Stages with victory over Village
not helped when Keith Doyle was black carded by referee Philip Bracken. With no subs it left them with 13 men to start the second half.
However, they refused to buckle and actually battled on gamely drawing the second half scoring.
They raised a green flag on their first attack of the period. Eric Doyle won dirty ball, he fed Jem Hunter who launched a ball into the Aughrim penalty area and Danny Quinn amongst a plethora of bodies managed to bundle the ball home.
Aughrim responded with a run of four scores, from substitute Richie Keegan, Phelan, Robert Lambert and another substitute Diarmuid Whelan. The game be- came severely disjointed at this stage as Aughrim cleared their bench. The last score of the match was a Josh Graham free before Rathnew received a late black card for midfielder Keith Doyle to leave the villagers with 12 men.
Aughrim will be happy with the victory and they gave game time to their panel. Shooting 14 wides will be costly the next day out. Pat Phelan and Conor Lambert were impressive especially in the early stages when they needed to set the tone for the evening.
For Rathnew, Jem Hunter was their best player, however, their defence battled gamely to repel the Aughrim tide and deserve great credit in keeping the score down.
Scorers - Aughrim: Conor Lambert 1-3, Robert Lambert 0-4, Pat Phelan 0-3, Andrew Holt 0-1, Shane McGuckian 0-1, Richard Keegan 0-1, Diarmuid Whelan 0-1.
Rathnew: Danny Quinn 1-0, Josh Graham 0-2, Jem Hunter 0-1.
Brian Lynch; Andrew Holt, Eoin Forsyth, Ian Clancy; Alan Cotton, Robert Lambert, Conor Phelan; Michael Brennan, Pat Phelan; Shane McGuckian, Pierce Lawlor, Pat Kavanagh; Willie Kavanagh, Conor Lambert, Adam Rochford. Subs: Richard Keegan, Diarmuid Whelan, Cillian Donegan, Lorcan Kavanagh, Darren Keegan, Jack Healy.
Richard Kavanagh; Alan Clarke, Ronan Earls, Eric Doyle; Keith Doyle, Nick Kearney, Keith Doyle; Jem Hollingsworth, Shane Manley; Josh Graham, James Hunter, Glen Doyle; Dale Franey, Danny Quinn