Old foes can’t be separated
Merrigan nicks equaliser
BALTINGLASS RATHNEW 4-07 3-10
WHEN Chris Heaslip fired wide shortly after having lashed home past Peter Dignam to complete his hat-trick at the end of last Sunday’s Renault Senior football championship clash between Baltinglass and Rathnew, the full expectation from the crowd was that that was going to be the final act after 33 minutes of what had been a very entertaining clash between these two arch rivals.
Had referee John Keenan blown that full-time whistle, Baltinglass would have recorded a one-point victory at 4-7 to 3-09 over their old nemesis.
Peter Dignam places the ball down and balloons out the kickout where it’s gathered by Damien Power, his second mark in seconds. There’s no final whistle. The Baltinglass supporters emit a collective groan of protest.
They nor the Rathnew contingent have been entirely supportive of the Aughrim official’s decisions throughout this game. No breaking news there to be fair. Gandhi would have found it very difficult to appease either of these camps.
Power surges up the field and feeds Graham Merrigan who skips off like a young deer and weaves his way into the Baltinglass defence and you know he’s going to be afforded one last chance and credit to the Rathnew half-forward he slots over a beauty that was worthy of drawing any game.
Was this an insignificant turn of events? Not one bit. The psychological difference between Rathnew losing to both Pat’s and Baltinglass and Rathnew losing to just Pat’s in the group stages is far from insignificant and that late Graham Merrigan equaliser could be a major factor in the championship road still be to travelled.
For what was dubbed a dead rubber game, this had all the traits of a knock-out championship clash. There was some very decent football played in an atmosphere that was at times quite abrasive.
Baltinglass, even without the likes of Ian Sheerin, John McGrath and Henry Sinnott look in a very good place. The pace of Adam McHugh and Chris Heaslip to name just two was very impressive. The tireless work of Kevin Murphy was mighty, John Murray was excellent while Sean O’Brien and Dan Kelly showed well at times. It’s hard not to see Baltinglass being in the mix at the crunch end of things.
Rathnew are Rathnew. With Jamie Snell, Ross O’Brien and Leighton Glynn to return to the starting 15 you just can’t rule them out for collecting the Miley. They’re never beaten until that big blue gate in Joule Park, Aughrim, is being locked on a Sunday evening and the carcass of the game is being devoured in cars heading home on all the different roads.
The sides were level at the break at 2-03 to 1-06, Rathnew’s goals coming from Mark Doyle and Eddie Doyle, Adam McHugh nearly ripping Peter Dignam’s net at the other end.
Eddie Doyle grabbed two of the Village points, his first from a free after a foul by the sweeping Brian Nolan with the Baltinglass supporters screaming that Doyle had overcarried. Warren Kavanagh fired over in between Doyle’s pair of frees.
Jason Kennedy profited from good work from Kevin Murphy to open Baltinglass’s account and he was also fouled by Paul Merrigan moments later and Dan Kelly dropped over the free from the 21.
Baltinglass could have been much further ahead at the break had they went for the jugular at key moments when they had men in better positions inside but the sides retired all square and we were set for a cracking second half.
After a point from a Mark Doyle free, Baltinglass attacked through Jason Kennedy.
He sent what looked to be an unhelpful ball into the corner for Adam McHugh who had Warren Kavanagh breathing down the back of his neck.
But McHugh was really impressive in this game. He skipped past Kavanagh and flew in along the endline with Damien Power looking to get back.
The young Baltinglass attacker looked up and spotted Chris Heaslip across the square in front of goal and he floated a delicious pass just beyond the fingertips of the diving Nicky Mernagh and Heaslip finished home delightfully.
Rathnew were never going away. Eddie Doyle answered a Brian Nolan point with a free before James Stafford nearly broke the crossbar on the dressing room end with a rasper.
Eddie Doyle and Mark Doyle both raised white flags before a miss-hit Theo Smith effort from out the field was gathered by James Stafford in front of the Baltinglass goal and there’s only one place that ball is headed and that’s the back of the net, no two ways about it. 3-07 to 2-07, game on.
Eddie Doyle pushed Rathnew four ahead and then Heaslip returned. A stunning volley to the bottom corner of Peter Dignam’s net was followed by a wicked strike after tasty work by Conor Keogh and a dainty pass from Jason Kennedy.
Rathnew attacked but lost possession twice and Heaslip fired wide with a chance to more or less kill the game. Dignam kicks, Power catches, Merrigan collects and on he goes and up goes the white flag. A draw. If these two meet again this year it would be advisable not to miss it.
Scorers – Baltinglass: Chris Heaslip 3-00, Dan Kelly 0-04 (3f), Jason Kennedy 0-01, Adam McHugh 1-00, Sean O’Brien 0-01, Brian Nolan 0-01.
Rathnew: Eddie Doyle 1-06 (4f), Mark Doyle 1-02 (1f), James Stafford 1-00, Warren Kavanagh 0-01, Graham Merrigan 0-01.
Rathnew: Peter Dignam; David Jameson, Damien Power, Paul Merrigan; John Manley, Nicky Mernagh, Garry Byrne; James Stafford, Theo Smyth; Graham Merrigan, Jody Merrigan, Warren Kavanagh; Stephen Byrne, Mark Doyle, Eddie Doyle. Subs: Danny Staunton for J Manley (H/T).
Baltinglass: William Hanlon; Tommy Murphy, John Murray, Alan Nolan; Pat Burke, Kevin Murphy, Stephen Heaslip; Mikey English, Jason Kennedy; Adam McHugh, Chris Heaslip, Conor Keogh; Brian Nolan, Sean O’Brien, Dan Kelly. Subs: Peadar Burke for B Nolan (43min), Peter Dowling for M English (48min), Cian Lee for A McHugh (58min), Mark Jackson for W Hanlon (60min).
Referee: John Keenan (Aughrim)