On for victory

slipped a neat pass to Kevin Kealy who lobbed over off his left for a 0-03 to 0-00 lead to Donard.

A John Kavanagh free and a bomb of a point from Seanie Kinsella brought Carnew right back into the game and a converted free each from Daly and Kavanagh made it 0-04 to 0-03 to Donard after 17 minutes.

Daly from play was answered by Donohue and Kavanagh from frees but the final word of the first half fell to Kevin Kealy and he popped over a nice point to send the west side in leading 0-07 to 0-05.

Tom Darcy sprung Timmy Collins from the bench after the break and he had an immediate impact with a point as Carnew upped the ante considerably.

There was drama early on in the second when Carnew goalkeeper Cormac Doyle fumbled a ball from John Hanbidge and Brian Lennon was in like a light and he hit the deck with Garreth Whelan signaling for a penalty. Doyle was shown a black card and Alan Daly fired the penalty wide with eight gone. Could Carnew use this miss as a rallying force?

Conor Healy pointed a screamer off the outside of the right boot not long after the penalty and the key period of the game followed with points from Bill Flynn and Harry Mangan for Donard to open up a 0-10 to 0-06 lead.

Timmy Collins and Cillian Gilligan reduced the deficit but Mangan and Daly made it 0-12 to 0-08 and that’s how it would stay as Donard-The Glen claimed a deserved victory overall against a Carnew team who didn’t cope with the conditions as well as their west counterparts.

Both teams face tough clashes ahead.

Scorers – Donard-The Glen: Alan Daly 0-04 (1f), Kevin Kealy 0-02, Harry Mangan 0-02 (2f), Conor Healy 0-01, Brian Lennon 0-01 (f), John Hanbidge 0-01, Bill Flynn 0-01.

Carnew Emmets: John Kavanagh 0-03 (3f), Seanie Kinsella 0-01, Enda Donohue 0-01 (f), Timmy Collins 0-02, Cillian Gilligan 0-01.

Mark Moore; Kevin Osborne, Alan Tutty, Conor Kelly; Eoin Kelly, Colin Osborne, Bill Flynn; John Hanbidge, Brian Lennon; Sean Branagan, Kevin Kealy, Darren O’Neill; Alan Daly, Conor Healy, Ray Halloran. Subs: Harry Mangan for D O’Neill (42min); 23 for 10 (48min), Niall Curran for S Brannigan.

Cormac Doyle; Adrian Myers, Paul Nolan, Niall Osborne; Jack Doyle, Willie Collins, Nick Skelton; Andrew Hughes, Justin House; Enda Donohue, Seanie Kinsella, Drew Brennan; Cillian Gilligan, John Kavanagh, Conal McCrea. Subs: Timmy Collins for D Brennan (H/T); Dara Kelly for C Doyle (38min, BC), Michael Rock for S Kinsella, John Walshe for N Osborne, Liam Kennedy for E Donohue

Garreth Whelan (Kiltegan)

BALLYMANUS RATHNEW 1-10 1-10

IT was as dramatic a finale as you’re likely to see down in Pearse’s Park last Friday evening when Rathnew and Ballymanus locked horns in the D’Arcy Sands Intermediate Football Championship.

After a pulsating battle, the fate of the championship points rested in the capable hands of Rathnew’s Edward Doyle after he had won something of a dubious free as the game entered its closing stages down on the stand side on the 21-yard line.

Moments before this kick, Doyle had split the posts after a very productive evening from placed balls, but this one was different as he had a full-bodied chorus of Ballymanus supporters ringing in his ears as he lined up the kick.

Unfortunately, from Rathnew ‘s point of view, Doyle’s kick veered to the right of the uprights and wide and the subsequent action provided no further scores so the final whistle heralded a draw at 1-10 apiece and, perhaps, it was the fairest of results given the thoroughly entertaining battle we had witnessed on the field before us.

There were numerous game-changing incidents and switches in this encounter.

The loss of Paddy Byrne (Moyne) to what has now been confirmed as a ruptured cruciate ligament was a particularly hard blow for the Billies.

The county man had started very well, had been involved in the majority of positive things the Ballymanus men had created and was sorely missed in the second half when his tenacity and creativity might have engineered a few more vital scores.

However, possibly the most telling of all incidents in the game was the moving of Dean Franey back to the role of sweeper in front of his full-back line in the opening half. The full effect of this move might not have been abundantly obvious in the remainder of the opening half but his numerous interceptions and his typically abrasive play in the second half curtailed the influence of Mark Kenny and provided Rathnew with some very important go-forward ball.

