Rathangan score three second-half goals to start Championship with a flourish
Sam Savage celebrates his second half goal for Rathagan during their win over Ellistown Photo: James Lawlor
Pauric Carty, Sam Savage and Austin Donegan scored second-half goals as Rathangan pulled away to record a comfortable Championship win over local rivals Ellistown for the second year in a row.
It’s almost a year to the day since Rathangan earned the local bragging rights with a 17-point win and they bettered that by two points here after an excellent display.
Carty finished the game with 1-8 and he started the scoring off with a two-point free after four minutes. It was the first of five two-pointers in the game as both teams showcased their ability from beyond the arc.
The second of those came in the fifth minute when Pat Martin decided to have a go from fully 50 metres while referee Billy O’Connell was playing an advantage and he sent his shot soaring through the posts.
That was about as good as it got for Ellistown as Rathangan took control of the game after that with five successive points. They should have had a goal through that period as well but Conor Jamieson shot narrowly over from close range after being set up by Ben Murphy.
Evan Donnelly ended that run of scores in the 19th minute when he fired over another two-pointer off the inside of the posts.
Rathangan were quickly back on the front thanks in part to their dominance around the middle third. Eoghan Boyle, Aran Teahan and Ben Murphy all made spectacular fetches in the game’s engine room and that gave them a consistent platform to push forward.
Teahan pointed in the 22nd minute and then set up Ruairi Broughan for a point a minute later to leave the score at 0-9 to 0-4.
Carty added two more points to his growing tally but Harry Donnelly kept Ellistown somewhat in touch with a two-point free.
The score of the half came down the far end in first-half injury-time when Teahan nonchalantly stroked over a two-point free from over 50 metres. It was as sweet a strike as you will see and still would have dropped over the bar had the free been a further five metres back.
That helped Rathangan into a 0-13 to 0-7 lead and any hope Ellistown had of getting back into the game evaporated within four minutes of the restart after Rathangan scored two goals.
The first came in the 33rd minute when Oisin Molloy stepped on to the pitch while taking a sideline and from the overturned ball, Teahan picked out Carty and his shot looped over the head of Oran Donnelly and into the net.
The Ellistown ‘keeper was picking the ball out of the net again a minute later when half-time substitute Sam Savage beat him with a well placed shot.
Ellistown heads dropped a little after that and Rathangan added a third goal in the 50th minute when Austin Donegan appeared to get the final touch after Teahan dropped a ball into the Ellistown goalmouth.
Muiris Curtin added a late point after his introduction from the bench and there was precious little in response from Ellistown.
It’s the ideal start to the Championship for Rathangan. They looked like being strong contenders for the title after last year’s win over Ellistown before the wheels came off but they look similarly well poised after this show of attacking flair.
Craig Shannon; Niall Ahern, Daniel Mulpeter, Alex Conlan, Shane O’Loughlin, Michael Fitzsimons 0-2, Ruairi Broughan 0-1; Mark Fitzsimons 0-2, Eoghan Boyle 0-1; Ben Murphy, Stefan Lawler, Aran Teahan 0-3 (1tpf), Conor Jamieson 0-1, Pauric Carty 1-8 (1tpf, 5fs), Austin Donegan 1-1. Subs: Sam Savage 1-0 for Jamieson, h/t; Muiris Curtin 0-1 for Savage, 43; Eoin Curtin for Murphy, 51; Brandon Maloney for Mark Fitzsimons, 59.
Oran Donnelly; Charlie Cullen, Max Lennox, Darren Kelly, Oisin Molloy, Andrew McLoughlin, Ciaran Lindy; Pat Martin 0-2 (1tp), Leo Lennox; Eoin O’Loughlin 0-1, Evan Donnelly 0-2 (1tp), Darragh Watson, Tadhg Watson, Conor Lindy, Harry Donnelly 0-4 (1tpf, 1f, 1’45). Subs: Callum Donnelly for Lindy, 36; David Dunne for T Watson, 41; Conor O’Loughlin 0-1 for M Lennox, 41; Sean Lindy for D Watson, 42; Aaron O’Loughlin for Kelly, 51.
Billy O’Connell
