Rollercoaster continues for talented Tinahely
ARKLOW BAY HOTEL JUNIOR ‘C’ FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
TINAHELY ÉIRE ÓG
Tinahely a major boost and a 1-1 to 0-2 lead.
Centre back Willie Hagen wasn’t impressed with how easily Tinahely were moving the ball up the field and when it came to the influence Brian Hickey was having on the game he let his colleagues know his feelings on the subject.
‘Take the man on, he’s 40-something,’ he yelled.
The excellent Willie Quaile made it 1-2 to 0-2 thanks to a Kevin Doyle ball but Éire Óg enjoyed a really positive spell with points from the energetic Kurt Stark, Niall Deeney and a Shaun Hughes free for a foul which earned Brian Hickey a yellow card.
The rest of the first half belonged to Tinahely. David Blake off the outside of the right boot returned his side to the lead, Damien Culleb added a free before a comedy of stray passing left David Blake in possession in front of the posts and he raised another white flag.
The final score of the second half would come from the combination that provided the platform for this victory for Tinahely. Brian Hickey caught a superb mark, played the ball on to David Blake and the centre forward fired over for a class point to give Tinahely a dominant lead of 1-7 to 0-5.
They continued that dominance in the early stages of the second half by turning over an Éire Óg move and storming up the field where David Blake hit a screamer. The full-forward might have had a major but for the heroics of Demot Blake who blocked his rocket of a shot.
Damien Cullen’s performance in this game was noteworthy, especially in the second half and he fired over a bomb off the outside of this left boot to make it 1-9 to 0-5 after 36 minutes.
A strong run through the middle from midfielder Luke Bradley allowed him break the Tinahely dominance with a fine score just before the Éire Óg manager sent in Daniel Webb to the fray.
A period of poor shooting fol- lowed with a number of wides from both sides, but the game was decided in the 47th minute when Willie Quaile blasted home to the back of Fran Chatham’s goal to make it 2-9 to 0-6.
Damien Cullen drove over another beauty from distance to cement the Tinahely dominance. Shaun Hughes popped over a free at the other end but the Tinahely voracity in attack was expressed in style when David Dillon picked out Damien Cullen and the half-forward topped off a superb performance with a ripper off his trusty left.
Éire Óg battled hard for the remainder of the game and had fine scores from Gary Elliot, Willie O’Hagen and a neatly lobbed goal from Cillian McDonald and they would also see a shot wallop the Tinahely crossbar, but their goose was cooked by a very impressive outfit who march on to their second Junior C final in a row.
– Tinahely: Damien Cullen 1-3 (1f), David Blake 0-4, Willie Quaile 1-1, Niall Gorman 1-0, Fionn Furlong 0-1, David Dillon 0-1.
Éire Óg Greystones: Shaun Hughes 0-3 (2f), Gary Elliot 0-2, Kurt Stark 0-1, Niall Deeney 0-1, Luke Bradley 0-1, Willie O’Hagen 0-1, Ciaran McDonald 1-0.
William Lillis; Danny Quinn, Gavin Kenny, Tony Lacey; Ray McGlynn, Kevin Doyle, Fionn Furlong; Brian Hickey, Niall Gorman; Damien Cullen, David Dilon, Anthony Phelan; Willie Quaile, David Blake, Austin Brennan. Subs: Stewart Gilbert for D Dillon, Eric Donohue for N Gorman
Fran Chatham; Dermot Blake, Gary Dunne, Sean Minogue; Daniel Byrne, Willie O’Hagen, Thomas O’Brien; Shaun Hughes, Luke Bradley; Kurt Stark, Gary Elliot, Niall Deeney; Brian O’Sullivan, Ciaran McDonald, Brandon Byrne. Subs: Daniel Webb for B O’Sullivan (38min), John Coveney for Thomas O’Brien (42min), Kenny Naughton for K Stark (50), James Smullen for S Minogue (55min), Eoin Kieran for B Byrne (55min).
Stephen Fagan (Baltin-
Scorers Tinahely: Éire Óg Greystones: Referee:
glass)