Low-scoring game sees CFCW bow-out to Ellistown

Ellistown 0-5 CFCW 0-4

One of the more-drab games of the season happened in Kinnegad GAA last Saturday as Kildare side, Ellistown, took the spoils at the expense of Westmeath Junior champions, Castletown-Finea-Coole-Whitehall, in a game of chess on grass as four scores from play in the entire contest made for mediocre viewing despite some late drama. Both sides brought strong following to the venue which made for a good atmosphere at the times there were some elements of excitement.

It wasn’t until the fifth minute that either side registered a score and it came from the boot of Joe Rabbitt for the Finea men. His score the product of some attacking intent from Conor O’Grady. In a game of much tension early-on, the public had to wait for some time before the next point on the board. Again, Rabbitt was the finisher from the place-ball as his attacking wing-back teammate, Conor Gaffney, executed a fine burst up the middle – something which the game needed. As the clock approached the end of the first fifteen, Ellistown got themselves off the mark. Ciarán Lindy pointed after Eoin O’Loughlin had put on the brakes and reversed back heading into traffic before finding his teammate. Lindy with the relatively easy task of striking over Garry Sullivan’s crossbar. It was also notable as the first point from play in the entire contest.

Turnovers were a feature from the off with Darragh O’Reilly, Glen Plunkett, Oisín Gaffney, and Emmet Corrigan responsible for a plethora for Michael Tynan’s side. One of those intercepts created a breakaway for the men in green but even after Mark Cunningham was fouled on the 21 near the stand, Castletown failed to turn the chance into a point. At the other end, Tadhg Watson also missed an opportunity as the wide tally began to grow. Evan Donnelly was the main focal point for running for Ellistown and he was involved for the two scores before the break, both coming for Watson. Firstly, the corner-forward pointed expertly off his left from a tricky angle before putting his side 0-3 to 0-2 ahead just before the interval, this time pointing off a more central effort.

The second period saw little change in the way of approach and scoring. The Kildare side extended their advantage to two for the first time when Watson curled a free over after Donnelly had been fouled on 36 minutes. In reply, Finea missed a scoreable chance of their own. This would become a short-term theme for the beaten side as they had occasions where shooting may have served them better. While they did reduce arrears to one with Rabbitt’s fine free – his third of the day – Darragh Watson was soon on-hand to cancel that out with a lovely score of his own.

The game, at times, looked like it was disappearing from the control of referee Colm McCullough. In fairness to the man in the middle, he would have needed eyes in the back and sides of his head to see the off-the-ball tussling. While several entered his notebook, the main point of contention came in the final few minutes. Pat Martin went to ground after a hefty collision with the man in possession, Darragh McCormack of Castletown. While painful looking, there was no intent from McCormack and once the mini-gathering of players afterwards dispersed, the referee continued having just awarded an indirect free. Castletown cannot say they did not have chances but a combination of things meant that they were not able to find a winner. Deep into the additional time, Ryan Plunkett pointed his own free to bring it back to one. Going for goal would have required incredible levels of fortune and accuracy to bring a goal.

Unfortunately for the north Westmeath men, their final chance yielded nothing and the Kildare celebrations began as they line up Longford champions, Grattan Óg, next weekend. CFCW see their season end as they prepare for life in Intermediate in 2025.

Scorers – Ellistown: T Watson 0-3 (1f), D Watson 0-1, C Lindy 0-1. Castletown/Finea/Coole/Whitehall: J Rabbitt 0-3f, O Gaffney 0-1f.

Ellistown: Oran Donnelly; Seán Lindy, Andrew McLoughlin, James Neilson; Oisín O’Loughlin, Darragh Watson, Pat Martin; Conor Lindy, Shane Maughan; Evan Donnelly, Ciarán Lindy, Eoin O’Loughlin; Tadhg Watson, Conor O’Loughlin, Callum Donnelly. Subs used: Leo Lennox for C Donnelly (38), Max Lennon for C Lindy (48), Darren Kelly for O O’Loughlin (56), James Sutton for T Watson (56).

Castletown/Finea/Coole/Whitehall: Gary Sullivan; Glen Plunkett, Darragh O’Reilly, Conor O’Grady; Emmet Corrigan, Ryan Moore, Conor Gaffney; Luke Moore, Darren Kilcoyne; Darragh McCormack, John McCarthy, Mark Cunningham; Oisín Gaffney, Joe Rabbitt, Alan Devine. Subs used: Ryan Plunkett for McCarthy (52)

Referee: Colm McCullough (Louth).