The Billies run riot

Second half blitz ends Carnew’s championship hopes

BALLYMANUS 3-11 CARNEW EMMETS 1-08

BALLYMANUS took on Carnew in a cold Rathnew on Monday night last in the D’Arcy Sand I.F.C. quarter-final.

There was a breeze that would blow the milk out of your tea but that wasn’t going to stop Paddy Molloy’s and Doc Darcy’s men from getting on with business.

It was the Billies who drew first blood with a driving run from Padraig Byrne who found Kevin Byrne to slot over.

The kick out found Adrian Myers who was playing out around the middle as he was tasked with the job of following roaming corner forward Ciaran Whelan.

Myers found space and headed up the field but was fouled and John Kavangh took it a fine score from some distance out. Not long after that Kavanagh had another.

Carnew were looking the sharper with the two McCreas very alert when on the ball and they extended the lead to 0-04 to 0-01 with 10 minutes on the clock.

The Billies needed to do something and quick. Padraig Byrne came deep for the kick out which he won. He found Roan Lynch who took off like a rat out of a trap and was pulled down, yellow card for the Carnew man.

With a stiff breeze in his face, Ciaran Whelan steps up and kicks a monster from the right hand side of the field - this was no easy task – and he drops it over the bar.

Again the kick-out goes long and finds Niall Osborne who was playing with number 12 on his back, a little out of position for him on a normal day.

Osborne finds Brendan McCrea, he sells his man with a solo, turns to his left, and kicks a humdinger of a score.

There was a few heavy exchanges around the middle and the referee despatched a few yellows to settle things down.

A breaking ball finds Lynch, he takes off again and Carnew have no answer to his pace and it’s another score for him.

It’s end to end stuff. Darragh O’Keeffe wins a mark from the kick-out, passes to Lynch, another score.

Mark Kenny looked starved in the full-forward line so he swaps with Padraig Byrne and he makes an impact straight away with a solo run, avoiding four tackles and floating it over to leave it 0-05 each.

Carnew came on the charge again with Brendan McCrea but he didn’t see Niall Osborne in an acre of space and a goal chance went a begging.

It was all Roan Lynch in the first half and again he was fouled and Whelan tagged on another and Carnew needed to stop fouling when the likes of Ciaran Whelan is in fine form.

Half-time saw the scoreboard reading 0-07to 0-06 in favour of the Billies.

Carnew were well in the game at this stage, or so they thought. As the second half got underway, Darragh O’Keeffe found Padraig Byrne who lifted the net out of it with a superb goal.

Carnew looked rattled from the start of the second period and Whelan added another point from a 45.

Carnew made a double change, Sean Kinsella for Niall Osborne and Mark Collins for Paul Nolan, but worse was yet to come as Padraig Byrne got on the end of a long ball in to fist to the net for goal number two for the county man.

Cormac Doyle took the kick-out and Mark Kenny won the break and fed Padraig Byrne who rattled the crossbar. The ball spills to Kevin Byrne and the Billies had goal number three and the game was as good as over.

More subs come in for Carnew but they looked tired from the pace of the first half and they lost a vital player in Padraig Doran who limped off with a hamstring injury.

Ballymanus then lost wing forward Philip Coogan to a black card for a pull down.

Then came the score of the game from twinkle toes Mark Kenny. He soloed up the line, jinked, twisted, and turned on to his left peg and sent a screamer over the bar.

Brendan Whelan had only entered the action for Philip Coogan and he received a black card of his own for a late tackle. A bit of shadow boxing took place then, nothing serious and referee Robbie Whelan, who was having a decent game, soon had it under control.

Play resumed and moments later Brendan McCrea received a straight red for a similar tackle to earlier and this was a disaster for Carnew.

But they never gave up and they went in the hunt for scores and only for Aidan Byrne with two good tackles and a goal line save they may of found them.

With only a minute left on the clock, Carnew won a penalty which was converted by Conal Mcrea but it was a little too late.

After the final whistle, Ballymanus manager Paddy Molloy walked across the field carrying water bottles and, although he’s not the tallest man among the Ballymanus faithful, the Rathvilly native had the stride of a man measuring 8ft 6” in the stocking feet. Ballymanus march on to face Hollywood in what should be a belter of a semi-final.

Scorers - Ballymanus: Padraig Byrne 2-00, Kevin Byrne 1-01, Roan Lynch 0-02, Mark Kenny 0-02, Ciaran Whelan 0-04 (2f, 1 45), Shane Whelan 0-01, Darragh O’Keeffe 0-01.

Carnew: Conal McCrea 1-01, John Kavanagh 0-03 (3f), Brendan McCrea 0-01, Cillian Gilligan 0-02 (2f), Sean Kinsella 0-01 (45).

Ballymanus: Brendan Doyle; Glen Farrar, Sean O’Neill, Aidan Byrne; Liam Byrne, Darragh Byrne, Shane Whelan; Seamus Coogan, Darragh O’Keeffe; Roan Lynch, Padraig Byrne, Philip Coogan; Kevin Byrne, Mark Kenny, Ciaran Whelan. Subs: Brendan Whelan for P Coogan (BC), Paul Murray for B Whelan (BC), Jim Byrne for Sean O’Neill.

Carnew: Cormac Doyle, Micheal Rock, Paul Nolan, Adrian Myers; Willie Collins, Andew Hughes, Nick Skelton; Justin House, Padraig Doran; Jack Doyle, Brendan McCrea, Niall Osborne; Cillian Gilligan, John Kavanagh, Conal McCrea. Subs: Sean Kinsella for Niall Osborne, Mark Collins for Paul Nolan, John Walshe for Padraig Doran, Timmy Collins for Andrew Hughes, Enda Donohue for Cillian Gilligan.

Referee: Robbie Whelan (Kilcoole)