O'Rahilly stars as Confey win first Championship game in two years
Jack O'Rahilly scored 2-5 for Confey in their win over Straffan Photo: Sean Brilly
Confey ended a two-year wait for a Championship victory as they produced a stirring late comeback to defeat Straffan by seven points in their National Electrical Wholesalers Intermediate Football Championship Group A opener.
After beating Carbury in the preliminary round of the 2024 Senior Championship, they sunk to eight successive Championship defeats in a row, which led to a return to the Intermediate grade this year.
Things didn’t pick up for them in the early part of 2026 and they managed just one win in 11 games as they were relegated from Division 2 of the league. That led to the departure of manager John Benton just a month before the start of the Championship.
Into the breach stepped club stalwarts Colm Chan, Conor Jennings and Tomas McCann and they got the reaction they wanted.
On the pitch, the team was led by the sparkling Jack O’Rahilly. He ended the game with 2-5 and made a flying start when he scored the first 1-3 of the game.
Neil Ryan added a further point before Straffan hit back in the second quarter with Tom Donovan scoring a sensational hat-trick of goals.
His first came in the 15th minute from a move that he started with a spectacular catch in the centre of the field. He stayed involved as the move progressed up the field and then he finished with a powerful shot to the top left corner of the net that gave former Kildare goalkeeper Colin Heeney no chance.
John Tracey added a point but Confey hit back then with three in a row through Brian Grimes, Kieran Kilbane and Josh Collins to make the score 1-7 to 1-1.
Although Confey had been the better side through the first half, Donovan added two more goals either side of a two-pointer and Straffan led 3-3 to 1-8 at half-time.
Neil Ryan scored his second point of the game early in the second half but when Straffan scored three in a row to move into a 3-5 to 1-11 lead with 15 minutes to go, it looked like being their day.
But Confey weren’t to be denied. O’Rahilly levelled the game from a free and then points from substitutes Niall Carney and Robin Breslin pushed them into the lead.
As the game ticked into injury time, Brian Grimes cut through the Straffan backline to make it a three point game.
A good day for a club who have endured some really tough times recently was rounded off in the third minute of injury time when O’Rahilly wriggled his way in along the endline before firing to the roof of the Straffan net.
Colin Heeney; Aodhan Jordan, Joe Kilbane, Alex Rochford, Conor Dennehy, Cathal Jennings, Aidan Crean 0-1; Paul Divilly, Kieran Kilbane 0-1; Philip Hallinan, Josh Collins 0-1, Brian Grimes 0-2, Neil Ryan 0-2, Jack O’Rahilly 2-5 (1f), Sean Murphy. Subs: Ben Corscadden for Hallinan, 44; Niall Carney 0-1 for Ryan, 50; Robin Breslin 0-1 for Murphy, 54.
Matthew Duggan; Alan Byrne, Kevin McNeill 0-1, Cathal O’Molloy, Aidan O’Brien, Liam O’Donovan, Ed Mather; Tom Donovan 3-2, Aaron Kiernan; John Tracey 0-2fs, Brian Tracey, Dermot Nolan, Andy O’Neill, Ruairi Power, Rory Byrne. Subs: Tim Ryan for O’Molloy, h/t; Noah Brennan for R Byrne, temp 45-48; Noah Brennan for Power, 50; Niall Devane for O’Brien, 59; Patrick Dunne for Mather, 59.
Damian Whelan.
