JOHN SAVAGE
THE man in the middle made himself the centre of attention as a sleepy Saturday in The Grove erupted into an afternoon of drama and controversy.
Kildare ref Noel McKenna may not have been very well known to O’Connell’s or Kilbride followers before their Leinster IFC clash on Saturday, but he certainly made an impression on both clubs with a bizarre display.
The Naas whistler doled out a whopping 10 red cards, dismissing two O’Connell’s players in each half, and leaving the visitors with just nine men at full-time.
Eight players received their marching orders in the second period alone, with seven departing in a farcical final 10 minutes.
And two ‘Maor Uisce’ were also ordered off in the opening half following a small sideline skirmish.
McKenna certainly didn’t get all of the decisions wrong, but he frustrated and exasperated both camps from the start and backed himself into a corner somewhat with a flurry of early yellow cards.
The game itself was almost a sideshow by the finish, but O’Connell’s will be both delighted and relieved to book a Louth/ Meath derby date with Curraha.
And despite the 10 dismissals they came through it relatively unscathed, with only Paul McKeever and substitute Sean Connolly likely to miss the quarter-final clash through suspension.
Four points and a man down after 20 minutes, the Louth champs looked to be in serious trouble, but they only really came to life after McKeever became the first red card victim.
With county star Darragh Foley making an impressive start, Kilbride dominated the opening quarter, barely letting the hosts out of their own half.
Playing into a stiffening breeze, O’Connell’s were barely hanging in, but after kicking four points in seven minutes, Kilbride didn’t manage to add to their tally for the rest of the opening half and seven first-half wides would prove costly by the end.
It took the hosts 18 minutes to conjure a shot at the target and they didn’t open their account for a further five minutes when Niall Conlon and Robbie Quigley kicked back-to-back scores.
But once the ‘Bellingham boys found their rhythm they looked far more dangerous than the visitors - even with 14 men.
A Conlon free cut the gap to the minimum as half-time approached, but if they looked like they might be capable of pulling a victory out of the bag with 14 men, disaster struck when Robbie Quigley followed McKeever to the line on two yellows, both seemingly for dissent.
But with the final kick of the half Sean Cairns burst through to level matters at the interval, 0-4 apiece.
With fitness always likely to be a factor in tough conditions, a good start to the second period was crucial for O’Connell’s, and they could scarcely have hoped for better than a sublime goal from the superb Conlon.
Assisted by Stuart Osborne, the full forward intercepted a short Kilbride kick-out, but Conlon still had work to do to bend a beautifully placed finish to the bottom corner.
With their noses in front the challenge was to stay there, but when Kilbride closed to within a point, O’Connell’s kicked on again with a couple of Conlon frees and a well-worked score from Dean Stanfield.
Kilbride had their first player dismissed when Sean Foley picked up a second yellow card and they lost another when Pauric Nolan followed on a straight red.
With their numerical disadvantage wiped out and a four-point lead to protect, the finish line was in sight for O’Connell’s.
And then it all started to go a bit haywire.
Darragh Foley cut O’Connell’s lead back to the minimum with a brilliant goal, winning possession and firing to the top corner in almost the same movement, but O’Connell’s didn’t flinch and their Louth IFC final heroes Niall Conlon and Jackie Agnew restored a three-point cushion, 1-10 to 1-7.
Full back Mark Curry pulled one back before both sides lost another player apiece, Jason Carroll on a second yellow for O’Connell’s and Davy Moran for Kilbride.
The visitors had a glorious chance to nick it when they won a penalty in the final minute of normal-time, but Stephen Curry’s spot kick was brilliantly saved by Stuart Reynolds.
That seemed to break Kilbride’s resolve, but there was still time for the referee to send off four more players, Sean Connolly from O’Connell’s and James Foley, Michael O’Brien and Mark Curry from Kilbride.
The latter’s dismissal yielded a penalty for O’Connell’s which Niall Conlon dispatched with typical aplomb.
O’CONNELL’S: Stuart Reynolds; James Clerkin, Salem Rifaie, Jason Carroll; Michael Cairns, Jackie Agnew 0-1, Keith Woods; Dean Stanfield 0-1, Seán Cairns 0-2; Emmet Byrne, Paul McKeever, Stuart Osborne; Conor McGill, Niall Conlon 2-5 (1-0 pen, 3f), Robbie Quigley 0-1. Subs: John McLoughlin for K Woods (40), Seán Connolly for M Cairns (43)
KILBRIDE: Thomas Gray; John O’Neill, Mark Curry 0-1, James Foley; Sean Foley 0-1, Eoin Nolan, Michael O’Brien; Darragh Foley 1-3 (3f), Seamus Gray; Brendan Butler, Stephen Curry 0-1, Davy Moran, Michael Brown, Pauric Nolan 0-2f, Colin O’Toole. Subs: Jason Carroll for C O’Toole (29), John Fitzpatrick for M Brown (53)
REFEREE: Noel McKenna (Kildare)