Nevin comes up trumps in injury time for Caragh
Austin Nevin scored a dramatic injury time winner for Caragh against Confey Photo: Sean Brilly
Praise be to Jim Gavin! You’ll go a long way before you see a game of club football to match this thriller at Cedral St Conleth’s Park on Friday night. Truthfully, neither side deserved to lose an absolute helter-skelter affair in Group D of the Joe Mallon Motors Senior Football Championship.
Caragh ultimately edged it thanks to 0-4 from veteran Austin Nevin in the ten minutes he was on the pitch as the Intermediate title holders clinched their second win in two games in Group D, leaving their opponents pointless and in severe danger of dropping into the relegation playoff despite playing their best football of the year. It can be such a harsh sport.
A goal from Aodan Jordan on 48 minutes seemed to put Confey in the driving seat at 1-14 to 1-11 but after county man Darragh Swords narrowed the gap to two and Nevin brought it back to one within two minutes of his arrival as a substitute. A minute later from the outside of the boot he sent over a two-pointer from the stand side to put his side ahead. It was the sixth orange flag shared by the sides on a day the breeze stayed away.
Confey weren’t finished though and another veteran, David Slattery somehow wriggled through two or three robust challenges to fist over the equaliser, making it 1-15 apiece with two minutes left.
Still more drama. The excellent Kevin Campbell brought his tally to 1-4 to send Caragh ahead going into injury time. Still Confey battled back, and Conor Jennings was felled for a close-range free which Niall Carney tapped over.
There would have been few complaints if Niall Colgan had called it quits at that point with the spoils shared but there was still a sting in the tail as the slickest of passing exchanges between Ronan Doorey, Campbell and Nevin saw the latter drive over the winning point at the Kilcullen End to break Confey hearts.
Confey’s pace and verve may have caught Caragh by surprise in a helter-skelter first half which saw the Leixlip side go 0-6 to 0-3 ahead inside the opening twelve minutes.
After Daragh Swords opened the scoring with a point, Confey registered the first of their three opening half two-pointers from play, the lively Carney finding the range. Brian Grimes and Carney added singles with Campbell and Ryan Burke keeping Caragh in touch.
Campbell fisted a point to narrow the gap before Colin Heeney saved brilliantly from Swords, with Doorey inches wide from the follow-up. But Caragh were level after 21 minutes when Dan Lynam’s powerful boot sent a rocket sailing through the posts for an orange flag to make it six apiece.
Confey didn’t waver though. The excellent Grimes, who finished with five from play, sent over two points to put them back in the ascendancy but on 29 minutes Campbell turned on a sixpence and drilled a goal into the bottom right-hand corner to make it 1-6 to 0-8.
Back again came Confey and Collins landed his second two-pointer to put them ahead again before Swords equalised on the stroke of half-time at 1-7 to 0-10.
The scoring dropped a little immediately after the break, unsurprisingly with the tension mounting. Two more Carney points sandwiched one from Campbell before Ryan Burke’s screwed over a superb two-pointer to give Caragh the lead by the minimum. Carney and Swords exchanged frees before the superb Grimes grabbed the equaliser (1-11 to 0-14).
Jordan’s goal put the cat among the pigeons, but it was Caragh who perhaps had the better bench and better spread of scorers to edge a humdinger coming down the home straight.
Down the road in Manguard Park, there was also late drama in the National Electrical Wholesalers Intermediate Football Championship. Nurney scored the last 1-3 to beat Monasterevan in a dramatic game, the final scored 1-11 to 1-10, while St Laurences needed three late points to beat St Kevins by 1-14 to 1-11.
Michael Behan; Cathal McKennedy, Matthew McNally, Alex Kehoe; Conor Sullivan, Ryan Burke 0-3 (1tp), Paul Dockery; Kevin Connor, Dan Lynam 0-2 (tp); Josh Gannon, Darragh Swords 0-4 (1f), Dan Murray; Ronan Doorey, Liam Blake, Kevin Campbell 1-4. Subs: Billy Kelly for Kehoe 19-31 (temp) and 31, Mick O’Toole for Blake 46, Austin Nevin 0-4 (1tp) for Murray 53, Cian Burke for Kelly 60.
Colin Heeney; Conor Dennehy, Colm Chan, Andrew Breslin; Cathal Jennings, Aodan Jordan 1-0, Aidan Crean; Philip Hallinan, Paul Divilly; Brian Grimes 0-4, Josh Collins 0-4 (2tps), Conor Jennings; David Slattery 0-1, Niall Carney 0-7 (1tpf,3fs), Oisín Maher. Subs: Joe Kilbane for Chan 9, Ben Corscadden for Conor Jennings 57.
Niall Colgan.
