AGB looking lethal
Redmond’s charges rampage to win against Kiltegan
AGB KILTEGAN 2-15 1-11
ANYONE doubting AGB’s championship credentials would have been given serious pause for thought after the first half of their Renault Senior Football Championship quarter-final clash with Kiltegan in Joule Park Aughrim on Sunday afternoon last.
A stunning display of attacking football had left Damien Redmond’s men ahead by 0-10 to 0-3 at the break with Kiltegan having no answer for the Arklow side’s ambition or movement.
Claims that the AGB side are ‘too young’ or that it’s a ‘year too soon’ don’t seem to be holding true given their championship campaign to date and it might just be the case that it is precisely their youth that could be their greatest asset as they await their semi-final clash against either St Pat’s or Rathnew.
As a brief counter measure to the AGB performance it should be noted that Kiltegan did not seem to be anywhere near their best and it was only in the second half that they started to gain a foothold in the game, although anything other than an AGB victory was never really in doubt apart from when they closed to within four points with 12 to go. However, three unanswered points from AGB put that notion to bed very quickly.
Concerns over AGB’s full-back line were answered to a certain degree with Tom Maher and Karl Kirwan enjoying excellent games and James Tyrrell holding his own against Seanie Furlong who bagged four points from play.
AGB opened up a 0-5 to 0-0 lead after seven minutes of what can only be described as beautiful football. Cathal Kelliher, the superb Cormac O’Shea (two, one free), Stephen Hurley and the beats that is Chris O’Brien rifling over the points to leave Kiltegan gasping for air on the Joule Park Aughrim turf.
The west side would strike next, through a Seanie Furlong free but AGB would continue their rout of Trevor Doyle’s charges with a sublime burst that saw points registered by Darragh Fitzgerald, Cormac O’Shea (free), two beauties from Chris O’Brien and a bomb from Ciaran O’Shea from half-back who collected a ball from the energetic Andrew Maher.
Kiltegan would finish the half on a positive note with points from Jacko Dalton and another free from Seanie Furlong to leave it at the 0-10 to 0-3 margin at the break.
A bright start was badly needed for Kiltegan who were not only facing into a seven-point deficit but also the wind for the second half and Seanie Furlong looked to have kickstarted something when he pointed in the opening minute.
However, any suggestion that Kiltegan were going to get anything easy in the second half was rapidly and brutally quashed when a Seanie Furlong free dropped short and was gathered by James Tyrrell who set off up the field with the outstanding Cormac O’Shea firing home a screamer to the back of Fergal Harmon’s net.
Seanie Furlong and Cormac O’Shea swapped scores to make it 1-11 to 0-5 with 12 on the clock and Damien Redmond sent in Cormac Hyland for Philip Healy. It’s worth noting that Ciaran Hyland played no part in this game while it should also be said that Kiltegan’s Blaine Harmon played the majority of this match while obviously carrying a serious hand injury.
A Kiltegan revival got underway at this stage with Seanie Furlong pointing and Padraig O’Toole collecting a Jacko Dalton ball to fire home past Mervyn Travers. Furlong added another and suddenly it was back to four and there was hope for Trevor Doyle’s men.
However, that man Cormac O’Shea just couldn’t be contained, and he fired over two points (one fee) in rapid succession and Chris O’Brien added another to open up a seven-point6 gulf between the teams.
Seanie Furlong (two, one free) stopped the rot but Cormac O’Shea underlined his man of the match performance when he walloped in a late 1-2 (one free) with the goal being an absolute peach.
AGB have potential, to say anything otherwise would be to deny the obvious.
Their victory does come with a slight health warning in that Kiltegan were certainly not at their best and they had a mentor and manager Trevor Doyle both sent from the field late in the second half by referee Noel Kinsella to complete a fairly disappointing day at the office.
AGB march on. They will have to expect the stakes, standards and obstacles to rise rapidly in the semi-final regardless of who they’ll meet but given their ambition and their youth, who’s to say they can’t cross any of the obstacles left in this Senior championship.
Scorers – AGB: Cormac O’Shea 2-7 (6f), Chris O’Brien 0-4, Kieran O’Shea 0-1, Darragh Fitzgerald 0-1, Stephen Hurley 0-1, Cathal Kelliher 0-1.
Kiltegan: Seanie Furlong 0-9 (5f), Jacko Dalton 0-2, Padraig O’Toole 1-0.
Mervyn Travers; Karl Kirwan, James Tyrrell, Tom Maher; Kieran O’Shea, Cal Kelly, Andrew Maher; JP Hurley, Chris O’Brien; Darragh Fitzgerald, Cormac O’Shea, JP Hempenstall; Philip Healy, Cathal Kelliher, Stephen Hurley. Subs: Tiernan McBride for C Kelly, Cormac Hyland for P Healy.
Fergal Harmon; Bryan Kearrney, Stephen Farrell, John Farrell; Colm Keogh, Adam Wynne, Liam Keogh; Rory Finn, Blaine Harmon; Aaron Byrne, Seanie Furlong, Padraig O’Toole; Mikie Foley, Cathal Fitzgerald, Jacko Dalton. Subs: Luke Byrne for A Byrne
Noel Kinsella (Kilbride)