McGrath earns Ballyteague a draw with late levelling free
Action from the game between Castldermot and Ballyteague
A superb long-range free from Brian McGrath in the fifth minute of injury time gave Ballyteague a share of the spoils with Castledermot in an exciting Auld Shebeen Athy Intermediate Football Championship Group B encounter in Manguard Park on Saturday afternoon.
McGrath was the only other Ballyteague player to score other than Jimmy Hyland who weighed in with 2-7 of their total.
With both teams now on one point from two games their fate will go down to the final round of group games with the top three teams qualifying for the knock-out stages.
Castledermot, who played the final ten minutes plus injury time with only fourteen men after Willie Kelly was dismissed on a straight red card will have plenty of regrets for letting the win slip They came back from early Hyland goals in each half to lead for most of the second period before being caught at the death.
Ballyteague got off to a flyer. Hyland had 1-2 on the board before Castledermot registered a score. Hyland’s goal, palmed to the net after five minutes, owed much to a fine passing move involving veterans Seamus Hanafin and Brian McGrath.
But after Gavin Keating opened their scoring with a point a minute after Hyland’s goal the south county side settled, and the game’s complexion changed completely on eleven minutes when Conor Nolan set up Paddy Whelan for a goal chance which he took with aplomb.
Castledermot dominated the remainder of the half, penetrating the Ballyteague defence with relative ease as they outscored their opponents by six points to two to lead by two at the interval, with Whelan and Gavin Farrell registering some fine points in that period.
Half-Time: Castledermot 1-7 Ballyteague 1-5.
A great run through the middle from Fionn Murphy set up Hyland for his second goal four minutes after half-time and he followed it up with a close range free but Castledermot felt their way back into it and restored their half time advantage with four points in a row, including two from the impressive Conor Nolan.
With their numerical advantage, Ballyteague pressed hard in the final ten minutes. Murphy set up Hyland for a point on 53 minutes and when Seamus Hanafin was fouled close-in, the Kildare forward converted the free from close range to level matters.
Castledermot hit back though when Nolan won the free from which David Keating put them ahead by a point heading into injury time.
A minute into injury time McGrath pointed superbly from a ’45 to level matters again but again Nolan was fouled for a free from Keating from around 30 metres.
It was left to McGrath to have the last laugh as a foul on Hanafin handed him a free from 40 metres out which he struck sweet and true to secure the draw.
Jason Casey; Paraic Hanley, David Randles, Ryan Webb; Conor Hanley, Gerry Melia, Cian Loughlin; Seamus Hanafin, Tommy Callan; Glen Thorpe, Brian McGrath 0-3 (1f,1’45), Barry Dempsey; Stephen Ennis, Fionn Murphy, Jimmy Hyland 2-7 (3fs). SUBS: Pádraic Murphy for Loughlin 41, Darragh Kearns for Dempsey 53.
Shane Nolan; Tomas Murphy 0-1, Billy O’Gorman, Anthony Lawler; Willie Kelly, Bryan Nolan 0-1, David Dooley; Gavin Farrell 0-2, Donnchadh Kinch 0-1; Conor Nolan 0-2, Gavin Keating 0-4 (2fs), Fionn O’Gorman; Paddy Whelan 1-2, David Keating, Tadhg Phelan. SUBS: Oisín Nolan for Phelan 48.
Frank Delaney
