KAVANAGH KEEPS HIS COOL
Carnew come back from the dead to draw with Donard
CARNEW EMMETS DONARD-THE GLEN 1-8 0-11
A late John Kavanagh point from a free earned Carnew Emmets a share of the spoils from their IFC championship opener against Donard-The Glen in Shillelagh last Friday evening.
The game had a dramatic ending with Tadhg Fennin’s men looking home and hosed at 0-10 to 0-7 late in the second half only for substitute Justin House to get on the end of a clever John Kavanagh cross-field ball and flick home past Mark Moore.
The Donard-The Glen men screamed up the field where Dermot Daly stroked over a beauty of a score that deserved to win any game but back came Carnew and they won a free for a foul on Seamus Osborne which John Kavanagh stroked over to secure an important championship point in what looks like being a ferociously difficult championship campaign.
The team managers, former inter-county stars Tadhg Fennin (Kildare) and James Hickey (Carlow), will be well aware of the major improvements needed from their charges if they are to get to the business end of this campaign.
A worrying collection of wides and missed opportunities as well as periods of poor play will not have pleased the Donard-The Glen and Carnew Emmets bosses, but they will take solace from the fact that this was the championship opener, the difficult conditions after the fall of rain being the cause of many of the mistakes and the fact that both teams were missing some key players.
A low-scoring opening half saw the sides head for the break at 0-4 apiece having left a considerable amount more out on the field. Carnew had squandered two excellent goal chances while Donard-The Glen had watched in horror as Alan Daly’s penalty was saved by Cormac Doyle in the Carnew goal and the full-forward also blazed a reasonable opportunity wide later in the first half where nine wides were recorded, five for Carnew, four for the men from the west.
This was a tough encounter, low on quality but entertaining throughout. The first half play unfolded around something of a grudge match between Harry Mangan and Seanie Kinsella who, it would appear, won’t be sending each other Christmas cards any time soon. The Donard-The Glen centre half back seemed determined to dominate his position which left Kinsella on the receiving end of some extremely tight and occasionally overzealous marking.
Carnew’s first goal chance arrived in the opening seconds when the lively Seamus Osborne rampaged down on the DonardThe Glen goal with Conal McCrea and John Kavanagh available for what looked a certain three-pointer. However, Osborne lost control of the ball and his shot blazed wide of the near post and the chance for a golden start was gone.
Seanie Kinsella opened the scoring a moment later after good work from Conal McCrea and Osborne made up for his earlier miss with a fine effort off the left to give Carnew a two-point cushion early on.
The impressive Brian Lennon who carried a serious amount of ball for Donard-The Glen all day opened their account from a free and then the pacey Alan Daly levelled matters with 12 on the clock.
With 15 gone and the Mangan v Kinsella battle raging, James Hickey sent the centre half forward inside but Mangan followed.
Donard-The Glen took the lead for the first time after 18 minutes from Alan Daly when a goal might have been on. Osborne struck back for Carnew and then Cormac Doyle in the Carnew goal pulled Lawrence Daly down in the square and Anto Nolan spread the arms wide to signal a penalty.
Daly stepped up to take it, but Doyle, on his birthday for good measure, saved superbly and the chance was gone with 24 minutes on the clock.
At the other end Enda Donohue blazed wide across the face of goal after being put through by the hardworking Conal McCrea who had profited from a Seanie Kinsella pass.
Points from Seamus Osborne and Dermot Daly brought the first half to a close at 0-4 apiece and the promise of more tough action to follow was on the horizon for the small crowd in Shillelagh.
Carnew Emmets opened the second half with a Seanie Kinsella wide before Cormac Doyle saved from Dermot Daly.
A Brian Lennon free was answered by a fine point from play from Seamus Osborne but poor play from the Carnew defence allowed Dermot Daly a chance of a point and the corner-forward duly obliged. He would fire wide moments later after good work from Harry Mangan before Seanie Kinsella would level matters once again off his left after 12 minutes.
Good Enda Donohue play released Seamus Osborne to push Carnew Emmets ahead moments later, but Donard-The Glen enjoyed a period of dominance for the next while with points from substitute Liam Mullen (a stunner), Dermot Daly, a Brian Lennon free, and Ray Halloran to leave them three points to the good with time almost up.
Back came Carnew and John Kavanagh broke down the wing and fired in a high ball to substitute Justin House who used all his physical power to flick home to the back of the net for what was a truly vital goal.
Dermot Daly returned DonardThe Glen to the lead with a beautiful score, but you got the feeling that Carnew were not dead yet.
A loose ball from the DonardThe Glen midfield was caught by Nick Skelton who found John Kavanagh who flicked on to Padraig Doran. Doran fed Seamus Osborne with a handpass but Kevin Osborne’s attention on the Carnew corner-forward was deemed illegal by Anto Nolan and John Kavanagh was given the difficult task of rescuing this game from the fire.
Up stepped the experienced Kavanagh and he dropped over a bomb of a point to level matters with only a minute remaining.
Both sides would have one last chance. Thomas Kennedy pulled Donard-The Glen’s kick-out from the clouds for a mark after Kavanagh’s point but Seamus Osborne who collected the subsequent ball from Kennedy was dispossessed and Donard-The Glen won a free out. Down the field they went, and the ball was worked to Harry Mangan whose effort off the left drifted agonisingly wide of the upright.
Anto Nolan sounded the fulltime whistle shortly afterwards and both sides will look back with regret and relief at having lost out on a championship win but also having avoided a championship defeat.
Improvements needed by both teams with the reassuring fact for both managers being that the potential for said improvement exists in abundance.
– Carnew Emmets: Seamus Osborne 0-5, Justin House 1-0, Seanie Kinsella 0-2, John Kavanagh 0-1 (f).
Donard-The Glen: Dermot Daly 0-4, Alan Daly 0-3 (1f), Brian Lennon 0-2 (2f), Liam Mullen 0-1, Ray Halloran 0-1.
Scorers
Cormac Doyle; Michael Rock, John Walshe, Adam Hughes; Niall Osborne, Mark Collins, Willie Collins; John Doyle, Enda Donohue; Nick Skelton, Seanie Kinsella, Conal McCrea; Seamus Osborne, Michael Collins, John Kavanagh. Subs: Paudie McGing for A Hughes (H/T), Thomas Kennedy for M Collins (42min), Justin House for E Donohue (53min), Padraig Doran for C McCrea (59min).
Mark Moore; Kevin Osborne, Alan Tutty, Mickey Daly; Gerard Healy, Harry Mangan, Bill Flynn; Colin Osborne, John Hanbidge; Conor Kelly, Lawrence Daly, Brian Lennon; Ray Halloran, Alan Daly, Dermot Daly. Subs: Liam Mullen for C Kelly (46min).
Anto Nolan (Baltinglass)
Carnew Emmets: Donard-The Glen: Referee: