Barndarrig set up nicely for battle with Aughrim

BOOM PLATFORM HIRE JUNIOR ‘A’ FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

BARNDARRIG and Newcastle played out an enjoyable enough Junior ‘A’ football championship contest at Pearse’s Park, Arklow on Sunday afternoon.

The game was played on a nice firm sod with a stiff breeze blowing from the Woodenbridge end favouring the team playing into the town goal.

Barndarrig had this advantage in the first half and went on the attack straight from the throw in. Michael Murphy had their first score from a free after two minutes.

Newcastle were competing well in these early stages and centre forward Robbie O’Gara levelled scores after nine minutes.

Barndarrig were moving the ball swiftly from defence to attack and they immediately went ahead again with a Paul Ryan point on ten minutes.

Ryan Heffernan levelled again two minutes later with a good score from the right wing but for the remainder of this half Newcastle came under increasing pressure from a Barndarrig side who were getting on top in the middle third of the field.

Centre back Andrew P. Kavanagh, midfielders Bernard Quinn and Michael Cullen and centre forward Michael Murphy formed an impressive central diamond and were playing good ball into their forwards.

Corner-forward John A. Kinsella pointed his side back into lead when he took advantage of a ball hopping over the head of his marker Sean O’Gara. Kinsella went on to have a most impressive game for Barndarrig, scoring a total of six points over the hour. He covered a lot of ground in the forward line and was very involved in setting up many of his side’s scores.

Centre forward Michael Murphy added a point to which Robbie O’Gara replied after five minutes with his second point.

However, Newcastle were not to score again in this half as Barndarrig went on to dominate the second quarter.

Martin Cullen, Michael Murphy, half-back Shane Whelan and two points from John A Kinsella had Barndarrig ahead by 0-9 to 0-3 at the interval.

Newcastle needed to start well in the second period if they hoped to make any impression, but it was Barndarrig who got the early scores. Paul Ryan pointed from the off and Martin Cullen added another from a 45 after five minutes.

Ian Lacey had saved Newcastle’s bacon when he brought off a great save from J. A. Kinsella to concede that 45. Shane McGee pointed for Newcastle but Barndarrig were very much on top up to midway in the half and added further points from Michael Cullen and three in a row from John A. Kinsella.

Robbie O’Gara pulled one back for Newcastle but when Martin Cullen got the Barndarrig goal on 20 minutes they were now out of sight. Martin Cullen, Michael Cullen, Michael Murphy from a free and sub Stephan Collins added further points. Newcastle responded with a great point from Shane McGee and their final point came from Ciaran Doyle.

Scorers - Barndarrig: Martin Cullen 1-3, John A. Kinsella 0-6, Michael Murphy 0-4, Michael Cullen 0-2, Paul Ryan 0-2, Shane Whelan 0-1, Stephan Collins 0-1. Newcastle: Robbie O’Gara 0-3, Shane McGee 0-2, Ryan Heffernan 0-1, Ciaran Doyle 0-1.

Barndarrig: Jamie Roe; James Quinn, James Cullen, Kevin Cullen; Paddy Redmond, A.P Kavanagh, Shane Whelan; Bernard Quinn, Michael Cullen; Paul Ryan, Michael Murphy, Philip Kinsella; John A Kinsella, Martin Cullen, Tom Doyle. Subs: Stephan Collins, David Byrne, Stephan Cullen.

Newcastle: Ian Lucey; Sean O’Gara, Ciaran Doyle, Paul Magee; Martin Gaskin, Rory Farrell, Stephan Taylor; Oisin Doyle, Sean Ryder; Ryan Heffernan, Robbie O’Gara, Warren Merryman; Shane Magee, Shane Clarke, Shane Heffernan. Subs: Dylan Doyle, Stephan Kelly, Dean Taylor.

Referee: Stephan Fagan