Monasterevan progress but Ballymore's relegation worries mount
Ballymore's Sean Broderick takes a challenge from Monasterevan's Adam Kavanagh Photo: Sean Brilly
Monasterevan finished strongly to secure a win that clinches second place in the Group C of the Auld Shebeen Intermediate Football Championship, and sends Ballymore Eustace into the relegation final.
The first two thirds of this game were nip and tuck with rarely more than a score between the teams but 1-4 in the second half by first half substitute Charlie Doyle proved the difference.
If anything, Ballymore slightly shaded the first half with Niall Murphy scoring five points as they led 0-6 to 0-5 at the break.
The teams were tied on two further occasions early in the second half but Doyle’s first point to tie the game at 0-7 apiece sparked a run of four successive Monasterevan points.
Murphy and Calum Barrett pointed to leave just a point between the teams but the game was more or less decided in the 47th minute. A flowing Monasterevan move ended with Doyle being fouled inside the square by Kevin Kelleher. Doyle dusted himself off and converted the penalty to make it 1-10 to 0-9.
Evan Nash, Conor Lonergan and Doyle added scores to confirm Monasterevan’s growing dominance in the game and even though Murphy and Darragh Kelleher pulled back points in injury time the game by that stage the game had gone from Ballymore and their intermediate status is very much at stake heading into the relegation final.
Elsewhere in Group C, Milltown made it three wins from three with a convincing 3-12 to 1-5 win over Nurney.
Darragh Foley; Keelan Meredith, Eoin Stapleton, Gavin Worrell, Gary Morrissey, Cormac Stapleton 0-1, Adam Kavanagh 0-1; Sean Kavanagh, DJ Earley; Cormac Brady, Conor Lonergan 0-2 (1f), Ryan Moran 0-2, Evan Nash 0-1, Michael Donoghue 0-1, Tristan Kennedy 0-1. Subs: Charlie Doyle 1-4 (1pen, 3fs) for Brady, 22; Daryl Dunne for Kennedy, 47; Eric Morrissey for Moran, 53; Mark Kelly for Donoghue, 60+1, Conor Hennessy for Nash, 60+1.
Stephen Foley; Calum Ashmore, Mark Barrett, Ben Noone, Eoin Clarke, Kevin Kelleher, Josh Burke Hayes; Sean Broderick, Darragh Kelleher 0-1; Brian Crowe, Niall Murphy 0-8 (6fs), Des Horan, Simon Murphy, Tadhg Barrett, Calum Barrett 0-2. Subs: Jack Sammon for Burke Hayes, 30; Danny McGarvey for M Barrett, 39; Sean Gallagher for Broderick, 49; James O’Brien for T Barrett, 57.
Owen Murphy
