This was a complete and utter mismatch.
2024 Michael Lyng Motors SFC Group 1 Round 2
Old Leighlin 4-17, MLR 1-2
A devastating scoring blitz by Old Leighlin, which had the game effectively over shortly after the first quarter, sees them meet Bagenalstown Gaels next weekend to determine who gets the following weekend off (top spot goes straight to the semi-final). Amazingly, just 11 seconds were on the clock when Mikey Bambrick’s bullet hit Dean Grennan’s net, with namesake David the provider straight from the throw-in.
Building on this, they registered points from their next four attacks: a pair of Seamus Kinsella frees either side of a Cathal Coughlan beauty and Darragh Fitzgerald from the edge of the MLR D, making it 1-4 to no score after 6 minutes.
A pair of Eoin Doyle frees had MLR eventually on the scoreboard by the 8th minute, with Steven Scallan saving smartly from Declan Brennan soon after. Old Leighlin’s dominance was quelled for the moment.
A pair of Coughlan points by the 19th minute canceled the brief MLR scoring burst. The pace, teamwork, and clinical finishing by Old Leighlin soon reached new levels, with Fitzgerald getting in behind the MLR rearguard to bury goal number 2. Goal number 3 came when Tadhg Roche’s run was spotted, making it 3-6 to 0-2 with just 19 minutes on the clock. Old Leighlin were running their opponents ragged at this stage, with Grennan saving from Aaron Amond, and Kinsella putting over the resultant brought-forward 45. Goal number 4 arrived in the 27th minute, Roche again getting on the end, this time of another Mikey Bambrick run. His hat trick was denied at the expense of a point with another fine Grennan save, leading to a scarcely believable half-time score of 4-8 to 0-2.
Any chance that Old Leighlin would lay off was soon dismissed with the first four points of the half all theirs: Coughlan from a free, Mikey Bambrick with 2, and Sean Taylor all by the 38th minute.
In the 41st minute, Chris Nolan gathered a ball 50m from the Old Leighlin goal, his direct run ending with his rasping effort bouncing down off the crossbar, hitting the bare patch in the goal, and bouncing back out. Play continued, but with the umpires’ signal for the goal not spotted immediately, play continued until attention was brought to it. By the time the goal was registered, both sides were down to 14, with Eoin Doyle seeing black for something said and Scallan off receiving attention, the resultant kick-out taken by the now stand-in goalie Aaron Amond! The score stood at 4-12 to 1-2.
The next Old Leighlin score saw Amond closer to the other goal to point in the 45th minute before a trio of Coughlan points had it 4-16 to 1-2 on 53 minutes. Roche’s hat trick was nearly completed in the 57th minute, but he selflessly passed for James Dowling to point, leaving the final score at 4-17 to 1-2.
Old Leighlin:
Subs: Jamie Doyle, Kevin Carpenter, Matt Burke (blood sub)
MLR:
Subs: Chris Nolan, Ted Joyce, Mark Dundon, Brad Bolger, Diarmuid Byrne
Referee: Marion Hayden
Footnote: Marion Hayden is the first female referee of a Carlow SFC game.
