Rathnew show mettle to book their place in final
RATHNEW booked their place in the Junior ‘B’ final last Saturday with a resounding second half comeback over Kiltegan.
Shorn of a full 15 before the half-time interval and down by five straight after the restart, the men from the Village rallied to keep the possibility of a Rathnew treble alive and well.
Kiltegan got the opening half up and running with the first three scores in the opening 15 minutes. Two frees from Ciaran Doyle and an effort from play from Mark Ryan bringing some life to a game that was a slow starter.
Ryan and Alan Clarke were to have a tremendous duel over the course of the hour with no inch given by either competitor.
Keith Doyle, the hat-trick hero in the quarter final defeat of Baltinglass, almost raised a green flag for his side in the 16th minute only to be thwarted by Jason Hobson on the Kiltegan goal line.
With this, Rathnew sparked into life a little with Michael Nolan intercepting a Kiltegan clearance and the ball was eventually worked to Dale Franey who opened the scoring for his side. Josh Graham added a free moments later and out of nothing, Rathnew only had a one-point deficit.
John Keogh however, had different ideas at the other end and he added a hat-trick of scores for his side as Kiltegan had played the much better football in the opening half and were worthy of their four-point lead. Just before referee Mattie Dowling blew his half-time whistle, the Rathnew cause appeared to take a blow when wing back John Healy was sent to the dressing rooms for a late hit on a Kiltegan attacker leaving the official no option but to brandish a red card.
It has to be noted that while having a decent outing, the officials on the day in Arklow were left short changed with only one linesman available to them in a county championship semi-final.
Buoyed by their numerical advantage, Kiltegan opened up a five-point gap early in the second period with a free from Ciaran Doyle after a foul on John Keogh.
However, this Rathnew team take some beating and after Keith Doyle slotted over a good score after finding himself on the end of a long free, Rathnew struck a crucial goal.
James Hunter, who up to this point was being kept relatively frustrated by Colm O’Connor, found a bit of space for himself. The rangy full-forward worked his way down the railway side before heading for goal and firing a thunderous left footed shot into the far top corner of the Kiltegan net.
Rathnew were sparked into life and the immense Lee Kavanagh turned over ball in the Kiltegan half with a relentless fist, Dean Breen managed to manoeuvre into a shooting position and fire over an equaliser.
The tide had turned so quickly in the opening minutes and after a point from Hunter and the same player assisting Keith Doyle for another, Rathnew had managed to score 1-4 in the opening eight minutes of the half and found themselves two points up.
Kiltegan needed something quickly, and influential wing back got them back on track on the 42nd minute with a fantastic score after receiving the ball from Fergal Farrell after a deep run. John O’Toole followed up this score with a magnificent score of his own after a long run into Rathnew territory with the ball.
Unfortunately for the men from the west, they turned over possession too easily on occasions and these were punished by Rathnew. With the game evenly poised entering the final quarter, a Kiltegan side line on their own 21 was played short to a defender but it was a little too short as Hunter was alert to the situation and the ball was stolen and worked to Keith Doyle for a point.
Ciaran Doyle responded with a rousing score for Kiltegan to keep the matter even and it wouldn’t have been unfair on their efforts if a replay was awarded.
However, there were still 10 minutes to play and for every big score in championship it needs a big game player and Rathnew’s centre back Lee Kavanagh answered the cause to fire over a fine score for his side to restore his sides lead.
Try as they might for the final 10 minutes, Kiltegan could not break down the Rathnew rear guard with Michael Nolan, the Kavanaghs, Hunter and Robert Byrne all playing a key role but they almost snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a long ball into Ryan leaving him one on one with Sayer, but his effort on goal blazed agonisingly wide much to the relief of the Village who head into a final with Enniskerry in confident mood after surviving this massive test.
Rathnew – James Hunter (1-1), Keith Doyle (0-3), Dale Franey, Dean Breen, Josh Graham, Lee Kavanagh (0-1 each)
Kiltegan - Ciaran Doyle (0-4) John Keogh (0-3) Mark Ryan, Dan Kearney, John O’Toole (0-1 each)
Kiltegan: Ciaran O’Toole, Jason Hobson, Colm O’Connor, Niall Foley, James O’Brien, Brian Kearney, Dan Kearney, Philip Penrose, John O’Toole, Luke Byrne, Ciaran Doyle, Fergal Farrell, Steven Coogan, Mark Ryan, John Keogh. Subs: Kieran Doyle for Hobson, Emmett Murphy for Farrell, Padraig Keogh for Byrne
Rathnew: John Sayer, Chris Murphy, Alan Clarke, Eric Doyle, James Kavanagh, Lee Kavanagh, John Healy, Michael Nolan, Robert Byrne, Dale Franey, Josh Graham, Luke Corcoran, Michael Doyle, James Hunter, Keith Doyle Subs: Ivan Kelly for M Doyle, Dean Breen for L Corcoran, Gavin Byrne for Franey
Referee: Mattie Dowling