Three goals in four first-half minutes help Grange recover from slow start
Brian Cullen tucks away a goal for Grangenolvin with a tidy finish.
Junior champions Grangenolvin took a while to find their feet but eventually looked at home in the National Electrical Wholesalers Intermediate Championship as they recovered from the concession of two early goals to see off Nurney at a baking Manguard Park on Saturday.
Nurney, seasoned campaigners at this level and boosted by promotion from Division 3 of the league, took full advantage of a nervous Grangenolvin start.
They might have conceded an early goal, but Eoghan Fitzpatrick saved from Tomás Cullen at the expense of an unconverted ’45 but with Cathal Hagney proving a handful with some superb catches and driving runs from midfield, Nurney got on top.
Hagney made the breakthrough on three minutes when finishing a one-two with Seán Murphy to the net while eleven minutes later Damien Berns couldn’t finish after chaos in the goalmouth, the ball cleared off the line.
But Nurney’s second goal came soon enough. On seventeen minutes, Hagney was tackled high and referee Niall Colgan spread the arms. The ageless Mikey Conway buried the penalty past Grangenolvin ‘keeper Timmy Doyle in typical Conway fashion to the bottom right corner.
When Andrew Behan added a classy point, that made it 2-3 to 0-2. Welcome to Intermediate, Grange!
But an incredible final ten minutes of the half turned the game on its head. It was beginning to look like one of those days for David Conway’s side when Nathan Doyle took the wrong option in attempting an offload to Tomás Cullen when one on one with Fitzpatrick, but on 23 minutes a great catch from Oran Bergin set up brother Fionn for a scruffy enough finish (they all count) to the net.
That opened the floodgates and a minute later Fitzpatrick failed to gather Lee Doyle’s sideline ball leaving Conall Bergin with the simplest of finishes to an empty net. That levelled it at 2-3 apiece.
They weren’t finished yet and with Nurney penned in their own half, Brian Cullen pounced on a kick-out, took a return pass from Nathan Doyle and finished low for a third goal in four minutes. Points from Tomás Cullen and Conall Bergin made it 3-6 to 2-3 at the interval.
Nurney didn’t go away, though, and a much-needed Conway free got their scoreboard moving again and shot-putter Theo Hanlon showed he’s no mean footballer with a two-point free.
Brian Cullen almost had a second goal for Grangenolvin but crashed his shot off the crossbar before Conway and Berns added points for Nurney to bring them back to within three (3-8 to 2-8).
It was largely tit-for-tat in the final quarter, but Nurney couldn’t get closer than three.
Fionn Bergin and Oran Bergin pointed frees for Grangenolvin with the latter brother unfortunately injuring himself in the process and having to be replaced.
Kevin Conway swung over after a patient build up and Hanlon knocked one over left-footed from play to keep Nurney in touch.
With five minutes left Paul Huntingdon came forward to make it 3-11 to 2-10 and Tomás Cullen added another to make it a five-point game two minutes later.
Mikey Conway made it interesting though as we headed into injury time, the former Kildare star landing an audacious two-pointer off the outside of his left boot. But when Brian Cullen was fouled, Fionn Bergin gave Grangenolvin assurance with a converted free, rendering an Andrew Behan free four minutes into additional time a mere footnote.
Timmy Doyle; Gavin Ivory, Lewis Gannon, Keith Holligan; Paul Huntingdon 0-1, Dylan Costigan, Brian Cullen 1-0; Johnny Lawlor, Conall Bergin 1-4 (0-1f); Cillian Bergin, Fionn Bergin 1-3 (0-3f), Lee Doyle 0-1; Nathan Doyle, Oran Bergin 0-2 (1f), Tomás Cullen 0-2.
James Gannon for Lawlor HT, Nicky Bowens for O Bergin 50, Aaron Phelan for Cillian Bergin 58.
Eoghan Fitzpatrick; Neil Kelly, Daragh Conway, Noel Lawlor; Ciaran Callan 0-1, Brian Reilly, Steven Conway; Owen Kealey, Cathal Hagney 1-0; Damien Berns 0-1, Michael Conway 1-4 (1-0 pen,1tp, 0-2fs), Tadhg Hagney; Seán Murphy, Theo Hanlon 0-3 (1tpf), Andrew Behan 0-3 (2f).
Daniel Kealey for Callan 40, Kevin Conway 0-1 for O Kealey 45, Jessie Moore for Murphy 53, Ben Doyle for Berns 58, Cillian Boyle for T Hagney 59.
Niall Colgan.
