GAA: Bord na Mona O’Byrne Cup Group D Round 1
AIT prove no match for rampant Kildare side
KILDARE………………………………………………… 4-24
ATHLONE IT…………………………………………… 0-12
Daire Walsh
Midfielder Cathal Shine chipped in with an impressive haul of 0-6, but Athlone IT were ultimately on the receiving end of a heavy defeat to reigning champions Kildare in the opening game of their O’Byrne Cup Group D campaign at St Conleth’s Park on Sunday afternoon.
After a difficult first half of action, the Athlone outfit improved significantly upon the resumption, but the rampant nature of the opposition kept them firmly on the back-foot until the very end of the encounter.
Although the weather was relatively mild in comparison to the rest of the country, there was nevertheless a strong gale blowing down the pitch in the south Kildare venue. Athlone were battling against these elements in the opening period, and with the Lilywhites aiming to impress in their first game under new manager Jason Ryan, they raced into an early lead with three points in as many minutes courtesy of Darroch Mulhall, Padraig Fogarty and marauding half-back Conor Tiernan.
Former Wexford supremo Ryan stepped up from the role of selector after previous boss Kieran McGeeney had been controversially ousted towards the tail end of 2013, but the current squad appear to be settling effortlessly into life under the stewardship of the Waterford native.
Athlone were struggling to break down a well-prepared Kildare line-up, and were being forced to operate deep inside their own half. Their opponents are eager to make a big impact from the word go in 2014, and they had built up a nine-point platform by the 10th minute of the contest.
Mulhall, midfielder Gary White and Eoghan O’Flaherty all registered points during this juncture, with the latter finishing coolly past former Westmeath shotstopper Gary Connaughton for the opening major of the game eighth minutes in, following excellent approach play by corner-forward Fogarty.
His inside partner Mulhall swiftly added to his side’s tally with a magnificent score off the outside of his boot, and when the elusive Tiernan (two), Thomas Moolick and corner-back Mick O’Grady all raised white flags, they had developed a 14-point lead by the 20-minute mark.
The strength and fitness of the hosts was causing endless problems for Athlone throughout, but the college side finally opened their account on 23 minutes, when Clann na nGael’s Shine pointed a routine close-range free after defender-turned-forward Kieran Martin had taken the initiative inside Kildare’s ‘45’.
Cillian Fitzgerald also split the posts after turning sharply 25 metres from goal, and Shine added a second successful placed-ball effort to add a more respectable outlook to the scoreboard. Indeed, Kildare had something of a barren spell in front of goal during the third-quarter, but they eventually kicked into life again on 33 minutes with a second three-pointer from half-forward Adam Tyrell at the end of an excellent team move.
This offered extra incentive to the Kildare attack as the interval approached, and three well-worked points by Cathal McNally, Mulhall and O’Flaherty gave them a seemingly insurmountable 2-14 to 0-3 advantage heading into the second half.
It was a case of damage limitation for Athlone after the restart, but Kildare were in no mood to drop their performance levels, and O’Flaherty brilliantly fired past Connaughton for his second goal of the game with the first attack of the period.
This was the first time that both teams had played a competitive fixture under the new black card rules, and they were fully enforced by Longford whistler Derek Fahy after 38 minutes, when IT corner-back Jack Donoghue was ordered off after hauling down the always dangerous Fogarty as he bore down on goal.
He was replaced by fellow Lake County defender Dermot Judge, but by the time the St Mary’s clubman entered the fray, Fogarty had joined O’Flaherty and Tyrell in raising a green flag by shooting clinically to the back of the Athlone net from the penalty spot.
Further points by Mulhall (free) and Tyrell meant that the Lillies were 25 points to the good, but Athlone finally halted their momentum when Shine added a brace of points from distance to his personal tally. Kildare’s McNally and Garrycastle stalwart James Dolan proceeded to swap scores from play, but even though the always game Shine was on target at the end of a fine run, Kildare continued to pick off fine scores through defensive lynchpin Fergal Conway, O’Flaherty and McNally.
Three points in succession from Dolan, Shine and Adam Caul showed that Athlone were eager to display their battling qualities heading into the final-quarter, and Padraig MacGahern also found the range in the 59th minute.
However, Kildare replacement Sean Hurley and O’Flaherty contributed handsomely to their scoreline either side of this effort, and despite adding a 12th point via Kerry’s Fitzgerald seven minutes before the end, this proved to be Athlone’s final score of the day.
A brace from the impressive McNally brought the tie to its inevitable conclusion, as Athlone IT’s focus now switches to their upcoming fixtures against Carlow and Longford on January 8th and January 12th respectively.
Scorers – Kildare: E O’Flaherty 2-4 (0-1f); C McNally and D Mulhall (2f) 0-5 each; A Tyrell and P Fogarty (1-0pen) 1-1 each; C Tiernan 0-3; M O’Grady, F Conway, G White, T Moolick and S Hurley 0-1 each. AIT: Cathal Shine 0-6 (4f); J Dolan and C Fitzgerald 0-2 each; A Caul and P MacGahern 0-1 each.
KILDARE: Shane Connolly; Mick O’Grady, Michael Foley, Joe Kinahan; Conor Tiernan, Fergal Conway, Paul Cribbin; Gary White, Thomas Moolick; Adam Tyrell, Eoghan O’Flaherty, Cathal McNally; Darroch Mulhall, Rob Kelly, Padraig Fogarty.
Subs: Kevin Murnaghan for Cribbin (49), Hugh McGrillen for Foley (53), Mikey Conway for Tyrell (53), Sean Hurley for Moolick (56), Emmett Bolton for Tiernan (57).
ATHLONE IT: Gary Connaughton (Westmeath); Jack Donoghue (Westmeath), Jordie Cassidy (Westmeath), Dean O’Reilly (Cavan); Levi Murphy (Cavan), Colm O’Brien (Galway), Tom Mooney (Offaly); Shane Quinn (Leitrim), Cathal Shine (Roscommon); Kieran Martin (Westmeath), Adam Caul (Dublin), Darren Farley (Longford); Cillian Fitzgerald (Kerry), James Dolan (Westmeath), Alan Coffey (Westmeath).
Subs: Eoin Kerins (Galway) for O’Reilly (25), Ciaran Duggan (Galway) for Martin (29), Dermot Judge (Westmeath) for Donoghue (39, black card), Padraig MacGahern (Cavan) for Quinn (53), Gavin Tully (Roscommon) for Mooney (59).
Referee: Derek Fahy (Longford).