GAA: JOE MALLON MOTORS SFC – GROUP C – ROUND 2
Fogarty Stars As Larries Win
ST LAURENCE’S 0-19
CLANE 1-14
By Daire Walsh
THE excellent Padraig Fogarty struck 11 points at St Conleth’s Park on Sunday afternoon as St Laurence’s staved off a brave showing from Clane to secure a slender victory in Group C of the Kildare Senior Football Championship.
Eight points clear by the 18th-minute, Larries looked set for a comfortable triumph in Newbridge. A resilient Clane outscored their opponents 1-8 to 0-1 to eventually lead early in the second half, but their amber and red counterparts had enough in reserve to seal the deal.
Following their draw with Confey (0-10 apiece) in the opening round of the group, Laurence’s were looking to go one better on this occasion. They certainly started the game with enormous intent and consequently stormed into a six-point lead with just seven minutes gone on the clock.
Inside forward Fogarty was the true danger man in the Laurence’s attack, rattling off five excellent points during this juncture and also setting up Jason McHugh for a fisted score.
Clane had begun the weekend in pole position as a result of their earlier win over Castledermot, but the Conneff Park men were struggling to settle into this contest. While Shane O’Sullivan finally got them up and running with a pointed free, Laurence’s responded with another scoring blitz.
Either side of another Fogarty special, midfielder Mark Glynn and Padraig O’Neill found the range. Clane full-forward Brian McLoughlin curled over a free off his left foot in advance of the first half water break and this was effectively the prelude to their first purple patch of the tie.
Despite the concession of another free to Fogarty, Clane finally discovered their rhythm with unanswered points from McLoughlin (two) and O’Sullivan.
Fogarty grabbed his eighth of the day on 24 minutes, but this was to be Larries’ final score of the half. In addition to three frees from O’Sullivan, wing-back Chris Byrne fisted over at the end of a sweeping move to leave Clane just two points behind (0-11 to 0-9) at half-time.
The interval did little to dim their appetite and, within four minutes of the restart, they edged into the ascendancy for the very first time. O’Sullivan raised a white flag off an Eoin Naughton knock down and Shane McCormack ghosted in on the left-hand side before hammering past Larries custodian Shane Connolly.
Fogarty finally added to the Larries tally with a 36th-minute free and with McHugh and Adam Steed dissecting the uprights in quick succession, the 2009 champions dug deep to squeeze back in front.
Although O’Sullivan wiped out their lead on the stroke of 40 minutes, Larries re-asserted their authority through the increasingly-prominent Steed and the vastly-experienced O’Neill. Traded scores between McLoughlin and Fogarty meant Clane were staring into a two-deficit (0-17 to 1-12), but there was further trouble ahead for them entering the final-quarter.
For his part in an off-the-ball incident, Cian O’Donoghue was issued with a straight red card. In his absence, McLoughlin and Tadgh Montgomery split the posts, only for Fogarty and substitute Kevin Eustace to do likewise at the far end to ultimately confirm a narrow success for St Laurence’s.
ST LAURENCE’S: Shane Connolly; Billy Kiernan, Luke Gorman, David O’Driscoll; Harry Swan, Niall Clynch, Stephen Mann; Mark Glynn 0-1, Roger Glynn; Jason McHugh 0-2, Padraig O’Neill 0-2, Adam Steed 0-2; James Fahey, Tommy O’Neill, Padraig Fogarty 0-11, (9f). Subs: PJ Cullen for Haverty (29), Kevin Eustace 0-1 for Fahey (half-time), Felix Lawler for Steed (55), Ian Fleming for Swan (60).
CLANE: David Gibbons; Daniel Reilly, Conor Walsh, Noel Haverty; Tadgh Montgomery 0-1, Robbie Phillips, Chris Byrne 0-1; Eoin Naughton, Cian O’Donoghue; Jake Devey, Sam McCormack, Shane McCormack 1-0; Shane O’Sullivan 0-7, (6f), Brian McLoughlin 0-5, (4f), James Behan. Subs: Kyle Devey for Behan (38), Cathal O’Brien for J Devey (58).
REFEREE: Henry Barrett.