BALTO IN COMMAND
Kilbride/Lacken defeated in championship opener
BALTINGLASS KILBRIDE/LACKEN 0-20 2-2
BALTINGLASS turned in an extremely impressive display last Sunday evening in their opening round game of Group 3 in the Boom Platform Hire JAFC against Kilbride/Lacken who donned blue jerseys for the occasion.
Tadgh O’Toole landed the opening score in the first minute for Baltinglass. Jack Timmins increased the lead with another point before Henry Sinnott opened his account for the Slaneysiders to see them lead by three points.
Michael Byrne landed the opening score with a point in the tenth minute for Kilbride/Lacken after good work by Niall Keogh.
Jack Timmins pointed after great play by Fabian Dunne. Gerry Phibbs put the Blues back in the hunt with a major, to close out the opening quarter with the scoreboard reading 0-4 to 1-1.
Kilbride/Lacken were short the services of some regulars, with Matt Cripps and Mark O’Connell out injured, both a huge loss.
Baltinglass took a stranglehold of the game at this stage with the evergreen Henry Sinnott doing untold damage.
Henry added a brace of points before Robin Farrell drew a point blank save from Connor O’Toole to keep Kilbride/Lacken in the hunt.
Baltinglass again applied a lot of pressure, but full-back Diarmuid Haughian was clearing plenty of ball to keep them at bay.
Fabian Dunne was picking up a lot of dirty ball for Baltinglass in defence and feeding Henry Sinnott time after time. Michael Dowling landed an inspirational point going into the closing stages of the half as Baltinglass laid siege to the Kilbride/Lacken goal.
William Hanlon closed out the scoring with a point to leave the half-time score at 0-10 to 1-1.
Jason Sinnott pointed a free to increase the lead for Baltinglass on the restart after good work by Tommy Cullen. Jack Timmins, who was in fine form for Baltinglass with placed balls, further increased the lead.
Sean Murphy replied with a rocket of a goal for Kilbride/Lacken albeit from what looked like a pick up in the build up.
However, Baltinglass rallied again, with three pointed frees from Jack Timmins, as full-back Diarmuid Haughian kept testing the Kiltegan officials resolve with some persistent fouling after picking up a yellow card earlier.
Tomas McKeown battled away and tagged on a point, but to no avail as Baltinglass closed out the game with some excellent work by Fabian Dunne, James Tyrell and Robin Farrell.
Baltinglass, with a nice blend of youth and experience, top the table on score difference from An Tochar, and move on now to play Shillelagh in the next round.
Kilbride/Lacken will be hugely disappointed with only registering four scores but have a week off and will have to regroup to do battle with Shillelagh in their next outing to get back in the hunt.
Scorers - Baltinglass: Jack Tim- mins 0-9 (5f), Henry Sinnott 0-3, William Hanlon 0-3, Jason Sinnott 0-02 (1f), James Tyrell 0-1, Tadgh O’Toole 0-1, Michael Dowling 0-1.
Kilbride/Lacken: Sean Murphy 1-0, Gerry Phibbs 1-0, Tom McKeown 0-1, Michael Byrne 0-1.
William Rogers; Karl Furlong, James Keane, Fabian Dunne; Michael Dowling, Tommy Cullen, James Tyrell; Tom Murphy, Tadgh O’Toole; Jason Sinnott, Henry Sinnott, Robin Farrell; Jack Timmins, William Hanlon, Aaron Phelan. Subs: Mark Ashton, Connor Dillon, Pat Nolan.
Connor O’Toole; Larry O’Connor, Diarmuid Haughian, Pat Donohoe; Martin Donoghue, Tim Broe, Niall Keogh; Finn Craul, Tom McKeown; John Joe Nolan, Kevin McLoughlin, Michael Byrne; David Balfe, Gerry Phibbs, Sean Murphy. Subs: Niall Toolis, Owen Keogh, Keith Mordaunt.
Eamon Doyle (Kiltegan)