Carlow Credit Union Division 3 Football league By Eamonn Byrne
Rathvilly 1-10 Tinryland 1-8
Rathvilly and Tinryland served up an enjoyable hour of football in this 5th round div 3 game at balmy Rathcrogue on Friday evening 17th April. The home team despite their 2-point loss showed more improvement against a team ranked one championship division ahead of them which gives hope of a decent performance in the JFC (B) later in the season.
With a mixture of youth and experience Tinryland more than matched their opponents for most of the first half but were guilty of poor shot selection and a litany of wides which kept the Wicklow border side in the driving seat. Rathvilly scored the opening 2 points via corner forward Jack Carroll and full forward Regan Murphy before Tinryland finally opened their account after 10 minutes with a Mikey Byrne point after good play by Sam Byrne. Further good play one minute later from Conor Byrne and Jamie Doyle resulted in a Shay McCullough point and it got even better in the 12th minute when the lively Sam Byrne slotted over another point after more good play by Jamie Doyle. Rathvilly who were more clinical when they attacked then got a two pointer from Co minor player Jack Corcoran and in the 18th minute they scored their only goal of the game via Cillian Molloy. Tinryland on the other hand continued to clock up the wides and were also guilty of kicking the ball into the Rathvilly goalie when other options were possible. Half time score Rathvilly 1-4 Tinryland 0-3.
When referee Marion Hayden re-started proceedings Tinryland introduced Tomas Murphy who was making a welcome return after injury and after 10 more scoreless minutes Jamie Doyle converted a free won by himself. Tinryland goalkeeper Evan Doyle was then forced to retire with a leg injury to be replaced in goal by full forward Conor Brennan with Eoin Riordan being sprung from the bench. Both sides then traded points with Cillian Molloy and Conor O’Neill scoring for Rathvilly and the 2 Jamie’s Doyle and Walker doing likewise for the home side after good play from Mikey Byrne and the outstanding Shane O’Neill.. Both sides then scored two pointers with Rathvilly wing forward Conor O’Neill extending his teams advantage to 5 points before Glen Doyle did likewise for Tinryland after a pristine pass from midfielder Conor Byrne. Tinryland were hunting in packs now and were rewarded in the 57th minute with a Jamie Doyle goal after a great soccer style pass from his cousin Glen to leave matters all square with 3 minutes remaining. Rathvilly however responded with a brilliant 2-point conversion from their centre forward Jack Corcoran to maintain their progress to the knockout stages in the division with 2 rounds remaining. Tinryland will be back in action away to Naomh Eoin on Saturday next 25th April while Rathvilly will entertain Asca in Fr. Ryan Park on the same date.
Rathvilly: Conor Elliott, Robert Coleman, Luke Coleman, Tony Bolger, Luca Kavanagh, Eoin Corcoran, Jamie Byrne, Kenneth Bello, Gerard Kavanagh, Jay Leonard, Jack Corcoran 0-2, Conor O’Neill 0-3, Cillian Molloy 1-1, Regan Murphy 0-1, Jack Carroll 0-1. Subs: Rory Gavin, Cormac Byrne, Liam Kelly.
Tinryland: Evan Doyle, Luke Cahill, Shane O’Neill, Cian McGuire, Sam Byrne 0-1, Glen Doyle 1-2, Sean Murphy, Mikey Byrne 0-1, Conor Byrne, Jamie Walker 0-1, Conall McGuire, Jamie Doyle 0-2, Daryl Nolan, Conor Brennan, Shay McCullough 0-1. Subs Tomas Murphy, Eoin O’Riordan.
Referee Marion Hayden Eire Og
