Johnstownbridge hold off late Carbury comeback
Action from the game between Carbury and Johnstownbridge
Johnstownbridge edged a very disappointing local derby with Carbury in Group C of the Joe Mallon Motors Senior Football Championship in Manguard Park on Saturday afternoon.
Having led by as many as eight points early in the second half, the winners’ profligacy in the opening half almost came back to haunt them as they failed to score after the 36th minute to allow their neighbours get back to within a point to set up a nervy finish.
Johnstownbridge, playing with the aid of a stiffish breeze, got off to the best possible start when Josh O’Donoghue latched onto Paul Cribbin’s pass and rounded goalkeeper Declan Conroy to slide the ball to the net in the second minute.
Points from Daniel Flynn and a Cribbin free stretched that early advantage before Alan Kearney got Carbury off the mark with a nicely clipped point from 30 metres. James Kelly followed that with a second and after another Cribbin free, dangerman Eoin Cully made it 1-3 to 0-3, with Carbury playing reasonably well.
Johnstownbridge took full command in the second quarter, though they should have had a greater return than four points without reply, reaching nine on the wide count before half-time. The scores they got from play from Flynn, Darragh Sloane and Fionn O’Grady were top class efforts, however.
Half-Time: Johnstownbridge 1-7 Carbury 0-3 A long range effort from David Kelly reduced the gap shortly after the interval but Johnstownbridge hit back with Seán McKeon coming forward for a point. That would prove to be their last score, though O’Donoghue was denied by a good save from Conroy and Ronan Scanlon had a goal disallowed, perhaps unluckily, for a thrown pass.
Carbury, who had been very poor up until the final quarter, finally started to make inroads with the aid of the wind, with Jack Cully firing over four points to bring the gap down to two with six minutes remaining.
Johnstownbridge lost Keith Cribbin to a straight red card with four minutes left and on the stroke of full-time, Jimmy Dunne made it a one-point game to set nerves jangling.
But Johnstownbridge managed to hold onto possession through injury time and Carbury were unable to produce another scoring opportunity. That leaves them staring a relegation battle with no points from two games while their near neighbours are on four points and looking upwards towards the knockout stages.
Eoin Sheehan; Seán McKeon 0-1, Tomás Von Engelbrechten, Ronan Scanlon; Shane Flynn, Keith Cribbin, Ryan Rainey; Joey Higgins, Paul Cribbin 0-3 (3fs); Luke O’Connor, Darragh Sloane 0-1, Daniel Flynn 0-2; Josh O’Donoghue 1-0, Fionn O’Grady 0-1, Cathal McNally. SUB: Aaron McNally for O’Grady 52.
Declan Conroy; Jimmy Dunne 0-1, Brian O’Flaherty, Brian Milmoe; Ciaran McKeon, Seán McKeon, Tommy Gill; Alan Kearney 0-1, David Kelly 0-1; Jack Smith, Conor Gallagher, Jack Cully 0-5 (3fs); Eoin Cully 0-1, James Kelly 0-1, Paul Fleming. SUBS: JP Gill for Fleming 35, Ben Kearney for J Kelly 51.
Niall Colgan
