Suncroft hold off Confey to top Group A
In a microcosm of the game as a whole, Suncroft's Conn Kehoe just about holds off Confey's Paul Divilly. Photo: Sean Brilly.
Suncroft are through to the quarter-finals of the National Wholesale Electrical Kildare Intermediate Football Championship after they enjoyed a two-point win over Confey on Friday evening. Following on from their opening-round win over Leixlip, this victory was enough for Suncroft to top the Group A table.
It was a game that ebbed and flowed at different stages over the hour and while Confey's early five-point advantage looked to have set them on their way to victory, it was Suncroft who responded to draw level before the break.
Suncroft has their purple patch early in the second half when they pushed eight points clear, but deep in injury time Confey were back within a point before Suncroft added the insurance point that sealed the game.
Prior to the beginning of the campaign, Suncroft would have been many pundits' favourites to end up in the 'B' Championship; but as has been the case in the past, league form seems to disappear when it gets down to the business end of the season.
Confey opened the brighter as Brian Grimes gave them the perfect start with a point inside 28 seconds. Although Suncroft were winning plenty of primary possession and their build-up play was impressive, the wides started to stack up and they had reached five in 11 minutes when Fionn Dowling converted a free to get them up and running. Cathal Jenning's tackle on Eoin Lawless earned him a yellow.
Confey responded immediately when Neil Ryan converted a free and 60 seconds later the other corner forward Sean Murphy extended the lead to two. By the 23rd minute Confey had moved four ahead when Ryan and Jack O'Reilly (free) both pointed.
Suncroft's inability to convert their chances had now risen to seven wides, but with four minutes to the break it was Eoghan Lawless and Fionn Dowling with two-pointers who gave their side hope. Lawless and Jennings swapped points late on to leave it level at 0-6 each at the break.
All signs were that a few home truths were told in the Suncroft dressing room at half time as the men from the edge of the Curragh returned a different side. The Croft would outscore Confey by 0-9 to 0-1 in the opening 22 minutes with a brand of football that would make one wonder if they could replicate it for 60 minutes how far it would take them.
The Suncroft half-back line of Conor Kiely, Chris Phillips and Mikey Troy drove forward at every opportunity and resulted in early points from Hugh Martin, a Fionn Dowling free and an excellent effort from Senan Brannock as he cut in from the left.
John O'Rahilly put a temporary halt to the Croft rampage with a free, but Eoin Magee, Kiely and Eoghan Lawless were all on target as the gap was now out to five.
Great work from Conn Kehoe, who dominated the second half exchanges, saw him set up Magee and from the restart Confey's attempt to go short resulted in a Dowling free. Kehoe was again the provider when he set up Hugh Martin for an eight-point lead for Suncroft.
With eight minutes remaining the game was to turn on its head. A shot for a two pointer from O'Rahilly dropped short and when Paul Divilly got possession he slid it under Ciaran Troy for a goal.
Confey had a renewed confidence and cut the gap further with an O'Rahilly two-pointer and suddenly the gap was three. Suncroft had gone missing and Brian Grimes fired a second two-pointer in as many minutes as it looked like Confey had timed their response perfectly.
Suncroft took a deep breath, however, and with a composed passage of play where retention was imperative the last chance fell to Hugh Martin three minutes into injury time and he sealed the Suncroft win with a confident strike.
Suncroft will be delighted to be through to the knockout stages, but they will need to work on their accuracy and slow start in the opening half. Confey had two passages of 13 and 14 minutes where they didn't score and it proved to be their undoing.
Ciaran Troy; Arthur Bailey, Danny Morgan, Jack Setright; Conor Kiely 0-1, Chris Phillips, Mikey Troy; Tom Martin, Conn Kehoe; Darragh Malone, Eoin Magee 0-2, Sean Brannock 0-1; Eoghan Lawless 0-4 (1tp), Fionn Dowling 0-5 (1tp, 3f), Hugh Martin 0-3.
Harry Dillon for Setright (42), Adam Talbot for T Martin (44), Mark Brown for Brannock (59).
Colin Heeney; Adam Jordan, Conor Dennehy, Ben Hourihane; Niall Cawley, Cathal Jennings 0-1, Aidan Crean; Paul Divilly 1-0, Kieran Kilbane; Brian Grimes 0-3 (1tp), Josh Collins, Philip Hallinan; Neil Ryan 0-2 (1f), Jack O'Rahilly 0-4 (1tp, 1f), Sean Murphy 0-1.
Niall Carney for Murphy (35), James Gately for Ryan (40), Ben Corscadden for Hallinan (49), Andrew Breslin for Cawley (51).
Jack O'Connell.
