CARNEW MARCH ON
But O’Brien’s charges have plenty of room to improve
CARNEW are back in the county final but on the basis of this performance they’ll have much room for improvement to reverse last year’s result.
The defence coped admirably with the potent threat of Leighton Glynn and Daniel Staunton in a two-man full-forward line though Carnew will be glad the other Glenealy forwards were off form. Wayne O’Gorman hit two wides and a third fell short while Gavin Weir missed a couple of glorious chances. Aaron Nugent was anonymous.
If Carnew came out on top in that half of the field they’ll want a greater return from their forwards. Outside of Timmy Collins, who will always play consistently, and Wayne Kinsella causing havoc in the 15 minutes before half time, the other four forwards can contribute a lot more.
Robert Lambert rose wonderfully to catch an early second half puck out and hit a point but lots more balls were hit towards him that he lost. Pádraig Doran can be outrageous at times when he’s on song but that wasn’t the case on Saturday with only four or five possessions. Enda Donohoe converted four of nine placed balls and was equally quiet from play.
Both teams set up with a twoman full-forward line that hampered the threat of the respective forward units as the middle third was crowded and clearances were hit under pressure. The ball would generally not get beyond the opposition 45 metre line where there was an extra defender to easily win possession but inaccurately clear again.
The game began with five wides, Carnew hitting three of them, before Gavin Weir was found in space for the opening score. Two of those Carnew wides were hit by Donohoe coming back within his own 65 for frees. It was only in the second half when he nailed his first long distance free but strangely later in that half he came back within his own 45 to take a free that dropped short in the square.
It was odd that he came out so far for the frees and he only had a one in four success rate from inside his own half, leaving some to wonder why a defender couldn’t have taken the free and work the ball into a more score-able position. Carnew may not get away with this in the final.
A couple of Staunton frees and Leighton Glynn’s opening score had Glenealy ahead by four points to one by the 15th minute. Donohoe eventually found his range for Carnew’s response. It was a fair reflection of the first quarter but the next seven minutes swung the game in Carnew’s favour. Lambert did well to run in by the end line and his pass across the goal found Timmy Collins for an easy finish.
Donohoe pointed his second free when Doran was fouled and while a well taken Glynn goal brought about a brief Glenealy reprieve another quick fire 1-01 had Carnew ahead 2-03 to 1-04 with 22 minutes played. Doran pulled on a goal bound shot saved by Joey Driver for the goal and Collins tagged on the point.
Carnew had another goal chance but Tommy Doyle got back excellently to flick the ball away inches from the goal line. The teams traded a point apiece and Carnew were ahead by two points at the half-time break.
Carnew maintained that lead for much of the second half, at times extending it out to five points, but always keeping Glenealy at arm’s length.
In the final 15 minutes they invited Glenealy on by retreating into defence and playing dangerously. Their half-forward line was non-existent in the closing quarter and it meant any ball won in defence was cleared into the grateful hand of a Glenealy back with Warren Kavanagh especially hitting lots of ball.
In that last 12 minutes, and while two points behind, Glenealy hit four wides to allow Carnew fall over the line into a county final.
Only a few of the Carnew team played nearly well enough with Liam Kennedy commanding the defence and a mixture of Martin O’Brien, Oisín Furlong and Conal McCrea doing just enough to not let Glynn and Staunton run riot. Add Wayne Kinsella and Timmy Collins to that and still only about half the team played up to scratch. Do that again and Carnew won’t win many county finals.
Scorers – Carnew: Timmy Collins 1-03; Enda Donohoe (4f) 0-04; Pádraig Doran 1-01; Robert Lambert, Wayne Kinsella 0-01 each.
Glenealy: Daniel Staunton (4f) 0-05; Leighton Glynn 1-02; Gavin Weir 0-02; Wayne O’Gorman, Joe Driver 0-01 each.
Carnew: Robert Fitzgerald; Willie Collins, Mark Collins, Oisín Furlong; Graham Keogh, Liam Kennedy, Andrew Hughes; Martin O’Brien, Conal McCrea; Robert Lambert, Pádraig Doran, Jack Doyle; Enda Donohoe, Wayne Kinsella, Timmy Collins. Sub: Dan Nolan for Graham Keogh (49 mins).
Glenealy: Joey Driver; Alan Driver, Wesley Manning, Ruadhrí O’Neill; Emmett Byrne, Warren Kavanagh, MA O’Neill; Thomas Doyle, Nigel Driver; Daniel Staunton, Leighton Glynn, Wayne O’Gorman; Jamie Byrne, Gavin Weir, Aaron Nugent. Subs: Enan Glynn for Jamie Byrne (HT); Gavin Byrne for Wayne O’Gorman (44 mins); Joe Driver for Nigel Driver (48 mins); John Manley for Alan Driver (60 mins).
Referee: John Keenan