Goal fest in Shandonagh sees clinical CFCW through to semis

CFCW 5-7 Coralstown Kinnegad 1-11

IF ever proof of the accuracy of the adage that “the early bird gets the worm” was needed, it was given in Shandonagh on Sunday afternoon last as Castletown/ Finea/ Coole/ Whitehall (CFCW) sprinted greyhound-like from the traps and almost had this game won after nine minutes with three super goals scored, leaving Kinnegad shell shocked to an extent from which they never, in truth, truly recovered.

In fact, CFCW wound up with five majors - and if truth be told, they could and should have had twice that many with their fast-running game and sheer power cutting through an unexpectant and mesmerised Kinnegad rear-guard at will.

But for the brilliance of veteran Ronan Doyle at full back then this could have been any score. Although Kinnegad battled bravely they simply had no answers on the day and CFCW were well worth their win and can now dream of Junior glory once more

As stated it was CFCW that got off to the absolute dream start with Darragh McCormack storming through a static Kinnegad defence for a quite brilliant solo goal after barely 70 seconds had elapsed.

That was to prove a precursor of what was to follow.

Jack Cole did pull one back with a pointed free for Kinnegad but it was mere respite as two minutes later, a superb CFCW move from their own 21 yard line saw Mark Cunningham rifle in a second goal that was worth the admission money alone and Finea were rampant and goal hungry to boot.

Cole kicked another free for the Reds but again the CFCW response was to go down the far end in a blink of the eye for green flag number three, this time with a sublime finish by John McCarthy and one wondered if the Green and Gold would net from every attack.

Kinnegad rallied and after Ger Leech was denied a goal by Gary O’Sullivan, full back Ronan Doyle followed up for nice point. Ryan Plunkett kicked CFCW’s first point after 13 minutes but a Cole free and a super point from Leech that could have been a goal narrowed the gap momentarily.

Darragh McCormack added CFCW’s second minor with a long-range effort but in the follow up, a CFCW mentor was shown a red card and in the aftermath Cole kicked a super point and then Rory Cole got Kinnegad back in the game with a wonderfully finished goal.

This was not the end of the first half scoring however as Alan Naughton pointed for CFCW when another goal looked on and the Green and Golds led 3-3 to 1-6 after a thoroughly entertaining first half

The onslaught from CFCW continued after the restart and after Luke Moore had a goal chalked off for a square ball, Kinnegad simply did not learn from their earlier mistakes and Gaffney found John McCarthy with a wonderful pass and netted his second - and CFCW’s fourth – goal, followed by a super point from the former as the game began to swing completely in CFCW’s favour.

That gap became a chasm and the task for Kinnegad became almost insurmountable when McCormack was hauled down for a penalty. John Kiernan received a second yellow and a red for Kinnegad and Conor Gaffney slotted away the resultant penalty expertly and now Kinnegad were really at the point of no return and CFCW on a goal-scoring rampage.

In fairness, the reds refused to throw in the towel and hit three points in a row from Rory Cole, Fergal Dardis and another Jack Cole free but in truth this merely plugged the dyke so to speak and one always felt CFCW could up the ante once more.

Dardis was unlucky to see his goal bound shot rattle off the post as Kinnegad began to press but almost immediately Joe Rabbitte pointed for CFCW to complete their starting six forwards all scoring and when he added two more late points it completed the scoring although, indeed, had they wanted to, CFCW could have turned those points into green flags as players were cueing up to finish against a Kinnegad rear-guard who were beleaguered and tiring at that point and did exceptionally well to keep the score down as they did.

At the end an eight point winning margin did not flatter the men in Green and Gold one bit and they will now head in to a semi-final against St Loman’s with wind in their sails and a scoring threat that surely every team in Junior football will be fearful of.

Scorers – Castletown-Finea-Coole-Whitehall: J McCarthy 2-0, C Gaffney 1-1 (1-0 from a penalty), D McCormack 1-1, J Rabbit 0-3 (o-2 from frees), M Cunningham 1-0, R Plunkett 0-1, A Naughton 0-1

Coralstown-Kinnegad: J Cole 0-6 (0-4 from frees), R Cole 1-1, F Dardis 0-2, R Doyle 0-1, G Leech 0-1

Castletown-Finea-Coole-Whitehall: Garry Sullivan; Conor O’Grady, Darragh O’Reilly, Shane McGarry; Emmet Corrigan, Ryan Moore, Conor Gaffney; Luke Moore, Darren Kilcoyne; Darragh McCormack, John McCarthy, Mark Cunningham; Ryan Plunkett, Joe Rabbit, Alan Naughton. Subs used: Donald Moore for R Moore (injured, 49), Martin Egan for Kilcoyne (57)

Coralstown-Kinnegad: Clive Kiernan; Michael Leonard, Ronan Doyle, Darren Leech; Jack Quinn, Luke Lacey, John Kiernan; Rory Cole, David Howe; Stephen Bracken, Jack Cole, Fergal Dardis; Mark Giles, Enda Leonard, Ger Leech. Subs used: Paddy Leydon for Quinn (half-time), Neil Carthy for Howe (40), Cillian Curran for D Leech (45), Shane Giles for Bracken (49), Michael Browne for E Leonard (57)

Referee: Kenneth Gunning (St Mary’s Rochfortbridge).