Heartache as it all goes wrong for IT Tralee

SIGERSON CUP ROUND 1

IT Tralee 1-13 IT Carlow 3-9

SO near, and yet so far.

IT Tralee can rue their luck at the finish of this one, and with plenty of justification, but ultimately the IT Carlow did enough to hang on and land the killer blows late on that snatched a victory that looked beyond them for much of the game.

Cian Farrell opened the scoring from a free after the defence didn’t retreat fast enough from an offensive mark. It was the David Clifford show after that, the young All Star shooting two from play and two from frees.

A second Farrell free had the scores at 0-4 to 0-2 before a clever Mark O’Shea overhead flick saw Barry John Keane extend the lead. Farrell with another free (a slightly soft decision by referee David Murnane, and unfortunately not his last of the day for either side).

Evan Lowry made it 0-5 to 0-4. IT Tralee were struggling in midfield but a solid defence in which Jack Morgan was impressing meant that IT Tralee had more of the play, but four wides and two efforts dropped short were costly.

David Clifford did show his class with a fine point from play and Mark O’Shea won a free converted by Barry John Keane, but Cian Farrell neatly kicked his first point from play. Half-time IT Tralee 0-7 IT Carlow 0-5.

David Clifford coolly put a goal between the sides, but Cian Farrell, by far and away Carlow’s biggest threat, notched two more points (1f) to put the minimum between the sides. David Clifford had a brilliant swivel and snapshot that caught the keeper off guard but came back off the post.

It looked very much like a Carlow defender handled the ball on the ground but, after some confusion, the referee awarded a hop ball that ended up with Tony Brosnan slotting a free. 0-9 to 0-7.

Tony Brosnan calmly fisted over and a quick David Clifford free into Barry John Keane saw the former Kerry star neatly finish to the net. 1-10 to 0-7, with 11 minutes remaining. A black card for Iarla Courtney, ostensibly for a deliberate body check, saw him depart the scene for ten minutes with no replacement under the new rules.

Patrick O’Connor pulled one back. Barry John Keane saw an effort come back off the post, with the move ending in a Niall Hughes point for Carlow. Swings and roundabouts.

Tommy Griffin won a Carlow turnover and a quick collaboration between Chris Byrne and Pádraig O’Toole set up Adam Steele for a great goal. 1-10 to 1-9; and fat beginning to sizzle on the fire.

Tony Brosnan made it 1-11 to 1-9, but Cian Farrell cut into the

IT Tralee square. A despairing late tackle saw Mark Fitzgerald dismissed and Farrell stepped up to nail the penalty himself. Worse was to follow as an IT Tralee foray for an equaliser was overturned, Carlow moving down the field with three accurate kick passes. James Duggan came out from goal to try and avert danger, but Conor Doyle fisted the ball over his head and kicked it into the net. 3-9 to 1-11.

David Clifford slotted a free. IT Tralee had one last attack, Barry John Keane did brilliantly to pounce on a loose ball in the square, but just couldn’t keep his shot under the crossbar, and a point wasn’t enough to salvage a game that had gone so suddenly and horribly wrong.

IT TRALEE: James Duggan, Mark Fitzgerald, Michael Gavin, Jack Morgan, Jack Savage, Seán Kelliher, Jack Myers, Mark O’Shea, Paul Clarke, Sean O’Connell, Conor Keane, Conor Byrne, Tony Brosnan (0-3, 1f), David Clifford (0-7, 3f), Barry John Keane (1-3, 1f) Subs: Jonathan O’Sullivan for J Savage, 42, Iarla Courtney, bc 51, for P Clarke, 46, Paul Clarke for I Courtney, 64

IT CARLOW: Killian Roche, Trevor Collins, Richard Hitchcock, Cathal walsh, Conor Doyle (1-0), Ronan Ryan, Josh Moore, Seán Ryan, Adam Steed (1-0), Evan Lowry (0-1), Chris Byrne, Cian Farrell ((1-6, 1 pen, 3f), Niall Hughes (0-1), Pádraig O’Toole, Jack Walsh Subs: Patrick O’Connor 0-1 for S Crowley, 44, Tommy Griffin for S Ryan, 44, Paul Farrelly for Jack Walsh, 49, Seán Crowley for C Byrne, 64

REFEREE: David Murnane (Cork)

IT Tralee play Athlone IT, who lost out to Letterkenny IT by 1-18 to 3-4, in a relegation play-off next Saturday. Time and venue TBC.