Aughrim through to knockout Tenacious An Tochar lay down marker
AN TOCHAR BALTINGLASS 0-18 0-15
AN Tochar laid down a marker for the Boom Platform Hire Junior A Football Championship with an excellent victory over a very good Baltinglass team at scenic Laragh last Saturday evening.
This was a real see-saw tussle that swung in both directions with sending offs having a massive bearing on the outcome.
Baltinglass, who have been impressive in their opening championship matches this summer, were quickly out of the blocks with an Aaron Phelan point after crafty veteran Henry Sinnott had set him into space.
An Tochar responded instantly with Liam Gaffney pointing a tremendous effort on the turn from 50 yards out.
The game was played with a real pace and intensity with Jack Timmons popping up with two points to give Baltinglass a slight advantage. Six points were traded over the next 15 minutes giving the men from the west a six points to four advantage.
From this moment, An Tochar got on top for the remainder of the half. A feature of this period was goalkeeper Peter Byrne’s kickouts. He struck five and had players running into space to gather possession every time, Conor Davis the chief beneficiary of Byrne’s accuracy.
Centre forward Brendan Swords cut the gap before pacey wing back Eamon Wolohan tied things up. Wolohan then turned provider with a diagonal cross field kick finding Brendan Kennedy for the An Tochar lead score.
Kennedy added the next two too and when Swords pointed another from distance Roundwood were four clear. Baltinglass needed a score and Jack Timmons provided it after Henry Sinnott was fouled. It was a blow to them though as Sinnott was forced from the field with a nasty looking knee injury.
Roundwood’s Gerard Byrne closed out the first half scoring with a fabulous individual point where he showed strength, speed and accuracy. Half-time was a godsend for Baltinglass who needed to regroup.
On the resumption they showed the urgency they had at the start with the midfield of Jamie McTiernan and Tommy Murphy getting on top they got the first three points of the half through Mark Ashton, Timmons and McTiernan.
Roundwood lost corner-back Stephen Connor to a red card for striking as Baltinglass looked to kick on. Conor Davis with a much-needed point put the gap back to two. With Baltinglass using their extra man in the half back line, An Tochar were struggling to get into scoring positions.
Ashton, who was causing serious anxiety in the full-forward line, barreled through for a point and Timmons levelled it up. Roundwood introduced sub Stephen Collier and from his first possession he pointed a superb score from long range.
It was Baltinglass on top all over the pitch though with James Tyrrell tying the scores up again before turning provider for James Quinn to put the men from the west in front. When Ashton broke two tackles and scored his third it appeared to be slipping from Roundwood.
However, from the kickout the contest turned again as Ashton received a second yellow for a high tackle and Baltinglass lost all momentum.
The last ten minutes was all Roundwood. Liam Halligan pointed immediately after the sending off before Kennedy tied it up as the temperature rose and the teams got feisty.
Baltinglass suffered another blow when Phelan received his marching orders from referee Eddie Leonard for what appeared to be a headbutt. The wave of Roundwood attacks yielded the winning run of scores in the last five minutes.
Firstly, substitute Eoghan Marah put them in front, then Byrne stretched the lead after Collier shoveled a well-timed pass on to him. The final score of the game was from Conor Davis with a delightfully clipped score after a rampaging run through the Baltinglass defence.
A thoroughly enjoyable contest. Baltinglass will rue losing Ashton who had the winning of this contest if he stayed on the pitch and Henry Sinnott through his injury with Jack Timmons and Jamie McTiernan being hugely influential.
For the victors,Peter Byrne’s kickouts were very efficient, with Eamon Wolohan , Ger Byrne and Conor Davis all having fine games. However, man of the moment had to be Brendan Kennedy with five points from play in a tight game like this, some from incredibly acute angles.
Roundwood will fancy their chances for the rest of the summer. Baltinglass will regroup and will no doubt love another rattle off the An Tochar men before the championship is over.
Scorers - An Tochar: Brendan Kennedy 0-5, Conor Davis 0-3, Gerard Byrne 0-3, Brendan Swords 0-2, Eamon Wolohan 0-1, Liam Gaffney 0-1, William Halligan 0-1, Stephen Collier 0-1, Eoghan Marah 0-1.
Baltinglass: Jack Timmons 0-7, Mark Ashton 0-3, James Tyrrell 0-1, Jason Sinnott 0-1, Henry Sinnott 0-1, Jamie McTiernan 0-1, James Quinn 0-1.
Peter Byrne; Stephen Connor, James Salley, Colm O’Brien; Eamon Wolohan, Conor Short, Noel Power; Gerard Byrne, Conor Davis; Liam Gaffney, Brendan Swords, William Halligan; Brendan Kennedy, Tom Kenna, Graham Sutton. Subs: David Kavanagh, Stephen Collier, Gavin Kenny, Eoghan Marah, Joe Gaffney.
William Rogers; Fabian Dunne, James Keane, Karl Furlong; James Tyrrell, Tommy Cullen, Robin Farrell; Tommy Murphy, Tadhg O’Toole; Aaron Phelan, Henry Sinnott, Jason Sinnott; Jack Timmons, Mark Ashton, William Hanlon. Subs: Jamie McTiernan, James Quinn, John Donnegan.
Eddie Leonard (St Patrick’s)
AUGHRIM RATHNEW 2-14 1-3
AUGHRIM qualified for the knockout stages as group winners in the Boom Platform Hire Junior A Football Championship with a comfortable victory over a depleted Rathnew side at Newtown last Friday evening.
Rathnew, travelling with just 14 players due to a variety of reasons, showed their trademark grit and determination to give Aughrim a challenge when some clubs would probably have conceded the walkover.
Aughrim, buoyed by an impressive victory over a fancied Kilcoole side in their last outing, started strongly and had the first three points on the board within five minutes with Conor Lambert (2) and marauding corner-back Andrew Holt doing the damage.
Rathnew got off the mark shortly after with a good team move providing Jem Hunter with the opportunity to split the posts. However, it was all Aughrim from here on with Robert Lambert striking two long-distance frees.
The game’s first goal came on 15 minutes. Conor Phelan picked the ball up 50 yards out he switched on the afterburners and galloped through the heart of the village defence before offloading to full-forward Conor Lambert lingering on the edge of the square and the Aughrim man rolled the ball home.
Further points by Shane McGuckian and a lovely team score with Pat Phelan supplying the finish after running off Lambert’s shoulder increased Aughrim’s lead.
Rathnew refused to lie down and only two excellent saves by Aughrim netminder Brian Lynch from Josh Graham kept the net intact, the second of which he flicked over the bar.
Aughrim closed out the first half scoring with a string of three scores from Robert Lambert, Phelan and Conor Lambert from way out on the sideline.
The Villagers’ chances were