This was a cracker
Palatine 3-10 Eire Og 2-12
By Stephen Bambrick
Was it Brian Cody who said that every game takes on a life of its own? Well, this first Carlow SFC Semi-Final certainly ticked that box and more.
Palatine won an epic battle to take down holders Eire Og with a blistering start, scoring three goals by the 18th minute. Amazingly, Eire Og were back on level terms 30 minutes later, the champions were three points up minutes later, and the challengers hit the last four points of the game when down to 14 men to book their place in Sunday fortnight’s county final.
The scoreboard clock was just a second into the 2nd minute when Shane O’Neill’s barnstorming run found Jamie Kenny. His fleet of foot saw him clear to net past Johnny Furey. A Bryan McMahon free (Jack Deasy fouled) and a Shane O’Neill point had Pal 1-2 to the good by the 5th minute. That good got even better a minute later, with Finbarr Kavanagh following in to bury goal number two after Kenny and Brandon Cassidy’s link-up play.
Jack Deasy was fouled once more in the 9th minute, giving Shane O’Neill his second score of the day, 2-3 on the board before Eire Og’s saviour last week, Niall Quinlan (fouled himself), in the 12th minute opened their scoring. Colm Hulton ran from deep for a fine second before he turned provider for Ross Dunphy for his first of the evening, showing a better look of a 2-3 to 0-3 deficit on 16 minutes for Eire Og. But not for long, mind you, as Cassidy’s 18th-minute punched effort came back off the upright with Jack Deasy gratefully dispatching goal number three, making it 3-3 to 0-3 on 18 minutes.
If Eire Og’s hold on their crown last week was tenuous, the one thing they had this week was time on their side. From here to halftime, they outscored the eventual winners five points to one. Quinlan (2f), Dunphy (2), and Murtough Ware (1), with Darragh O’Brien assisting in three of these scores, left Palatine’s sole reply as a right-footed Shane O’Neill score, making it 3-4 to 0-8 at halftime.
Conor Crowley had the second half’s first score in the 33rd minute. It was the next score, however, that hit the “game on now Ger” button. Hulton’s run forced him to palm across to Quinlan, who had a lot to do to finish to the net brilliantly. This was just before Lee Moore had his shot for goal well saved by Craig Kearney. The next score in the 37th minute from Hulton (via the upright) was hotly debated by an irate Jason Kane, who was adamant it was wide. The score counted, making it 3-5 to 1-9 on 37 minutes.
Sean Gannon drew a free which Quinlan converted in the 43rd minute for a one-point game, but credit to the recently introduced Andrew Kehoe for canceling this out immediately. An even better Kearney save down low to deprive Cathal Kelly kept Pal in front, but not for long, with O’Brien converting the resultant 45 before Dunphy leveled proceedings for the first time in the 48th minute, making it 3-6 to 1-12.
Every game has turning points or potential ones at least, and the next few minutes had three. Kavanagh’s goal effort was blocked, Conor O’Doherty received a second yellow, and last but not least, Quinlan’s 53rd-minute effort for a point dropped short with Dunphy putting the dropping ball past Kearney, making it 2-12 to 3-6, with Eire Og in the driving seat for the first time.
Credit to Palatine, whose reply was immediate. Crowley pointed following a foul on Kehoe, who himself in the 58th minute took and converted a mark, leaving the minimum between the sides before Benny Kavanagh almost broke clear under the stand. This let-off spurred on Ciaran Moran to kick the equalizer in the 60th minute, with four additional minutes to come to find a winner.
Steady build-up play from Pal saw Crowley fouled, and O’Neill made no mistake, making it 3-10 to 2-12 with 63 minutes gone. One final chance would come Eire Og’s way to level matters, with Ross Dunphy’s 40m free near the press box sideline just missing the target.
An epic encounter just about went the Bennekerry men’s way, finishing 3-10 to 2-12 at full time.
Palatine: Craig Kearney, Conor O’Doherty, Cian Cashman, Jack Deacy (1-0), Gavin Healy, Ciaran Moran (0-1), Cillian Duff, Finbarr Kavanagh (1-0), Jason Kane, Josh Egan, Shane O’Neill (0-4, 0-2f), Bryan McMahon (0-1f), Brandon Cassidy, Conor Crowley (0-2, 0-1f), Jamie Kenny (1-0)
Subs: Stephen Reilly for Healy (37 mins), Andrew Kehoe (0-2, 0-1m) for McMahon (41 mins), Conor Lawlor for Kane (55 mins), Tom Sheehan for Duff (57 mins), James Cranny for Cassidy (59 mins)
Eire Og: Johnny Furey, Cathal Kelly, Shane Buggy, Benny Kavanagh, Lee Moore, Mark Furey, Paul McElligott, Sean Gannon, Kyle Nolan, Niall Quinlan (1-4, 0-3f), Darragh O’Brien (0-1, 45m), Kieran Nolan, Ross Dunphy (1-4), Murtough Ware (0-1), Colm Hulton (0-2)
Subs: Diarmuid Ruth for Ware (38 mins), Alex Delaney for Moore (49 mins), Eoghan Byrne for Kelly (55 mins), Josh Brady for Quinlan (59 mins)
Referee: James Foley (Kilbride)
