Tinahely topple Annacurra
TINAHELY 0-14 ANNACURRA 0-09
THE prolonged period of fine, dry weather over the past few weeks came to an end on Friday last, May 12, with a day of continuous misty rain.
Conditions for the Arklow Bay Hotel Division 1 football league fixture between Annacurra and Tinahely in Annacurra were slippery on a firm sod.
The home side played away from the road end in the first half and had two points on the board from a Clive Horan free and a fine point from play by overlapping half back Nevan O’Sullivan after four minutes.
Stephan Dillon got the visitors off the mark after five minutes but Frank Clune restored the two point gap when he pointed a handy free from in front of the goal after eight minutes.
The free was initially a tough kick from nearer the sideline to the left of goal but was moved closer to goal when a defender disagreed with the referee.
A James Cush pointed free on ten minutes was immediately responded to by Patrick Moules a minute later to maintain the two point gap. Things had gone well for Annacurra up to this stage with Alan Horan and Alan Byrne holding away around the middle and wing backs Nevan O’Sullivan and Michael Healy moving forward frequently to overlap with Gearoid Murphy and Clive Horan in the half forward line.
Clive Horan scored another fine point after twelve minutes but from this point on Tinahely came more into the game for the remainder of the half. James Cush pointed two frees, Tony Darcy landed a point from play and Cush again pointed a free just before the break to leave the scores all square at half time on 0-6 a piece.
Tinahely put in a strong third quarter. Alan Nolan scored a 45 after two minutes. Tony Darcy added two points from frees to leave his side ahead by three points after fifteen minutes. Annacurra were finding it hard to get past a massed Tinahely defence who were swarming back in front of goal whenever danger threatened. Gearoid Murphy landed the home side’s first point of the second half after 17 minutes but Tinahely had scored four more points, two Tony Darcy free kicks, a David Blake point from play and an excellently judged point from distance by Alan Nolan, before substitute Vincent Flaherty scored Annacurra’s second point of the half in the 29th minute. Alan Dillon and Frank Clune exchanged points before the end.
The early stages of the game were evenly contested but Tinahely fitness levels appeared to have a big bearing on the outcome as the game progressed.
It’s not often that fathers and their sons get to line out together but Tinahely corner back Lar Keating and his half back son Curtis joined that particular club on Friday last.
The game marked the return of Michael Doyle to guard the net for the home side. He made no mistakes and had one excellent save in the second half in a one on one situation. His opposite number Niall Byrne gave a mighty display of long (very long) kicking off the tee with his kick outs.
Scorers – Tinahely; Tony Darcy 0-5, Jason Cush 0-4, Alan Nolan 0-2, Stephan Dillon 0-1, David Blake 0-1, Alan Dillon 0-1.
Annacurra: Clive Horan 0-3, Frank Clune 0-2, Nevan O’Sullivan 0-1, Patrick Moules 0-1, Gearoid Murphy 0-1, Vincent Flaherty 0-1.
Tinahely: Niall Byrne; Lar Keating, Willie Dillon, James Tyrell; Oisin Furlong, John Blake, Curtis Keating; Michael Byrne, Brian Walsh; Alan Dillon, Stephan Dillon, Alan Nolan; David Blake, Tony Darcy, Jason Cush.
Annacurra: Michael Doyle; Liam Moules, Paul McDonald, James Keenan; Nevan Sullivan, Ciaran Byrne, Michael Healy; Alan Horan, Alan Byrne; Clive Horan, Frank Clune, Gearoid Murphy; Patrick Moules, Ian McDonald, Shane O’Keeffe. Subs: Vincent Flaherty for Alan Horan; John Hynes for Shane O’Keeffe.
Referee: Damien Byrne