An Tochar hold out Nolan shines as Éire Óg count cost of disallowed goals
AN TOCHAR ÉIRE ÓG 2-12 3-5
AN TOCHAR clinched the under-13 ‘A’ football crown after a fierce battle with a brave Éire Óg side in Ballinakill on Saturday afternoon last.
Star of the show was midfielder Éanna Nolan who finished with 1-7 to his credit (1-6 from frees) as he tormented the Éire Óg defence from the midfield and later the full-forward position.
A powerful start to the second half for the Roundwood side was key as they moved from level terms at 1-5 to 2-2 to 2-10 to 2-2 by the 51st minute when Éire Óg would eventually end a fatal scoring drought during which time they would see two goals ruled out by referee Pat Hickey which left their players, management and supporters irate on the sideline and would prove devastating to their chances in this clash.
An Tochar started the brighter with an early 1-3 getting up and running after points from Brian Medlycott, Éanna Nolan and Joe Heatly and a goal from Josh Healy that floated all the way to the top corner of the net.
An early yellow card for Éanna Nolan caused some concern for the An Tochar management but the physically strong youngster kept himself out of any major trouble for the remainder of the game.
Éire Óg showed impressive courage and resilience by bouncing back impressively from the early blitz from An Tochar with Ryan Ovenden firing home sweetly before Nolan pointed a free at the other end. That should have been the Greystones side’s second goal of the game but their first was ruled out.
It was all Éire Óg now. Cael McCloskey toe-poked home a major to the bottom corner and Darragh Shanahan dropped over a fine point that could easily have been a goal to leave it 2-1 to 1-4 after 23 minutes of a very interesting clash.
The Greystones side took the lead after 25 through Oisin Murphy and their siege of the An Tochar defence should have resulted in more scores but Conor McGuirk was in fine form in goals and he pulled off a super save from Oisin Murphy.
An Éanna Nolan free sent the sides in level at the break, 1-5 to 2-2 with it all to play for in the second half.
Nolan had a green flag waving in the opening moments of the second half when his free kick curled into the top corner of Gavin Lincoln’s net and from here, they began opening up a gap that Éire Óg would struggle to close.
A key moment for the Kevin Healy’s side was Oisin Murphy’s goal was ruled out by referee Pat Hickey and a free out awarded to An Tochar. A major here would have given the Greystones men a massive foothold in the second half. However, rather than the gap closing, it widened considerably with points from Joe Heatly, (2), and Éanna Nolan before DanielConnerty stopped the rot after 51 minutes.
Frees were swapped between Oisin Murphy and Éanna Nolan to leave seven between the sides and although an Oisin Murphy point and a fine Cael McCloskey goal closed the gap to three points a stunning Éanna Nolan point pushed it back out to four and that was how it would stay until the final whistle sounded.
For Éire Óg, Daniel Burns and Oisin Murphy were excellent, followed by Daniel Connerty. The switching of Jack Caffrey to the defence was a very positive move for Éire Óg while the performance of Daniel Burns on Éanna Nolan in the second half was very impressive.
But it was Éanna Nolan who, despite Burns’ tremendous efforts in that second half, who would dominate this game and he was helped hugely by JJ Brady, Conor Byrne, Joe Heatly and Joseph McDonnell in a fine win for the Roundwood lads.
- Éanna Nolan 1-7 (7f), Joe Heatly 0-4, Josh Healy 1-0, Brian Medlycott 0-1.
Éire Óg Greystones: Cael McCloskey 2-0, Oisin Murphy 0-3 (2f), Ryan Ovenden 1-0, Darragh Shanahan 0-1, Daniel Connerty 0-1.
Conor McGuirk; Killian Byrne, Sean McHugh, Jack O’Mahony, JJ Brady, Matthew Fox, Charlie Colleran, Éanna Nolan, Josh Healy, Joseph McDonnell, Joe Heatly, Brian Medlycott, Ryan Healy, Conor Byrne, Eoin Meagher, Raphael Ladchenko, Rory Williams, Tom McKenna, Daniel Concagh.
Scorers AN TOCHAR: ÉIRE ÓG GREYSTONES:
Gavin Lincoln, Corey O’Brien, Daniel Burns, Caelan O’Callaghan, Sam Cunningham, Sean Meyler, Robert Moore, Oisin Murphy, Cael McCloskey, Ryan Ovenden, Jack Caffrey, Darragh Shanahan, Piaras Healy, James O’Dowd, Tom Meyler, Daniel Connerty, Oisin McManus, Charlie Fox (injured), Paddy Marrinan
REFEREE:
Pat Hickey