Daly shines as Donard triumph

Coolkenno suffer defeat

DONARD-THE GLEN COOLKENNO 4-08 1-06

DONARD-THE GLEN bounced back from a stinging defeat to Tinahely the previous week with an industrious and fully deserved victory over visiting Coolkenno at the Jim Mills Memorial Park last Thursday evening.

The win settles the west men in second position behind the Tinahely men and in a healthier state than Valleymount courtesy of score difference.

Key to the success for DonardThe Glen was the performance of Laurence Daly from midfield who played a major role in the majority of positive elements until his departure from the field due to injury three quarters way through the second half.

His superb goal after 11 minutes of the second period came after a marauding run through the heart of the Coolkenno defence and a low trajectory shot to the bottom corner of Stephen Donoghue’s net and his bruising battle with Colin Murphy at midfield would have been worth the admission price alone had there been one.

Donard-The Glen were 1-03 to 0-00 up after 14 minutes and it would be six minutes later before Coolkenno would register their opening score, from a free by full-forward Gerard Nolan.

Laurence Daly opened the scoring for Donard-The Glen with Colm O’Neill and Dean Mann adding the points and Des Mann firing home to the back of the Coolkenno net after a defensive blunder with eight on the clock.

Coolkenno had their chances in those opening 30 minutes but clocked up five wides for all their endeavor out around the middle third of the field.

The men from the Carlow border needed a boost before halftime as they were finding it tough against an eager defence and that boost came from the boot of corner-forward Hugh Naughton who profited from a miss-timed intervention from Gavin Walshe to gather behind enemy lines, step neatly around goalkeeper Enda Walshe and slip home from close range to make it 1-04 to 1-02 for Donard-The Glen, Coolkenno’s second point arriving courtesy of a Gerard Nolan free.

But Donard-The Glen were looking like the stronger outfit in plenty of positions and they arrived at the half-time break leading 1-06 to 1-02 with points from Dean Mann and a Des Mann converted free widening the gap.

Colin Murphy added to an already excellent showing with a belter of a point after a trundling run up the middle of the field to reply to a wicked score from Dean Mann not long after the restart.

A mugging of Colin Murphy by Laurence Daly at the other end saw the ball worked to Eddie Flynn who swung over a point and with 10 minutes on the second half clock William Lucas pointed a free for Coolkenno after a foul by Gavin Walshe on Tom Jackman to leave it 1-08 to 1-04 in facour of the home side and the game still well and truly in the balance.

But that balance tipped dramatically in the home side’s direction in the next 15 minutes. Daly fired home to put Coolkenno on the ropes. Jerome Kelly, who started the game, made way for Oisin Adler and then reappeared for Cameron Griffin in the second half, was getting on plenty of ball but fired wide and then came up short with another effort which prompted the vocal Paddy Toomey to bellow instructions that suggested he pass the ball to a colleague rather than take on the shooting duties himself.

Coolkenno notched up a point with 18 gone through Gerard Nolan and they had some cause for optimism when the influential Laurence Daly was forced to leave the field of play but the blow that sent the visitors to their knees arrived with 24 minutes gone when Shane Eager sent a screamer of a shot across Stephen Donoghue’s goal and into the top corner to make it 3-08 to 1-05.

Coolkenno battled away and kept fighting to the bitter end but Brendan Coyne’s late humdinger to the bottom corner of Stephen Donoghue’s net put the finishing touches to a fine hour’s work by the men of Donard-The Glen and sent Coolkenno on the long drive home wondering about missed opportunities and defensive frailties that contributed to their undoing.

Scorers – Donard-The Glen: Dean Mann 0-04, Des Mann 1-01 (1f), Laurence Daly 1-01, Shane Eager 1-00, Declan Healy 1-00, Eddie Flynn 0-01, Colm O’Neill 0-01.

Cookenno: Hugh Naughton 1-00, Gerard Nolan 0-03 (2f), Colin Murphy 0-01, William Lucas 0-02 (1f).

Donard-The Glen: Enda Walshe; Gavin Walshe, Brendan Daly, Jerome Kelly; Shane Eager, Michael Daly, Gerard Daly; Rory Toomey, Laurence Daly; Dean Mann, Steve O’Doherty, Cameron Griffin; Des Mann, Eddie Flynn, Colm O’Neill. Subs: Oisin Adler for J Kelly (11min), Declan Healy for C O’Neill (39min), Jerome Kelly for C Griffin (41min), Brendan Coyne for L Daly (49min, inj).

Coolkenno: Stephen Donoghue; Thomas Bolger, Anthony Keogh, Richard Quinn; Padraic Waterton, Pierce McCarthy, Charles Burgess; Colin Murphy, Ian Roche; Gavin Doyle, Tom Jackman, William Lucas; Cormac Byrne, Gerard Nolan, Hugh Naughton. Sub: Paul Waterton for H Naughton.

Referee: Ciaran Fleming (Baltinglass)