Champions survive with controversial

Castledaly and Tyrrellspass must meet again after a tremendously exciting and, at times, highly controversial SFC semi-final encounter at Cusack Park last Sunday evening.A late, late equaliser from the boot of David Glennon saved the champions bacon as the Tidy Town looked doomed with more than three minutes of stoppage played. Having beaten the boys in blue in the group stages, Castledaly entered the fray on Sunday afternoon full of confidence and it showed from the off.The game started at a quick pace but fare remained scrappy until the 5th minute when MJ McLoughlin raised the game"s first white flag for Castledaly. Tyrrellspass responded with a clever flick from David Glennon that sent Gavin Hoey on his way to his way to equalising. The umpire, with the strong sun in his eyes, initially waved for a wide but, upon consultation between the referee and his umpires, the point was given.Consecutive points from Denis Glennon, the first of his haul of 2-3, and his brother David pushed Tyrrellspass into a two-point lead.The strong sun again played its part on 10 minutes when Castledaly "keeper James Kinahan lost view of a high, dropping ball and failed to collect. He did so at the second attempt preventing the in-rushing Tyrrellspass forward from gathering possession.Brendan Kelly curled over a nice score on 15 minutes for Castledaly after a swift move involving Paul Kelly and Niall Duffy. Keith Scally could have goaled on 16 minutes after a pass from Denis Glennon but with the angle quickly narrowing, he sensibly opted to fist the ball over.The opening goal wasn"t far away, however. With the very next attack a trademark Denis Glennon solo run saw him play a one-two with his brother David, before side-stepping two Castledaly challenges and firing past the helpless James Kinahan in the Castledaly goal.The game had reached a stage where one of two things could have happened. Either Tyrrellspass could have pulled away, which looked entirely possible, or Castledaly could fight back. The latter would happen but it was the scale of the Castledaly fight-back that proved most impressive.By the time Tyrrellspass had registered their next score (in the 42nd minute), Castledaly had notched up a staggering 10 unanswered points.That total began with a James Galvin double, although his second should really have been a goal when he blasted over after MJ McLoughlin set him through on goal and the Tyrrellspass defence backed off.McLoughlin pointed a free on 25 minutes and a double from Michael Duffy (1 free) brought the teams back in tandem for the first time since the 6th minute. With the momentum strongly with Castledaly, Brendan Kelly had a good opportunity to give his side a half-time lead but his shot dropped into the "keepers hands.That would have been a nice lead for Castledaly to take into the second half. One might have feared that the interval would kill their momentum but that certainly wasn"t the case as they continued to dominate the game with some quick-hand passing and ball-retention coupled with controlled aggression that, for a long time, Tyrrellspass seemed to have no answer to.A Paul Kelly free put Castledaly into the lead on 33 minutes. A move involving corner-back Michael Gavin saw MJ McLoughlin land his third of the day. And a sweet strike with the outside of the boot from wing-back Enda Kelly saw Castledaly take a three-point lead with just six minutes of the second half elapsed.And still they kept going. By the time the 40th minute had rolled around, Tyrrellspass found themselves five points in arrears as Castledaly notched two further frees. There was some controversy about the awarding of second free, however. Paul Kelly - who did indeed looked to have been fouled - still managed to shake off his marker and fire the ball to the top corner of the net only for the referee to call back play for the free. Suffice to say that Castledaly would have been happy to take the goal, especially with what was to follow.A 14-yard free was awarded to Tyrrellspass on 42 minutes. Denis Glennon shaped up to tap it over but fooled everyone and absolutely hammered the ball to the top corner of the net. And after a Philip Sheridan point on 46 minutes, suddenly Castledaly had gone from being 5 points up to just one.But MJ McLoughlin steadied the ship for Castledaly with a superb free with the outside of the right boot from 45 yards out to put his side two points up with ten minutes to go.On level termsTwo Denis Glennon frees, the second in the 60th minute, levelled matters and we were in for a rollercoaster finale.Three minutes of stoppage-time was announced over the speakers. A minute in and Stephen Kavanagh, up from half-back, landed the most inspirational of points that seemed to hang in the air for an eternity before dropping just inches over the crossbar and sparked celebrations among the Castledaly contingent.But with two minutes to go, Tyrrellspass were always likely to get a chance and it came just as the three minutes were up when a free was awarded. Denis Glennon was entrusted with the responsibility of levelling the scores but when his shot drifted wide of the post Castledaly supporters felt comfortable enough to begin celebrations. Tyrrellspass had had their chance and time was up.But there was still no sign of Alan McCormack"s whistle. And after some frantic Castledaly defending, Tyrrellspass forward David Glennon managed to squeeze the ball through a wall of defenders and over the bar, in the fifth minute of stoppage-time.The final whistle followed and Alan McCormack was confronted by irate Castledaly officials and players before being escorted off the field to a chorus of boos. For now Castledaly may well feel hard done by but, by the same token, they would do well to remember that it was also a lengthy period of injury time that allowed Tyrrellspass to score a late goal against Mullingar Shamrocks in the final game of the group stage, thus knocking Shamrocks out and letting Castledaly sneak into the quarter-finals.As for the replay, it would be easy to say that Castledaly"s chance of toppling the defending champions has gone but the fact is that, if they match the intensity shown in this encounter, an intensity that Tyrrellspass did not have for the majority of the game, then they will have no problems next Saturday in the replay.Tyrrellspass definitely have a lot more in them but they must go out and do it next time around or they will surrender their crown.Scorers: Castledaly: MJ McLoughlin (0-5, 3f), M Duffy (0-3, 2f), J Galvin (0-2), S Kavanagh (0-1), E Kelly (0-1), B Kelly (0-1), P Kelly (0-1f).Tyrrellspass: Denis Glennon (2-3, 1-2f), David Glennon 0-2 (1f), P Sheridan (0-1), K Scally (0-1), G Hoey (0-1).Castledaly: James Kinahan, Michael Gavin, Derek Heavin, Ciarán Henson, Stephen Kavanagh, Niall O"Neill, Enda Kelly, Gordon Duffy, Niall Duffy, Alan Fitzgerald, MJ McLoughlin, Paul Kelly, Michael Duffy, James Galvin, Brendan Kelly. SUBS USED: Tommy Warburton for Henson (H-T), Adrian Kelly for Warburton (52 mins), Alan Kelly for M Duffy (55 mins).Tyrrellspass: Darren Quinn, Cathal Daly, Barry Murphy, Terence O"Brien, Shane Arthur, David Murphy, Philip Sheridan, Adrian Corcoran, Alan Rigney, Kevin Connell, Keith Scally, Gavin Hoey, David Glennon, Martin Flanagan, Denis Glennon. SUBS USED: Eoin Murphy for Cathal Daly (33 mins), Trevor John Gonoud for Kevin Connell (38), Ger Egan for Hoey (48).Referee: Alan McCormack (Kilbeggan Shamrocks).