A great game of ball this was.
Carlow SFC Group 2, Round 3
Palatine 2-9, Clonmore 2-8
By Jamie Wall
In a sun drenched Netwatch Cullen Park, Clonmore in their alternative black jersey with green sleeves and red stripes took on the undefeated men of Palatine back in their traditional red and green sash and sleeves.
As soon as referee James Foley threw in the ball both teams attacked before a Shane O’Neill angled run breaks the line and kicks the opening point after two minutes. The next five minutes seen no score, but Clonmore corner back Cormac Connolly and Palatine’s Joshua Egan were both covering ground creating chances.
Eventually Robert Bulmer gathered one of Connolly’s passes and jinxed his way around to level the game. From this score on both teams upped their gears and good hands from Tomas Kenny passing it over the Clonmore man’s head regathers, hand passes to Andrew Kehoe who gives another handpass to Jamie Kenny who gathers well under close attention but was able to find Brandon Cassidy who slots over.
A great block by Finbarr Kavanagh got Pal on the counter and Andrew Kehoe made no mistake to fire them two ahead. Clonmore replied straight away with Cormac Connolly finding Tom Pollard off his shoulder to score.
After 14 minutes on the clock a Luke Connolly long range effort drops into the Palatine box but Robert Bulmer jumped the highest to fist the ball to the back of the net and gave Clonmore the lead for first time in the game.
Palatine made no mistake in replying to the Clonmore goal as Shane O’Neill fisted the ball to McMahon who shuffled around the defenders and raised the green flat to restore Pals lead.
The final ten minutes of the first half seen both teams have chances but both of them were defending as good as they were attacking. Byran McMahon and Oisin Doyle converted frees before a long range effort from Billy Lawlor sent the teams in level at half time.
Clonmore went straight on attack from throw in and Tom Pollard manufacturered a goal chance with a great sidestep but Craig Kearney spread himself to make a great save. Pal gathered the restart with smooth and silky hands by McMahon and O’Neill gave the left footer O’Neill a yard to get the first score of the second half.
New man in Aaron Kelly didn’t need time to get to the pace of game as he scored a lovely point from distance. With seven minutes gone in the second half another dropping shot from Connolly wasn’t dealt with in the square and this time it was Tom Pollard who got on the end of ball to give Clonmore a three point lead.
Pal again responded to the Clonmore green flag and got Joshua Egan in for a goal chance only for the youngster to clip the top of the cross bar and raise a white flag.
Good play by Jack Deacy and Bradon Cassidy saw Deacy in on goal, but Jake Hickey tracked all the way and got a vital block. Then a great ball by Rory Maguire sees Enda McGrath shoot on goal but Craig Kearney diving to his right managed to get a big right hand to deny Clonmore another green flag.
Enda McGrath restored the three point lead before Jamie Kenny reduced the lead back down to just one point with eight minutes remaining.
Luke Connolly drove at the heart of the Pal defence gaining yards and found Tom Pollard who brought his tally to 1-2. Joshua Egan sees his effort touched onto the post by the foot of Jordan Kane. A fine right footed effort by Clonmore captain Shane Murphy gave them a three point lead as the clock turned into added time.
Like all good experienced and proven teams do Palatine did not panic. Shane O’Neill, who has been a vital cog in the wheel for Pal stood up and glided by the Clonmore defence to finish low to the keepers right at the Braun end to level the game.
Again it was O’Neill who gathered the ball to find Joshua Egan moving full tilt down on goal but the youngster used his head and took the simple option to handpass the ball over the bar.
The Pal side make it three wins from three with a narrow one point win but credit where credit is due to this Clonmore side who put in one hell of a performance for a side that knew their faith before the game.
Pal sit with a week off for their Semi final, while Clonmore also have a bit of time to reset before taking on Tinryland in the Relegation Final.
Clonmore:
Jordan Kane; Cormac Connolly, Anthony Kealy McDonald, Rory Maguire; David Mulvany, Billy Lawlor, Shane Murphy ©; Enda McGrath, Luke Connolly; Rob Bulmer, Eoin Connolly, Paddy Gahan; Jake Hickey, Oisin Doyle, Tom Pollard.
Subs: Aaron Kelly for C Connolly (37mins), Dylan Doyle for E Connolly (45mins), Athony Byrne for T Pollard (54mins).
Scorers: R Bulmer 1-1, T Pollard 1-2, O Doyle 0-1 (1f), B Lawlor 0-1, A Kelly 0-1, E McGrath 0-1, S Murphy 0-1.
Palatine:
Craig Kearney; Conor O’Doherty, Cian Cashman, Gavin Healy; Jack Deacy, Cillian Duff, Jamie Kenny; Jason Kane, Finbarr Kavanagh; Bryan McMahon, Shane O’Neill, Tomas Kenny; Andrew Kehoe, Brandon Cassidy, Joshua Egan.
Subs: James Cranny for A Kehoe (42mins), Conor Lawlor for T Kenny (42mins), Brian Broderick for J Kane (45mins), Andrew Kehoe for B McMahon (58mins).
Scorers: S O’Neill 1-2, B Cassidy 0-1, A Kehoe 0-1, B McMahon 1-1 (0-1f), J Egan 0-2, J Kenny 0-2.
Referee: James Foley (Kilbride).
