Rathvilly were largely impressive in this victory.
2024 Carlow SFC Semi Final
Rathvilly 3-5 , Old Leighlin 1-9
By Stephen Bambrick
A few short weeks ago, Rathvilly and Palatine got the 2024 SFC up and running, and in two weeks’ time, they will also bring the curtain down on it.
Fourteen-man Rathvilly, like Palatine night previous, netted three times, their second and third goals either side of half-time giving them the cushion they needed every bit of by the game’s end, with Old Leighlin chipping away at the deficit but just coming up short.
With both sides coming in off big victories, something had to give. The space Old Leighlin had in their group stage games was a lot less available here, with Dara Curran picking up Mikey Bambrick, whose brother Seanie was a huge loss out injured and was replaced by the returning Niall Roche.
Padhraig Bolger opened the scoring in the second minute, and it took Old Leighlin all of eight minutes for a leveling score for the only time in the game. However, minutes later, Bolger’s day was done when he was issued a red card for lashing out right in front of referee Jonathan Murphy.
Rathvilly didn’t dwell too much on this numerical setback. A Kevin Murphy free (Moore fouled) in the 13th minute, a trademark Brendan Murphy point after a turnover in the 18th minute, and the same player supplying namesake Kevin to blast to the Old Leighlin net made it 1-3 to 0-1 on 19 minutes.
The next three scores, however, came Old Leighlin’s way: Cathal Coughlan with a pair of frees (Niall Roche and Aaron Amond fouled) and Mikey Bambrick with his second had it at 1-3 to 0-4 on 26 minutes, with Old Leighlin having stemmed the early Rathvilly onslaught.
With half-time looming, a Brendan Murphy effort dropped short around the Old Leighlin goal, with the inrushing Brandon Kelly diverting it to the net- a hammer blow for Old Leighlin and a tonic for Rathvilly, making it 2-3 to 0-4 at the interval.
If Kelly’s goal was a hammer blow, then Conor Doyle’s driving run and finish to the Old Leighlin goal seconds into the second half was more like a sledgehammer, 3-3 to 0-4; a mountain to climb now for them.
A pair of frees from Kinsella and Coughlan had it back to 3-3 to 0-6 in the 35th minute, but Brendan Murphy, following an Eric Molloy run, replied immediately for Rathvilly. However, with Conor Doyle’s punched effort in the 48th minute, that would be their last score of the game. Old Leighlin, probably needing a goal at some point, finally got it in the 49th minute, with Mikey Bambrick catching, turning, and finishing from a long delivery past Robbie Molloy, now 3-5 to 1-6.
Seconds later, a second almost arrived. Same ploy, long ball caught by Molloy, with Amond adjudged to have been in the square before knocking it to the net. A close call, depending on which side you supported.
Old Leighlin were slowly picking holes in a watertight defense, and a collector’s item of a right-footed Coughlan point had it back to four on 52 minutes. Rathvilly, at this stage, were keeping Old Leighlin in it with their shot selection at the other end.
A 45 to Old Leighlin on the stroke of 60 minutes saw Steven Scallan’s effort sail over, making it 3-5 to 1-8. A minute later, Niall Roche had it back to two points. However, a number of Old Leighlin shots missed the target on either side of this under the utmost pressure.
The final whistle saw Rathvilly get over the line with a score of 3-5 to 1-9.
Rathvilly – Robbie Molloy, Colin Byrne, Eric Molloy, Paraic Deering, Padhraig Bolger (0-1), Josh Moore (captain), Dara Curran, Brendan Murphy (0-2), Adam Burgess, Brandon Kelly (1-0), Liam Gavin, Jake Elliott, Kevin Murphy (1-1, 0-1f), Ed Finnegan, Conor Doyle (1-1).
Subs – Robbie Ryan for Deering (half time), Brian Smith for Elliott (53 mins )
Old Leighlin – Steven Scallan (0-1, 45), Tadhg O’ Neill, Jordan Kelly, Roy Sheehy, Tadhg Roche, Niall Roche (0-1), Sean Taylor, Ian Atkinson, David Bambrick, Seamus Kinsella (0-1f), Mikey Bambrick (1-2 ), James Dowling, Cathal Coughlan (0-4, 0-3f), Aaron Amond, Darragh Fitzgerald.
Subs – Jamie Doyle for Kinsella (39 mins), Shane Dooley for Taylor (49 mins)
Referee – Jonathan Murphy (St Mullins)
