Cully stars as Carbury retain Senior status
Eoin Cully (Carbury) beats the challenge of Gavin Malone. Photo: Sean Brilly.
A tally of 1-7 from Championship top scorer, Eoin Scully helped Carbury retain their senior championship status for 2027 thanks to a convincing ten-point win over a lacklustre Allenwood in the Joe Mallon Championship Relegation Semi Final in Manguard Park on Friday evening. Cully finished the season with a tally of 3-38 and is unlikely to be caught by anyone from the four teams left in the Championship.
On a perfect evening for football Carbury dominated from start to finish, apart for a brief period just before half time when Allenwood scored five points to reduce the deficit to just a single point, 1-6 to 0-8 at the break. According to my good colleague, Richard Collins, of this parish, Carbury remain the only team to have never been relegated from the senior championship in Kildare.
Roared on by a good support Andy Dermody’s side showed they meant business as they led 1-2 to no score inside seven minutes. The goal came in the sixth minute when Mark Cully found the lively Evan Boyle inside and he brushed off tackles before finishing past Stephen Carey in the Allenwood goals. A point apiece from top scorer, Eoin Bagnall (free) and Aaron Dunne, opened the Allenwood account but Carbury went on to fire over four in a row, two each from Ben Kearney and Eoin Cully, one of which was a free, and they led 1-6 to 0-3 eight minutes from half time. We then witnessed a mini Allenwood revival when Mark Murnaghan’s charges showed glimpses of the talent in the team.
Bagnall fired over four points including a two-pointer free and a single point free and Johnny Byrne added a point from play as the momentum shifted to the Sky Blues. That momentum didn’t last past the break though as Allenwood only added a single point in the second half, a Bagnall free in the 49th minute. In the meantime, Carbury tacked on a further 1-7 to claim the ten point victory. Early second half points came from Tommy Gill, Eoin Cully (free) and Oisin Milmoe and their second goal came in the 37th minute, effectively killing off the game as a contest. Evan Boyle sent a low ball down the left wing and Eoin Cully played a neat 1-2 with Aaron O’Neill before finishing to the Allenwood net.
Cully added three more points to his total, including two frees, while Tommy Gill got his third of the evening off his left foot as the Allenwood resistance waned and they now face a Relegation Final again to try to retain their senior status for 2027.
Declan Conroy; Dean Cummins, Willie Groome, Brian Milmoe; Tommy Gill 0-3, Oisin Milmoe 0-1, Paul Fleming; Conor Denehan, Mark Cully; Evan Boyle 1-0, Eoin Cully 1-7 (5 frees), Ben Kearney 0-2; Conor Gallagher, Aaron O’Neill, Jack Smyth. Subs: James Carey for Aaron O’Neill 52, JP Gill for Oisin Milmoe 56, Brian O’Flaherty for Conor Gallagher 59, Jack Cully for Conor Denehan 61, Justin Reilly for Jack Smyth 61.
Stephen Carey; Mark Delaney, Sean Moran, Ronan Guilfoyle; Gavin Malone, Darragh Malone, Jamie Gartland; John Dee, Alex Lenehan; Brendan Hanafey, Sean Dunne, Aaron Dunne 0-1; Eoin Bagnall 0-7 (2 X 2ptf, 3 frees), Johnny Byrne 0-1, Callum O’Reilly. Subs: Rory Moran for Alex Lenehan 24, Joey Cunningham for Sean Dunne 40, Eric Judge for Aaron Dunne 49, Mark Byrne for Callum O’Reilly 56.
Kieran Harris
