Carlow Credit Union S.F.L. Division 1
Tinryland 3-10 St. Patricks 0-10
Tinryland senior footballers who are already assured of a place in the knockout stages ended the Carlow Credit Union division 1 league campaign on a winning note against St. Patricks at a sunny Bro. Leo Park on Friday evening.
The final scoreline certainly does not flatter the winners who enjoyed the lions share of possession during the hour. The winning margin could have been a lot greater only for the fact that Tinryland missed as many chances as they scored with their final tally of wides and misses totting up to almost 2 dozen. Straight from the throw in Tinryland went on the attack against the Slaneysiders but with 6 wides alone in the opening 8 minutes the home team remained in contact up to the 17th minute when Tinryland’s best player Ross Moran crashed the ball past Gerry McGuill after a great pass from Peter Hennessy. Prior to this goal the sides had been all square for much of the opening quarter with the Tinryland points coming from Michael Hosey and Matthew O’Toole with Cathal Healy and Brian Byrne raising the white flags for the Tullow side. Tinryland consolidated their advantage in the 20th minute with another Matthew O’Toole point after clever play from Ross Moran, Conor Ryan and Cormac O’Brien and they ended the half with further points from Conor Carew and O’Toole. Half time score Tinryland 1-5 St. Patricks 0-2.
The second half was only seconds old when straight from the throw in won by Shane Redmond, Conor Carew rattled the ball to the St. Patricks net to give Tinryland a 9 point advantage. Within seconds at the other end the first 2 pointer arrived when Cathal Healy reduced the margin to 7 points as Jack O’Neill entered the contest for St. Patricks with Conor Byrne and Shane Webb providing fresh legs for the men from Rathcrogue. In the 39th minute referee Marion Hayden applied the new rules for dissent and St. Patricks got their 2nd 2 pointer via mid-fielder Craig Staunton from the resultant free to leave 6 points separating the teams with 20 minutes remaining.
Tinryland rallied again and Ross Moran was on hand to slot over an excellent point after great play by Conor Ryan but St. Patricks quickly replied at the other end with a successful Jack Kennedy free.
By the 45th minute the home side got to within 4 points of the eventual winners when full forward Brian Byrne converted another 2 pointer but this was as good as it got for the Tullow men as Tinryland with more fresh legs in the shape of Maurice Lawler, Conall O’Shea and Bobby Doyle finally got their scoring boots working. Lawler was only minutes on the field when he scored Tinryland’s 3rd goal after great play by Cormac O’Brien and Michael Hosey. Conall O’Shea who also was not long on the field slotted over another Tinryland point with 10 minutes remaining and Ross Moran capped another fine performance by making a high catch and driving forward to put the ball over the bar at the town end.
The final stages of this game saw more good work by Conor Ryan being rewarded with a Maurice Lawler point while Jack Kennedy closed the scoring for St Patricks which left 9 points separating the teams at the end.
Tinryland will now proceed to the knockout stages in 2 weeks while St. Patricks will be involved in a relegation battle with Old Leighlin, Clonmore and Bagenalstown Gaels.
Tinryland: Chris Townsend, Danny Moran, Cian McGuire, Michael Hosey 0-1, Lorcan O’Connor, Ross Moran 1-2, Conor O’Toole, Conor Ryan, Shane Redmond, Peter Hennessy, Conor Carew 1-1, Niall Lowry, Matthew O’Toole 0-3, Diarmaid Walshe, Cormac O’Brien 0-1. Subs: Conor Byrne, Shane Webb, Conall O’Shea 0-1, Maurice Lawler 1-1, Bobby Doyle.
St Patricks: Gerry McGill, Niall Gahan, Dylan Gorman-Comerford, Conor Brophy, Patrick Doyle, Lee Kavanagh, Cathal Healy 0-3, Craig Staunton 0-2, Ronal Healy, Tadhg Foley, Jack Kennedy 0-2, Kevin Healy, Cian Doran, Brian Byrne 0-3, David Tobin. Subs: Jack O’Neill, Eoghan O’Toole.
Referee Marion Hayden (Eire Og)