It was the aforementioned Kenny who impressed most in the opening half; everything he touched being turned to pure gold at times. He opened the score after leading the Rathnew full-back line on a merry dance in the opening minute and added a second moments later on the far side of Edward Doyle’s opener from a free for Rathnew after Dean Franey had been fouled by Seanie O’Neill.

But Rathnew were in patient form and points from Ronan Doyle and another Edward Doyle free left them leading by 0-03 to 0-02 after 10 minutes of hard-hitting and very enjoyable football.

There were two early goal chances in the games as well with Brendan Doyle saving well from Andrew O’Brien and Dylan Keogh getting down superbly to prevent Padraig Byrne’s low strike.

But goals were coming and that old trusty high ball technique proved to be a winner for Rathnew when Dean Franey fired in a bomb on top of Jordon Graham and the Rathnew attacker turned sweetly and rifled home to the bottom corner.

The crowd had barely time to catch their breaths when Paddy Byrne released Padraig Byrne and the centre-half forward waltzed through the Rathnew defence to fire home past the abandoned Keogh.

A Kieran Doyle free after a foul on Philip Coogan made it 1-03 apiece after 15 minutes. This was going to be a belter.

But then Paddy Byrne went over in what seemed to be a harmless situation but from his reaction and his punching of the ground as he lay prostrate it was clear to see that something very serious was wrong.

After swift treatment, Paddy was removed from the field on a stretcher to a round of applause and the game got underway again with Roan Lynch taking the Moyne man’s place.

With Franey back sweeping now, it was more difficult for Ballymanus to dissect the Village defence but they were still drawing the odd free and Kieran Whelan was in fine form from the dead ball and one from him and Mark Kenny’s third from play – all three being superb strikes – put Ballymanus into a 1-05 to 1-03 lead.

Edward Doyle reduced that with another sweetly taken free kick before Padraig Byrne fired over a screamer and things might have looked even better for the Billies had Roan Lynch not pulled a goal shot wide after a long burst up the field.

Kieran Whelan opened the second half scoring after wides from both sides and a massive point from Roan Lynch put Ballymanus in a good spot at 1-08 to 1-04 ahead.

But Rathnew are never down for long. An excellent Philip Murphy point was followed by an Edward Doyle pointed free and then Ronan Doyle thumped over two outstanding points from distance to leave the sides level after 18 minutes of the second half.

With Dean Franey bossing things around his own 21, Rathnew were making major advances up through the middle of the field and on one of these forays the ball was worked to Stuart Murphy who dropped over a beast of a score to give his side the lead and this was extended by an Edward Doyle point from a free after Glen Farrar fouled Jordon Graham.

But, like Rathnew, you never really have Ballymanus beaten until the final whistle, and a class Kieran Whelan pointed free and a tremendous score from midfielder Darragh O’Keefe left the sides level with four of normal to go.

Kieran Whelan went wide, Mark Kenny did likewise as he came hunting further out the field while being kept company by Philip O’Neill, and then Stuart Murphy sent a ball down into the corner for Edward Doyle to run on to. The Rathnew attacker bounded out to the sideline with Seanie O’Neill breathing heavily down on to the back of his neck and Doyle hit the deck and Robert Whelan’s whistle sounded much to the disgust of O’Neill and the Ballymanus supporters.

Doyle fired wide and nothing came from the additional 60 seconds or so and the final whistle sounded with probably a mix of relief and regret for both teams. Great battle though.

Scorers – Ballymanus: Kieran Whelan 0-04 (3f), Mark Kenny 0-03, Padraig Byrne 1-01, Roan Lynch 0-01, Darragh O’Keefe 0-01.

Rathnew: Edward Doyle 0-05 (5f), Ronan Doyle 0-03, Jordon Graham 1-00, Philip Murphy 0-01, Stuart Murphy 0-01.

Ballymanus: Brendan Doyle; Glen Farrar, Seán O’Neill, Aidan Byrne; Liam Byrne, Darragh Byrne, Shane Whelan; Seamus Coogan, Darragh O’Keefe; Philip Coogan, Pádraig Byrne, Paddy Byrne (Moyne); Kevin Byrne, Mark Kenny, Kieran Whelan. Subs: Roan Lynch for P Byrne (23min, inj), Brendan Whelan for P Coogan (54min), Jim Byrne for A Byrne (54min)

Rathnew: Dylan Keogh; Ross Quinn, James Manley, Patrick Connor; Andrew O’Brien, Gary Byrne, Philip O’Neill; Stuart Murphy, Jonah Graham; Edward Doyle, Philip Murphy, Ronan Doyle; Seamus Cosgrove, Dean Franey, Jordon Graham. Subs: Jamie O’Connor for S Cosgrove (58min).

Referee: Robert Whelan (Kilcoole)