It’s plain sailing for An Tochar
IT WAS a fairly one-sided affair in the opening of this double-header Junior C Championship Group 2 clash between An Tochar and a poor Aughrim side in fine conditions in Laragh on Saturday afternoon.
An Tochar completely dominated from the start and throughout, with Noel Brady slotting the opening score of the game over the bar in the first minute and a half, Conor Kenna adding another point to the scoresheet just before the four-minute mark, with good teamwork from midfield duo Colm O’Brien and Hugh Kenna. A minute later, a good pass in from Enda Nolan saw Conor Kenna gain possession once again, and he found the back of the net.
Aughrim started to fight back, and were awarded a free in front of the goal heading into the sixth minute. Eugene O’Brien slotted it over, 0-1 to 1-2 after seven minutes. Aughrim were letting silly balls go, and An Tochar were winning a lot of kick-outs.
A near-goal chance in the ninth minute was brilliantly blocked by Paul Whelan. The next five minutes saw a flurry of points from Enda Nolan, Colm O’Brien and two from Hugh Kenna. Hugh Kenna was dominating in the midfield area.
After the 20 minute mark, a foul inside the box saw a penalty awarded by referee Keith Peppard to An Tochar, taken by Conor Byrne which shot by goalkeeper Chris Kavanagh to see the back of the net. Aughrim charged forward and another point from Eugene O’Brien seemed to lift spirits a tad but it was to be the last point of the game, never mind the half.
Poor kick-outs from Aughrim and interceptions from the midfield area saw another three points from Hugh Kenna, Conor Byrne and Colm O’Brien.
A scuffle on the sideline saw two yellow cards being dished out for An Tochar’s Noel Brady and Aughrim’s Willie Kavanagh just before the half-time whistle, 2-12 to 0-2.
An Tochar conceded two goals in the opening two minutes of the second-half, both from half-forward Shane Healy. Aughrim tried their best to get the ball into the forward-line, and there was patches of good work but there were little options to pass into.
If things weren’t bad enough, Frank Byrne got his marching orders from the referee just past the ten-minute mark. John Annesley fought forward and shot for a point but a hit off the crossbar saw Aughrim give up altogether.
An Tochar finished off the game with a fifth goal from midfielder Colm O’Brien before the final whistle blew.
AN TOCHAR SCORERS: N. Brady (0-3), C. Kenna (1-1), C. O’Brien (1-3), E. Nolan (0-2), H. Kenna (0-4), C. Byrne (1-4), S. Healy (2-1), J. Carr (0-2).
AUGHRIM SCORER: Eugene O’Brien (0-2).
AN TOCHAR: Enda Nolan, Clive Davis, Robert Cullen, Paul Kenna, Noel Power, Niall Fennell, Colm O’Brien, Hugh Kenna, Tom Kenna, Noel Brady, Shane Healy, Conor Byrne, Conor Kenna, Thomas Mulligan. Subs: Donal Marah for C. Byrne, Jack Salley for N. Fennell, Martin Cullen for S. Healy, Sham Carr for T. Mulligan, Michael Kinsella for E. Nolan, John Carr for T. Kenna.
AUGHRIM: Chris Kavanagh, Patrick Byrne, Paul Whelan, William Byrne, Lester Carroll, John Annesley, Keith Stephenson, Willie Kavanagh, Padraig Connell, Frank Byrne, Jason McLoughlin, Shane McGuckian, Peter Quigley, Eugene O’Brien, Michael Doyle.
REFEREE: Keith Peppard (Hollywood).