointed the opening score of this half after good work by Theo Smith.
The villagers kicked three wides before Mark Doyle pointed to level matters again as Rathnew went up a gear. Seanie Furlong pointed a hard-earned free to put Kiltegan back in front.
Nicky Mernagh pointed again after a great pass from Jamie Snell who was playing well. Declan Byrne introduced Chris Healy who flicked the ball out to Mernagh to restore the lead.
Four bad wides in the a six-minute spell proved costly for Fran Fitzhenry’s side in a period where they dominated but could not hit the target, where as trying to bring Seanie Furlong into play could have been more productive .
Blaine Harmon had another brilliant interception from another Rathnew attack. Ross O’Brien turned possession over when he played a hopeful ball into his forward line and it was cleared up to Seanie Furlong who pointed to level up this belter of a game after 50 minutes.
Cathal Fitzgerald won there resultant kick-out and burst through the village defence and found Seanie Furlong who was out on the sideline 30 metres from goal. Furlong split the posts for the score of the match as Kiltegan hit the front again.
Mark Doyle pointed to level again. Nicky Mernagh found the forward running Graham Merrigan with a sublime pass as Merrigan was bearing down on goal, his piledriver just rose over Fergal Harmon’s crossbar to put the village back in front as this titanic battle was nearing a climax.
Seanie Furlong caught a high ball and passed it to Dermot Daly who was fouled going through. Anthony Furlong pointed the free from 40 metres to level matters yet again with 55 minutes gone. Rathnew found another gear in the last few minutes of normal time as Mark Doyle pointed to restore the lead.
On 58 minutes, as often witnessed in the last few years Rathnew sent a high ball into the square where Kiltegan failed to clear and Doyle punched the ball to the net to the joys of the village supporters .
Leighton Glynn pointed on 61 minutes. Andrew O’Brien brilliantly cleared the ball from going over Dignam’s goal line as Kiltegan threw the kitchen sink at Rathnew in injury time.
Kiltegan won a penalty in the 63rd minute and Seanie Furlong dispatched it to the back off Dignam’s net just as the full time whistle sounded to bring an end to this pulsating encounter. RATHNEW : Peter Dignam, Paul Merrigan, Damien Power, John Manley, Enan Glynn, Jamie Snell, Andrew O’Brien, Theo Smith, Ross O’Brien, Stephen Byrne (02), Leighton Glynn (0-2), Paul Ellis, Nicky Mernagh (0-4), Mark Doyle (1-3), Jordan Graham (0-2). SUBS : Chris Healy, Graham Merrigan (0-1). KILTEGAN: Fergal Harmon, Jim Bob Dalton, Blaine Harmon, Eoin Fitzgerald, John Farrell, Steven Farrell, Ronan Byrne, Rory Finn, Cathal Fitzgerald, Mike Foley (0-1), Anthony Furlong (0-1), Geoffrey Birmingham (0-2), Liam Keogh (0-1), Seanie Furlong (2-4), Derek Daly. SUBS : Shane Lennon, Jamie Daly. REFEREE: Declan Peppard (Hollywood).