Athy pushed all the way by Caragh

JOE MALLON MOTORS SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTER-FINAL

ATHY 3-7 CARAGH 0-10 

Athy are the first side through to this year’s Joe Mallo Motors SFC semi-finals but they were pushed all the way by a gusty Caragh side.

At half time with the score at 0-3 apiece, despite Athy playing with a strong wind and Dan Lynam spending ten minutes in the sin bin, thoughts were turning to what would have the biggest upset in the Championship since Suncroft beat Sarsfields at the same stage in 2009.

But Athy found a way to dig it out.

After the excellent Darragh Swords put Caragh in the lead early in the second half with a two point free, Kevin Feely scored Athy’s first goal from a penalty in the 36th minute despite Mikey Behan getting a good hand to it.

Dan Lynam summed up the Caragh spirit on the day when he replied with a two pointer from play within a minute, leaving the score at 1-4 to 0-7.

Niall Kelly then pointed a free before Colm Moran palmed home his fourth goal of this year’s Championship in the 41st minute after James McGrath’s shot had been saved.

A two point free by Swords and then a point from play, either side of another Kelly free, had Caragh within two points with ten minutes to play but Cian Keaveney’s point gave Athy some breathing room before Conor Doyle wrapped up the win with Athy’s third goal in the 61st minute.

Athy move into the semi-finals to take on either Sarsfields or Johnstownbridge but Caragh will take a lot of positives from this game in particular and their first year back in senior as a whole.

ATHY: Shane Jackman; Sean Moore, Darren Lawler, Michael Spillane, Brian Maher, Cathal McCarron, James McGrath; Kevin Feely 1-0, David Hyland; Colm Moran 1-0, Barry Kelly 0-1, Conor Doyle 1-0, Ronan Kelly 0-1, Paidi Behan, Niall Kelly 0-3fs. Subs: Ben Purcell 0-1 for Behan, 26; Cian Keaveney 0-1 for R Kelly, 45; Sean Bride for B Kelly, 58; Liam McGovern for Moran, 60+4.

CARAGH: Michael Behan; Cathal McKennedy, Matthew McNally, Billy Byrne, Conor Sullivan, Ryan Burke, Paul Dockery; Kevin Connor, Dan Lynam 0-2 (1tp); Josh Gannon, Liam Blake, Dan Murray, Ronan Doorey, Darragh Swords 0-8 (2tpf, 2fs), Kevin Campbell. Subs: Mick O’Toole for Blake, 41; Billy Kelly for Gannon, 50; Austin Nevin for Murray, 54; Fergal McKennedy for McNally, 60+4; Dan Campbell for K Campell, 60+4.

REFEREE: Brendan Cawley.