CARNEW PULL AWAY
Avondale challenge fades after positive opening half
CARNEW EMMETS 3-17 AVONDALE 1-08
LITTLE to be learned from this Senior hurling championship opener from Joule Park, Aughrim, last Sunday other than Carnew Emmets are a work in progress while Avondale won’t crumble but will be ultimately be dissected by the big guns.
There were a handful of decent spells in this game.
The first half was entertaining as Carnew struggled with the showings of Eamonn Kearns, Ray Nolan and Eugene Dunne with the Dales’ most productive spell coming when Kearns and Nolan were switched with Nolan coming out to midfield and Kearns going on to the 45 to compete for the dropping ball from Tom Finn’s puck outs.
The aforementioned Finn had a reasonable game and stopped this from turning into a rout; very little the Avondale netminder could do for the goals that did go in but he put hurl and body to balls that didn’t on umpteen occasions.
The 1-04 to 0-07 score line at the break was reflective of the game in the opening 30 minutes as Carnew looked a bit rudderless and Avondale looked like a side left alone in a room with a big jar of jellies sitting open on the kitchen table.
A few minutes after Kearns and Nolan traded places, with the score at 0-04 to 0-00 in favour of Tom Darcy’s Carnew, they started their recovery.
Carnew’s tally up to that point had been accrued from an Enda Donohue 65 and free, and Andrew Hughes and Jack Doyle from play.
Emmet O’Sullivan realised that Martin O’Brien and the sweeping Padraig Doran were enjoying a right old time under the Finn puck outs so he sent the beast that is Ea- monn Kearns in to provide a stiffer challenge to the Annacurra man at centre-half back and he was soon rewarded for his decision.
A foul by Aaron Kinsella gave Ray Nolan his first chance and he stroked over a fine score with 17 on the clock.
Avondale were growing into the game at this stage and fine work from Keith Byrne along the sideline saw the half-back pick out Ray Nolan and he fired over a superb score to lift the small Avondale support.
An Eamonn Kearns bomb and another Nolan point had Avondale level and had them believing they could cause some damage here if they kept going.
Two Enda Donohue frees interrupted their flow briefly, they coming from fouls on Jack Doyle and Wayne Kinsella but then Eamonn Kearns won a sideline ball off Martin O’Brien and it was sliced across the field into the path of Eugene Dunne who was haring it up the field in the beautiful sunshine.
The centre-half back lobbed in a high ball down on top of the dominant Carnew full-back line and to the sound of “square ball” from the Carnew sideline the ball was returned out into the path of Dunne who walloped home to the back of Michael Collins’ net to give Avondale a fully deserved lead.
Avondale needed to push on in the last few moments of the half but alas an error at the back allowed Wayne Kinsella pounce and the full-forward rifled over the bar to level things at the break.
Almost immediately from the restart, Carnew started to put the pressure on with diagonal balls to Don Hyland and Drew Brennan a feature of the early stages of the half.
Indeed, much of Carnew’s attack came down the wings in the second half with Drew Brennan particularly prominent at times.
Enda Donohue converted a free after wides from Padraig Doran and Don Hyland and then one of those diagonal balls was won by the battling Drew Brennan and from almost on the sideline on the stand side he drifted over an absolute peach of a point, the type of score that can deflate the opposition fairly quickly.
Brennan was the creator moments later when he charged all of 30 yards down on goal to handpass across the goal to his uncle Don Hyland whose shot was saved on the line but he collected the rebound and drove it inches over the Avondale crossbar to push Carnew out to a 0-10 to 1-04 lead.
Where Avondale had been gaining ground in the opening half they were now struggling to create any attacks or make any headway and when they did they found Graham Keogh and Martin O’Brien in unforgiving form and the quick delivery out to the pacy Jack Doyle or Conal McCrea was proving a killer on the Avondale legs.
A sweet delivery from Michael Collins to Jack Doyle saw the young Carnew man drop a ball into the hand of Don Hyland with a lovely patch of green grass for the veteran to run into and only Tom Finn to beat. Hyland bore down on goal but as he switched his feet in preparation for his shot he took a wallop on the elbow from a defender’s hurl and Finn pulled off a great save from the shot.
Carnew had worked themselves into a healthy 0-14 to 1-05 lead before their first goal arrived. It came from the hurl of Conal McCrea who gathered possession at midfield and took on Eugene Dunne in a foot race towards goal. McCrea won that race comfortably and lashed home past Tom Finn to really and truly put the game to bed with 19 gone in the second half. Further goals from Wayne Kinsella and substitute Ian Clancy put a gloss on the final score of 3-17 to 1-08.
It was very much a case of Avondale running out of steam in the second half and Carnew exploiting the spaces that opened up.
Some decent showings from Tom Darcy’s men. Graham Keogh and Martin O’Brien look up for battle. Michael Collins looks useful on the line whle Wille Collins and John Walshe will give away as little as possible in the corners.
Daire Foley has potential and could be an interesting player to keep an eye on as the championship progresses.
The midfield combination of Padraig Doran and Conal McCrea will cause problems for teams down the road while Jack Doyle has energy to burn. Enda Donohue fired over some lovely points over the course of the game while Andrew Hughes is teak tough and willing as hell.
Wayne Kinsella offers a physical force on the edge of the square while Don Hyland still offers flashes of magic and Drew Brennan showed some real ability at times.
Avondale were very reliant on the big names and with their full-forward line held scoreless for 60 minutes that reliance looks set to continue.
A game that was nothing more than an experiment.
Carnew will need serious improvement if they want to halt Bray’s march to another crown.
Scorers – Carnew Emmets: Enda Donohue 0-08 (2 65, 4f), Wayne Kinsella 1-02; Jack Doyle 0-03, Don Hyland 0-02, Conal McCrea 1-00, Ian Clancy 1-00, Drew Brennan 0-01, Andrew Hughes 0-01.
Avondale: Ray Nolan 0-05 (3f), Eamonn Kearns 0-03 (1f), Eugene Dunne 1-00.
Carnew Emmets: Michael Collins; Willie Collins, Graham Keogh, John Walshe; Daire Foley, Martin O’Brien, Aaron Kinsella; Padraig Doran, Conal McCrea; Jack Doyle, Andrew Hughes, Enda Donohue; Don Hyland, Wayne Kinsella, Drew Brennan. Subs: Ian Clancy for D Hyland (49min); Seamus Osborne for C McCrea (54min); Justin House for G Keogh (54min); Robert Lambert for E Donohue (57min).
Avondale: Tom Finn; Dylan Kearns, James Doyle, Anthony O’Toole; James Busher, Eugene Dunne, Keith Byrne; Eamonn Kearns, Niall Heffernan; Dean Gahan, Ray Nolan, Eanna Owens; Joseph Kennedy, Eugene Heffernan, Eoin Heffernan. Subs: Paul Gahan.
Referee: Ciaran Manley (Glenealy)