Rathangan confirm their status as Intermediate Championship title contenders
Rathangan's Alex Conlan shrugs off Ellistown's Kevin Martin Photo: Sean Brilly
Rathangan, beaten semi-finalists last year, served notice of their intent to go further this year as they trounced neighbours Ellistown in Group A of the National Electrical Wholesalers Intermediate Football Championship on Sunday afternoon in Cedral St Conleth’s Park.
An eagerly awaited clash of two impressive preliminary round winners drew a big crowd for the local derby, but Rathangan proved far too strong and athletic for last year’s Junior Champions.
Rathangan tore into their opponents from the start and took full advantage of a strong enough first half breeze with wing-forwards Aran Teahan and Conor Jamieson weighing in with nine points between them.
The excellent Teahan opened their account in the third minute with a two-pointer, and he added another in the thirteenth minute while Jamieson also hit the target from outside the arc to add to two single points in the opening half.
It wasn’t all about that duo though as the inside line of Sam Savage, Muiris Curtin and Austin Donegan gave an Ellistown full-back line supplemented by former county star Andrew McLoughlin a torrid time.
Savage did spurn a golden chance in the seventh minute when Donegan was felled by a neck high challenge from Kevin Martin, but the well-struck penalty bounced back off the left upright. Savage atoned straight away with the first of his six points over the course of another impressive hour.
Ellistown’s first half scores came from two Harry Donnelly points and one from James Sutton as they went in trailing by twelve points (0-15 to 0-3) at the break.
Although Donnelly landed a two-point free four minutes into the second half there was no suggestion of an Ellistown comeback, and it was well and truly over bar the shooting eleven minutes from the end when Savage escaped the attentions of McLoughlin to set up Donegan for the finish to the net from close range.
They might have added another when Jamieson shot wide from a good position a minute later while Ellistown had a couple of half-chances for Donnelly and Pat Martin to find the net but did add consolation two-pointers from Harry and Callum Donnelly before the finish.
Craig Shannon; Niall Ahern, Daniel Mulpeter Shane O’Loughlin; Mark Fitzsimons 0-2, David Vaughan, Alex Conlan; Michael Fitzsimons, Rian Teahan 0-1; Conor Jamieson 0-4 (1tp), David Murphy, Aran Teahan 0-6 (2tps,2fs); Sam Savage 0-6 (2fs), Muiris Curtin 0-3, Austin Donegan 1-0. Subs: Eoin Curtin for Conlan h-t, Eoghan Boyle 0-1 for A Teahan 46, Stefan Lawler for Murphy 46, Sean Behan 0-1 for Donegan 49, Feilim Doyle for Jamieson 52.
Oran Donnelly; Andrew McLoughlin, Max Lennox, James Neilson; Oisin Molloy, Darragh Watson, Pat Martin 0-1 (mark); Conor Lindy, James Sutton 0-1; Leo Lennox, Callum Donnelly 0-2 (tp), Kevin Martin; Tadhg Watson, Evan Donnelly, Harry Donnelly 0-6 (2tpf,1f). Subs: Darren Kelly for K Martin h-t, Conor O’Loughlin for Watson 40, Ciaran Lindy for Conor Lindy 40, Sean Lindy for McLoughlin 49.
Alan Archbold.
