Brodigan point earns a dramatic victory for Plunketts

OLIVER Plunketts snatched a dramatic victory at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday afternoon to maintain their Intermediate Championship status for another season.

In a tense encounter that went all the way to the final whistle, it was Robbie Brodigan who finally settled the issue when he landed the winning point two minutes into injury-time.

It was a bitterly disappointing outcome for the Tullyallen side who looked to have done enough to force extra-time thanks to late points from Conor Grimes, only to be floored by the late sucker punch.

The opening exchanges saw the defences on top but the Emmets did break the deadlock through Andrew Mooney before David Lambe levelled for the Plunketts.

On nine minutes Glen Emmets were given a huge boost when Grimes scored the only goal of the game. However, his side was unable to build on that score as the Mell side took a grip on proceedings and points from Dean Carolan, Stephen Keeley and Adam Brodigan tied the game at 1-1 to 0-4.

Sean Callaghan edged the Plunketts in front for the first time only for Grimes to get his side back on terms, but late scores from Luke Haggans and Callaghan sent the Drogheda men in at the break with a 0-7 to 1-2 lead.

The third quarter continued to be a closely affair with Mooney, Ronan Gruffery and Grimes cancelling out points from Haggans, Stephen Keeley and Fitzpatrick to leave the Plunketts with a slender two-point advantage.

That was wiped out by the 57th minute when Grimes landed two further points but just when it looked as if the game would end in deadlock, Brodigan popped up with the winner to see his side retain their Intermediate status.

OLIVER PLUNKETTS: Luke Haggans 0-2; Cillian Matthews, David McTeggart, Sean Rice; Tadhg O’Brien, Adam Bodigan 0-1, Cian Matthews; Dean Carolan 0-1, Robbie Brodigan 0-1; Barry Reynolds, Cian Brady, David Lambe 0-1; Brian Fitzpatrick 0-2, Stephen Keeley 0-2, Sean Callaghan 0-2. Subs: James Guinn for T O’Brien, Killian Nolan for C Brady.

Conor Kelly; Keith Farnan, Evan English, Jamie Gilkes; Sam Kenny, Danny Grimes, David Bracken; Mark Garvey, Andrew Mooney 0-2; Keith Lynch, Conor Grimes 1-5, James Butler; Robbie Byrne, Ronan Grufferty 0-1, Kealan O’Neill. Subs: Isaac Walsh for K Lynch, David Andrews for J Butler, Sam Byrne for M Garvey,