3-10 1-9

A strong 10-minute period before the break proved to be the foundation on which Tinahely built a fully deserved victory over Éire Óg Greystones in this Arklow Bay Hotel Junior C Football Championship semi-final in Ballinakill last Thursday.

Two second half goals ultimately killed the Greystones challenge but those 10 minutes where Tinahely went from level pegging at 1-2 to 0-5 to 1-7 to 0-5 left them in no doubt that they had the beating of the north Wicklow men.

The ability to turn defence into meaningful attack was the main difference between the sides. Éire Óg had plenty of possession but were unable to torment the Tinahely defence in the same way as Damien Cullen, Willie Quaile, David Blake and Austin Brennan were.

Excellent performances from David Dillon, the abrasive Brian Hickey, the busy Ray McGlynn and the resolute Kevin Doyle helped to thwart numerous Éire Óg attacks and launch forays of their own in yet another convincing performance from this team who now face the men of Kilcoole in the championship decider.

Éire Óg started very well and looked to have the upper hand in terms of fitness. However, when it came to moving the ball up the field and taking scores the Tinahely men had the aces for the most part.

A lovely score from Shaun Hughes got the Greystones men underway but full-forward David Blake fired over in reply at the other end after a low-scoring opening period. Éire Óg looked as though they might be able to make Blake’s life hard early on but a few moments later he collected a David Dillon ball and rifled it to the top corner of the net to give