Great team display powered Oldcastle to victory over Ballinlough in the Intermediate Football Championship
Oldcastle 2-11, Ballinlough 0-06
Ballinlough took the first score in this much anticipated IFC (Rd.2)clash played in Pairc Tailteann this afternoon (14/4/2019), with a point within a minute of the start. Oldcastle responded with the next kick of the ball: a nice Darren Hawdon pass on to Keith Connell who then found Paddy Gilsenan, he chipped it perfectly to the waiting Jason Scully who gave a lovely little handpass to Robbie Farrelly who slammed it into the net for a super goal.
The next three for Oldcastle were all pointed frees from Robbie, with Ballinlough tacking on a free from Peadar Byrne. Keith Connell took a nice point from play, before Byrne added another free for the opposition. Some great play from Stephen Lawless and Jason Scully got the next ball, Scully being floored in the process. The resulting free came to Terry Farrelly on the right hand side of the goals, who floated it over to the unmarked Keith Connell on the far side who then tipped it over the bar for a lovely point.
Louis Colleran was having a great game, and it was he who claimed the next ball, got it on to Darren Hawdon who made a good run upfield, on to Keith Connell, to Paddy Gilsenan, to Colin Hawdon and back to Gilsenan who ran it in near goal and passed to the waiting Scully for another goal!
Oran O’Reilly and Ger Reidy were instrumental in the next score, their hard work got the ball up to the super Paddy Rahill who was fouled: Robbie Farrelly got it on to Darren Hawdon who brought it forward before giving a lovely pass to little brother Colin who sailed it over the bar for the last point of the half, leaving it Oldcastle 2-06, Ballinlough 0-04 at the break.
No-one was complacent about the score, especially considering Ballinlough’s big comeback last weekend, and they piled on the pressure at the resumption. They were unlucky to just miss a goal with the ball going wide, and then soon after the ball rebounded off the crossbar, but was fired over for the point instead. Peadar Byrne was done for travelling, and Paddy Rahill then sent the ball in the right direction, on to Paddy Gilsenan and to Robbie Farrelly who turned and kicked over a lovely point.
All the while Cian McPartland was in the wars, but was mostly winning them, while Ronan Maguire covered every inch of the pitch. While there was still some sloppy passing, Oldcastle were miles better than last week, and should have been even further ahead .Rory McHugh and C.J. Healy introduced some fresh legs to the Oldcastle effort. A Ballinlough free for Peadar Byrne was sent in to Podge Muldoon, but he was done for touching it on the ground. The next Ballinlough kick-out was taken cleanly out of the air by Rory McHugh and on to Paddy Gilsenan for another Oldcastle score. At eighteen minutes into the half, and no sign of the Ballinlough comeback, Peadar Byrne and the referee were having a wee chat. Ref Keith Ennis mustn’t have liked the direction of the chat, as Peadar was presented with a red card, much to the disappointment of the Oldcastle fans who were still waiting for the Peadar Byrne Show to start!
Dylan Garrigan came on for Oldcastle, and provided a burst of speed through the middle. Steven Lawless was next on the scoreboard for Oldcastle. The Ballinlough goalie’s kickout was intercepted by Colin Hawdon who sent it straight back over for the point, followed by another a minute later. The thirty minutes were now up, with Ballinlough taking a consolation point, but it was way too little and way too late.
Poor Seán Geraghty from Ballinlough (who teaches in Gilson N.S) had to run the gauntlet of a gang of his Oldcastle pupils on the way back to the dressing rooms; he’ll be grateful for the two weeks off but they won’t have forgotten when school’s back! Caroline Kavanagh is planning a big Abba night at her house, with just one song on the list, “The Winner takes it All.” A great win and much appreciated by the Oldcastle fans, the Ballinlough supporters were very quiet today and will need some time to lick their wounds before venturing into Oldcastle again!
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Oldcastle: Packie Kevin, Louis Colleran, Cian McPartland, Oran O’Reilly, Steven Lawlesss (0-01), Ger Reidy, Terry Farrelly, Paddy Rahill, Ronan Maguire, Keith Connell (0-02), Darren Hawdon, Robbie Farrelly (1-04), Paddy Gilsenan (0-01), Jason Scully (1-00), Colin Hawdon (0-03).
Subs: C.J. Healy, Rory McHugh, Dylan Garrigan.
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