LIVE BLOG: Athy v Celbridge in the Senior Football Football Championship
Athy warming up in Cedral St Conleths Park ahead of their Senior Football Championship clash with Celbridge
All over here, contrasting emotions on display. It turns out that rumours of Celbridge's demise after a couple of patchy displays in the opening rounds has been greatly exaggerated. This was a statement display by the Hazelhatch Road outfit. A bitterly disappointing day for Athy who were beaten. You could say the six point winning margin came from Aaron Browne's 1-3 in first half injury time really, Celbridge dominated throughout - Celbridge 1-13 Athy 0-10
64 mins - Liam McGovern points a late free for a disappointing looking Athy side - Celbridge 1-13 Athy 0-10
57 mins - Mick O'Grady sets up Killian Browne - Celbridge 1-13 Athy 0-9
55 mins - A Ben Purcell point for Athy is followed by one from Niall Kelly, can they build some momentum late on? Celbridge 1-12 Athy 0-9
50 mins - A mazy Kevin Flynn run ends with a point - Celbridge 1-12 Athy 0-7
49 mins - Kevin O'Callaghan gets in for a point, this has been a very professional display by Celbridge. They were written off a little bit coming into this game but this is a statement performance - Celbridge 1-11 Athy 0-7
47 mins - Athy joint manager Ross Bell has been shown a red card and sent to the stands, presumably for something he said on the line
46 mins - Aaron Browne's shot dropped shot but Roycroft's punch only goes as far as Killian Browne who pops it over the bar - Celbridge 1-10 Athy 0-7
42 mins - Tony Archbold scores the first Celbridge point of the second half - Celbridge 1-9 Athy 0-7
40 mins - Niall Kelly lands a badly needed two point free for Athy - Celbridge 1-8 Athy 0-7
37 mins - Make that four, signs of them feeling the pressure of being six points down a little
36 mins - Three wides and a misplaced handpass from Athy's first four attacks of the second half
32 mins - Celbridge butcher an early goal chance, Brown scuffs his shot and Conway can't tap it in to the net at the back post
Half time - Quite the finish to the half by Aaron Browne but he's been excellent throughout. Scored 1-6 of Celbridge's 1-8 tally and created one of the other scores with a delightful pass to Niall O'Regan - Celbridge 1-8 Athy 0-5
33 mins - And a point for Browne in the last action of the half, what a few minutes for Browne, he finishes the half with 1-6! Celbridge 1-8 Athy 0-5
32 mins - Browne goes one better now as he runs at James McGrath before blasting a left shot past Roycroft! Celbridge 1-7 Athy 0-5
31 mins - In the first of three additional minutes, Aaron Browne drops into a lovely pocket of space outside the 45 and lands his second two pointer - Celbridge 0-7 Athy 0-5
26 mins - Niall Kelly ties the game - Celbridge 0-5 Athy 0-5
25 mins - Barry Kelly's shot is saved by McNamara and the rebound strikes Feely, could really have ended up anywhere but lands the wrong side of the post
23 mins - Conor Doyle scores a third Athy point in a row - Celbridge 0-5 Athy 0-4
22 mins - Fergal Conway has the ball in the Athy net but it's ruled out for a push
20 mins - Colm Moran fists over his second point of the game - Celbridge 0-5 Athy 0-3
19 mins - Ben Purcell coverts a free for Athy - Celbridge 0-5 Athy 0-2
17 mins - Nice two point score by Aaron Browne - Celbridge 0-5 Athy 0-1
16 mins - Tony Archbold wins a free kick which is converted from the 13 metre line by Aaron Browne - Celbridge 0-3 Athy 0-1
15 mins - Aaron Browne is playing in a deeper role and getting on the ball for Celbridge and he picks out Niall O'Regan with a lovely pass and the wing back continues his excellent Championship to date - Celbridge 0-2 Athy 0-1
10 mins - Niall Kelly to his brother Barry, on again to Ben Purcell but his shot is blocked around the post by the foot of Celbridge 'keeper McNamara. Colm Moran misses from the 45 as Athy are forced into a blood sub with Liam McGovern on for Ronan Kelly
7 mins - Patient Celbridge build up ends with a Killian Browne point - Athy 0-1 Celbridge 0-1
4 mins - A long David Hyland ball into the square leads to a 45, which is converted by Colm Moran a day after he collected his Leaving Cert results - Athy 0-1 Celbridge 0-0
1.58pm - We're underway a little earlier than planned!
1.55pm - This game is a game that will tell us a lot about both teams. Celbridge haven't quite hit the heights of previous years in a win over Clane and a last gasp draw against Johnstownbridge, while Athy have been very impressive in defeating in defeating Eadestown and Clogherinkoe but this is a different level of a test today
1.53pm - The teams are in:
CELBRIDGE: Shane McNamara; John Clarke, Hugh McGrillen, Cian Powell, Dean O’Donoghue, Mick Konstantin, Niall O’Regan; Mick O’Grady, Kevin O’Callaghan; Aaron Browne, Kevin Flynn, Tony Archbold, Paddy Brophy, Fergal Conway, Killian Browne.
ATHY: James Roycroft; Sean Moore, Padraig Spillane, Michael Spillane, Brian Maher, Cathal McCarron, James McGrath; Kevin Feely, David Hyland; Colm Moran, Barry Kelly, Conor Doyle, Ronan Kelly, Ben Purcell, Niall Kelly.
REFEREE: Frank Delaney
1.45pm - Welcome to Cedral St Conleths for what is an absolutely mouth watering Senior Championship tie between two of the best teams in the county, Athy and Celbridge
