Sarsfields score last 2-9 to pull away from Raheens
Conor O'Donovan scored 1-4 for Sarsfields in their win over Raheens Photo: Sean Brilly
Impressive Sarsfields turned in a powerful second-half to put a disappointing Raheens to the sword in Group B of the Joe Mallon Motors Senior Football Championship at Cedral St Conleth’s Park on Sunday afternoon.
Raheens were expected to push Sarsfields all the way and they actually led by 2-5 to 1-6 after the first minute of the second half when Paddy Woodgate slotted home a penalty.
Had they held that lead a little longer they might have put Sarsfields under pressure, but the Newbridge side hit back straight away from the next play with Shea Ryan’s goal and from there it was one-way traffic.
Raheens were still in it at 2-9 to 2-7 ten minutes into the second half, but Sarsfields took complete control from that point onwards, scoring a further 2-9 without reply with Cathal White bagging two goals, Callum Bolton ruling the skies and youngsters Ryan Kearney and Conor O’Donovan torturing the Raheens defence.
Sarsfields, starting without Daragh Ryan and Ethan Mountaine, then lost Barry Coffey to injury after only eleven minutes and Raheens looked set to take full advantage in the opening quarter, despite impressive youngster O’Donovan slotting over two early points for the Newbridge side.
Raheens strategy primarily seemed to revolve around direct high ball into Liam Power into full-forward and he opened their account with a mark between O’Donovan’s two scores.
Raheens then hit a purple patch. Wing forward Daire Gilmartin met little resistance running directly at the Sarsfields defence and he planted his shot into the bottom right-hand corner on eight minutes. They followed that up with two points from play from Graham Waters and Power.
Sarsfields gained a foothold at midfield but failed from six successive scoring opportunities before Ryan Kearney made it 1-3 to 0-3 and they followed that up immediately with a well-worked goal as Ben Loakman, quiet up until that point, set up O’Donovan for a cool finish from point-blank range. Loakman added a point immediately and Sarsfields were suddenly in front.
In the run up to half-time Loakman’s free and a lofted point from Kearney put Sash three clear with Raheens finally ending sixteen minutes without even a shot with the well-marked Jack Taaffe sending a long range free wide.
They did, though, register a two-point free from Paddy Woodgate, who also had a quiet half to go in just one point behind (1-6 to 1-5).
When Dara Crowley was pulled from behind immediately after the break, Woodgate converted from the spot but Tom Aspell fed Ryan for his goal at the other end. Kearney, hugely impressive added three points in the second period to bring his tally to five points from play while O’Donovan ended up on 1-4, while Bolton registered a two-pointer on his way to 0-4.
Although goalkeeper Declan Campbell saved at close range from O’Donovan and Harry Redmond, there was little he could do about Cathal White’s two finishes to the net in the 46th and 59th minutes, though he did get a hand to the second effort.
It was all attacking prowess that got Sarsfields through. While Power proved a handful at times for Kieran Dwyer, Aspell and Cian Byrne were masterful at bottling up dangermen Jack Taaffe and Woodgate respectively as Sarsfields laid down a marker in a group that also involves Naas and Maynooth.
Marc Courtney Byrne; Tom Aspell, Kieran Dwyer, Cian Byrne; Jimmy O’Neill, Daragh Conlon, Cathal White 2-0; Tadhg Hoey, Callum Bolton 0-4 (1tp,1’45); Ryan Kearney 0-5, Karl Hartley 0-1, Shea Ryan 1-0; Conor O’Donovan 1-4, Barry Coffey, Ben Loakman 0-3 (2fs). Subs: Harry Redmond for Coffey 11, Jake Loakman 0-1 for O’Neill 47, Ronan Fitzgibbon for B Loakman 52.
Declan Campbell; Shane Crowley, Jack Hamill, Tom Early; Fionn Tully, Niall Cramer, Graham Waters 0-1; Dara Crowley, Killian Thompson 0-1; Daniel Hamill, Niall Dolan, Daire Gilmartin 1-0; Paddy Woodgate 1-2 (1-0 pen, 0-2 tpf), Liam Power 0-3 (1m), Jack Taaffe. Subs: Luke O’Donovan for Tully 26, Cathal O’Toole for Early 35, Jason Earley for K Thompson 52, Rob Thompson for Dolan 52.
Kieran Harris.
Read our score-by-score update here
