By Ger McNally
U21 A FC QUARTER-FINALS
BALYNA 4-19 ROUND TOWERS 0-4
THE classy Cribbin brothers were the pick of the bunch as this talented Balyna side blew Round Towers away last Saturday at a wet and muddy Carbury.
The older of the brothers, Kildare panellist Keith, had to pull out of the Kildare GAA Fight Night the night before but his time spent sipping water ringside proved worthwhile after a masterful display that inspired the players around him.
Playing in midfield, Keith was in superb form and it was his dominance alongside Ciaran Gravin around the middle that meant Towers couldn’t ever clear their lines properly simply because they couldn’t get past the duo.
Although Neil Scanlon scored the first point of the game, Cribbin soon had the game by the scruff of the net with two goals.
Balyna then rattled off nine points in a row before the half-time break, the pick of the bunch coming from Paul Cribbin when he struck a brilliant curling point with his right foot in the 11th minute and then a minute later kicked an almost identical point from the other side of the pitch with his left foot.
Stephen McKeown set up Cathal McNally for Balyna’s third goal of the game and they quickly added points from a Gravin free and a Cribben 45. To rub salt into Towers wounds Cathal McNally won possession from a kickout and lobbed the ball over Corrway’s head into the net.
BALYNA: Shane Geoghegan; Des Holton, Conor Swann, James O’Connor; Stephen McKeown, Will Holton, Ben Kenny; Ciaran Gravin .-.fs, Keith Cribben . (.fs, . ..); Brian Kelly, Paul Cribbin .-., Niall Vaughan; Eoin O’Donoghue .-., Sean Hurley, Cathal McNally .-.. Subs: Dean Hanley for Kelly, h/t; Conor Grettin for D Holton, ..; Cian Farrell for McKeown, ..; Christy Farrell for Geoghegan, ..; Ed Holton for Gravin, ...
ROUND TOWERS: Stephen Corrway; Mickey Vaughan, Colin Farrell, Niall Madden; MacDara DePaor, Michael Kelly, Darrell Coogan; Stuart Murphy (.-.), Adam O’Brien; Anthony Ryan, Neil Scanlon .-. (.f), Dean Molloy; Johnny Moore, Jason O’Brien, Alan Cullagh. Subs: Cormac Guilfoyle for Vaughan, h/t; Paddy Ryan for A Ryan, h/t; Stephen O’Brien for Cullagh, ..; Eddie Cullagh for DePaor, ...