Duagh reach new heights to qualify for Junior quarter-finals

COUNTY JUNIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GROUP 1 ROUND 2 Duagh 4-11 Asdfee 1-5

ON the face of it, this was pretty much what everybody would have expected in Duagh on Sunday afternoon as the home team picked up their second successive victory in North Kerry derbies to advance to the quarter-finals of the County JFC.

Having overcome the dogged challenge of Moyvane by four points the previous weekend, Thomas Cahill’s charges had a much more comfortable margin of victory on this occasion but, breaking this game down to its finer margins, the end result all hinged on two second half moments – a brilliant second goal from Duagh and a red card for their opponents.

Underdogs Asdee, extremely resilient and dogged in a first half where they played against a very strong breeze, notched the opening score of the second period when Paul O’Carroll pointed a free in the 34th minute to reduce the deficit to five points (1-7 to 1-2).

With the elements now strongly in their favour and Duagh struggling to really catch fire and blow the opposition away, could Asdee somehow manage to rock the boat and make things very difficult for their hosts?

In the space of 60 seconds, we got our answer to that little conundrum.

First of all, the outstanding Ted Moloney, whose attacking forays and dynamic play all through were the most significant aspect of this Duagh display, was on the receiving end of an enterprising attack in the 36th minute, and the wing-back made no mistake with a sumptuous soccer-style finish from at least 20 yards out that would have done justice to Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang’s finishing in the previous day’s FA Cup decider at Wembley.

That gave Duagh a hugely pivotal eight-point cushion and, within a minute, Asdee’s goose was well and truly cooked when they were reduced to fourteen men after Kieran Kelly received his second yellow card and was dismissed by referee George O’Donnell.

Having been issued with a red card, Kelly then appeared to make contact with the referee before exiting the pitch, and the Asdee player will have to wait for the referee’s report before he finds out if there is a disciplinary case to answer.

The Duagh goal and the Asdee red card put the kibosh on any chance of a proper contest in the time that remained and, despite the continued work-rate of the likes of captain Darragh Keane, Martin Collins, Darren Russell, Eoin Tydings and Eoin Kennedy, the losers were fully aware that they were now swimming against the tide.

Anthony Maher, playing well within himself, made his presence felt with a couple of punched points, and he set up substitute Killian Buckley for Duagh’s third goal in the 58th minute, with wing-back Donnacha Maher raising another green flag in injury-time, despite the resistance of Asdee net-minder Ryan Henry, who could not be faulted.

The first half was a different kettle of fish with Eoin Tydings’ confident penalty finish in the 13th minute giving Asdee a proper foothold as they fought bravely against the elements to restrict Duagh, and it took Martin Scannell’s excellent finish to the net in injury-time to give the favourites a bit of momentum at the interval (1-7 to 1-1).

Duagh, who will have ambitions of making significant progress in this competition, now face Renard, who are also on two wins from two, in what should be an intriguing tussle. Asdee finish their campaign with another North Kerry confrontation against Moyvane.

DUAGH: Jer Kelly; Aaron O’Connor, Murioch McNulty, Diarmuid Foley; Donnacha Maher 1-0, Tom Scanlon, Ted Moloney 1-1; Anthony Maher 0-2, Kieran Lucey; Micheal Kirby, Martin Scannell 1-1, John Joy; Jason Carmody 0-3 (2f), Nigel O’Connor 0-2, Dan O’Donoghue 0-2. Subs: Mike Keane for Joy (35), Luke O’Donnell for Foley (50), Killian Buckley 1-0 for Kirby (50), Sean Broderick for Carmody (53), Tom McNamara for O’Connor (58).

ASDEE: Ryan Henry; Con Carmody, Martin Collins, Shea Doran; Conor Keane, Michael Tydings, Mike Breen; Sean Keane, Kieran Kelly; Darren Russell 0-1, Eoin Tydings 1-0 (pen), Eoin Kennedy; Paul O’Carroll 0-1f, Darragh Keane 0-3 (2f), Jack Keane. Subs: Stephen Lynch for O’Carroll (54), Ciaran Griffin for E Tydings (60), Cyril Dineen for Breen (60).

REFEREE: George O’Donnell (Mitchels)

Photo by Domnick Walsh Duagh’s Anthony Maher (right) competes with Jack Keane, Asdee, for possession of the ball during their Junior Championship Round 2 match in Duagh.