Clinton helps Delvin over the line against Fr Dalton's

Delvin 3-15 Fr Dalton's 2-14

Delvin kept their Mickey Power Cup ambitions on track by grinding out a four-point win against a fancied Fr Dalton’s side in this entertaining Westmeath SHC ‘B’ clash at TEG Cusack Park on Saturday evening.

Dalton’s were well on top until a 26th-minute goal from Delvin’s Killian Murphy, followed by a red card for wing back Colm O’Roarke two minutes later, turn the tide in Delvin’s favour.

The sides were level at half time (1-8 to 2-5), but a quickfire 1-1 from Darragh Clinton early in the second half established a beachhead the Valley never relinquished. Buoyed by their leading scorer, who finished with 2-6, and fine contributions from Murphy and substitute Dean Ennis, Noel Boyce’s charges deserved their win but were helped greatly by their numerical advantage.

To their credit, Fr Dalton’s were in with a shout right up until the closing minutes, with Ronan McLoughlin accurate from frees and the introduction of Kieran Martin, who struck two fine points, ensuring that they were on level terms with three minutes to go. However, Delvin had enough in the tank to seal an important win, badly needed after their recent defeat at the hands of Ringtown.

Fr Dalton’s opened in confident fashion with a hat-trick of points from McLoughlin (two from frees), and six minutes had elapsed before Conor Fenlon got Delvin off the mark, pointing after a well-placed Eoin Carolan missed a cross from Ross Gaffney.

This score settled Delvin, but after a quarter-hour they trailed 0-5 to 0-3, with McLoughlin taking his tally to five with two more points (one from play), cancelling out scores from Delvin’s Clinton (a free) and Murphy.

Fr Dalton’s briefly looked like pulling away when Jack Duncan got through on goal, and despite being surrounded by three defenders, got a shot on target. It was deflected away by Delvin netminder Stephen Reilly, but Owen McCabe swept the rebound to the net with a powerful low drive.

Delvin needed a big response and it duly arrived on 17 minutes, when Clinton rifled a powerful free to the Fr Dalton’s net to reduce the Valley’s arrears to two points.

Fr Dalton’s countered with two more scores, with Jack Duncan dividing the posts after a great catch before McLoughlin tacked on another free to give Eamonn Gallagher’s troops a four-point lead.

However, the momentum then swung Delvin’s way and within a chaotic five-minute spell, they were both a point and a man up. On 23 minutes, the Valley had the sliotar in the net when a point attempt from Clinton fell short. Eoin Carolan swung his hurl, connected with the ball and it rebounded off Colm O’Roarke (Fr Dalton’s) before rolling into the net. However, referee Barry Kelly ruled the goal out for a square ball infringement.

Moments later, Darragh Clinton pointed on the run and then, on 26 minutes, Killian Murphy smashed to the net after taking advantage of a failure by Fr Dalton’s to deal with a high ball. The sides were level.

Two minutes later, the Valley took the lead when Murphy pointed on the rebound after a sideline ball from Clinton struck the upright. Then, to add insult to injury for Fr Dalton’s, they were reduced to 14 men when O’Roarke was sent to the line for an off-the-ball strike on Delvin’s Aaron Fenlon.

Shortly before this incident, Ronan McLoughlin had levelled matters for the Ballymore men with a free (1-8 to 2-5), and so it remained at the interval.

Now at a numerical disadvantage, Fr Dalton’s knew they were up against it in the second half and Delvin – or, more accurately, Darragh Clinton – duly heaped on the pressure with a quickfire 1-2.

Clinton opened the second-half scoring with a free after 32 minutes, and moments later, out of nothing, had the ball in the net with an angled shot from just outside the parallelogram. Another Clinton point followed, and the Valley led by five.

However, Fr Dalton’s didn’t drop the heads and, lifted by the introduction of Kieran Martin, raised a green flag themselves on 40 minutes when Jack Duncan took advantage of some tame Delvin defending to solo his way to a close-range finish.

A superb point from distance by Delvin’s Paddy Farrington put three between the sides (3-8 to 2-8), but Fr Dalton’s dominated the next quarter of an hour, outscoring their opponents 0-6 to 0-3 to level matters (3-11 to 2-14) with three minutes to go.

Kieran Martin (0-2), Sam Maxwell, Owen McCabe (a free) and Ronan McLoughlin (two frees) did the honours for the south Westmeath outfit, with Clinton racking up a couple of wides before regaining his composure with a sublime bit of control and marksmanship on 54 minutes.

Killian Murphy and sub Dean Ennis also found their range either side of Clinton’s score, with Ennis’s input particularly crucial in getting Delvin over the line in the closing minutes.

Having achieved parity, 14-man Fr Dalton’s just couldn’t muster any more, and the extra man, coupled with some fresh legs, counted in Delvin’s favour in the dying embers of the game.

In the final minute, Clinton took his tally to 2-6 with another free, before Killian Murphy extended the lead to two on the stroke of 60 minutes with a superb score from the stand side, after doing well to claim a high ball. Ennis then had the last say with two terrific stoppage-time points from the opposite wing, as Delvin got back to winning ways.

The winners face Castletown Geoghegan’s second string on Saturday week, while Fr Dalton’s will hope to bounce back against Cullion that same evening.

Scorers - Delvin: D Clinton 2-6 (1-3f), K Murphy 1-4, D Ennis 0-3, P Farrington and C Fenlon 0-1 each. Fr Dalton’s: R McLoughlin 0-9 (7f), O McCabe (0-1f) and J Duncan 1-1 each, K Martin 0-2, S Maxwell 0-1.

Delvin - Stephen Reilly; Frank McGrath, Patrick Clune, Oisín Kelly; Alan Cox, Adam Ennis, Seán Hoctor; Paddy Farrington, Aaron Fenlon; Conor Fenlon, Darragh Clinton, Brian Herward; Ross Gaffney, Killian Murphy, Eoin Carolan. Subs used: Liam Carolan for Kelly (inj., 36), Dean Ennis for Gaffney (45), Paddy Kelly for E Carolan (52), Seb McPherson for Herward (inj., 56), Ciaran Fenlon for A Fenlon (59).

Fr Dalton’s - Eoin Moran; Eoin Ryan, Kenneth Kincaid, Jack Kearney; Ronan Hanley, Brian McCabe, Colm O’Roarke; Ciaran Clear, Pádraig Nestor; Sam Maxwell, Ivan Smyth, Ronan McLoughlin; Owen McCabe, John Tumelty, Jack Duncan. Subs used: Kieran Martin for Nestor (37), Enda Kincaid for Smyth (48), Liam O’Neill for McLoughlin (58).

Ref - Barry Kelly (St Oliver Plunkett’s).