GAA: INDEPENDENT.IE SIGERSON CUP ROUND ONE
AIT prove no match for rampant DCU as Carey hits three goals
DCU……………………………………… 6-14
ATHLONE IT…………………………….. 1-7
Daire Walsh
Athlone IT ultimately suffered a comprehensive defeat against reigning champions DCU in the opening round of the Sigerson Cup on the Ballymun Road in Dublin on Tuesday evening of last week.
With Kieran Martin producing an impressive performance, Athlone were within touching distance of their north Dublin counterparts for much of the opening period. But a goal blitz by DCU either side of the interval left AIT facing an insurmountable deficit.
A number of counties are represented on the Athlone panel, including the likes of Donegal, Galway, Kildare, Cavan and Roscommon. However, Westmeath still had the strongest representation on the night, and including the influential Martin, a total of seven Lake County men featured in the game.
It remains to be seen if DCU (who will face IT Carlow in the next round of the competition) will be as formidable as they were in 2015, but with established inter-county stars like Diarmuid O’Connor, Michael Quinn, David Byrne and Conor McGraynor amongst their ranks, they will not relinquish their title without a fight.
Indeed, they set out their stall from the opening moments of this tie, as dynamic inside forward Shane Carey contributed two points in quick succession. Longford’s Quinn (operating in a roving half-forward role) swiftly added a third point for DCU, before Athlone finally opened their account in the ninth minute.
Martin was covering a lot of ground for the visitors during the early exchanges, and the Maryland star converted a tricky free from a right-hand angle. Athlone were finding it hard to deal with their opponents’ quick movement, though, and at the end of a sweeping move, DCU full-back Dessie Ward registered his side’s fourth point of the tie.
The industrious Quinn extended the hosts’ advantage to four points (0-5 to 0-1) by the end of the first-quarter, but because they came up short from a number of promising opportunities, there was still a way for Athlone to work themselves back into contention. They also posted some wides in the first half, but courtesy of a terrific point from play by the tireless Martin, they had reduced their deficit on 24 minutes. Indeed, DCU went a full 15 minutes without a score, n encouraging scenario for Athlone.
Yet, DCU opened the floodgates following a well-struck free by Carey. The Monaghan native profited from excellent approach work by the towering McGraynor to claim the first goal of the action, and this was quickly supplemented by another three-pointer from McGraynor in first-half stoppage-time.
As a result, DCU had developed a 2-6 to 0-2 interval cushion, leaving Athlone with a mountain to climb after the restart. In fact, the Metropolitans were not prepared to rest on their laurels, and thanks to neat interchange between McGraynor and Carey, the latter grabbed his second goal just three minutes into the half.
This was another hammer blow for Athlone, who did at least reply with back-to-back scores for the first time. Martin contributed a 0-2 salvo for his side, and this did lift the confidence levels of Athlone to some degree.
Carey was successful from another placed-ball effort, but when a shot from substitute Killian Rudden was saved on 43 minutes (he had just replaced injured midfielder Mark Daly), Martin was in the right position to fire the rebound beyond the reach of DCU’s Brendan Flynn.
Unfortunately, this was only a temporary respite for Athlone, and DCU placed the outcome beyond any doubt with quick-fire goals in the 44th and 47th minutes. Midfielder Shane Carthy finished off an incisive attack to secure their fourth goal, while Carey completed his hat-trick three minutes later via unselfish play by energetic wing-back Stephen Attride.
It was now a case of damage limitation for Athlone, and the scoring burden was finally lifted off the shoulders of Martin with a point from full-forward Cein McMonagle. Another Martin free did subsequently follow, only for DCU to once again respond with a series of unanswered scores.
Carey added two points to his already considerable haul, and there was an opening point for Young Footballer Of The Year O’Connor. Kildare’s McMonagle followed up with his second point from play, but this was to be Athlone’s concluding score of a difficult evening.
Assisted by Carthy, substitute David Mannix added a DCU point four minutes from time, and this was followed by a second O’Connor single. Mannix looked like a player with a point to prove when he came on, and he enhanced the holders’ buffer at the end of normal time.
There was enough time for DCU to further emphasise their superiority, though, and it was rising Roscommon star Ultan Harney who brought the night’s scoring to an end with a 1-1 haul – which meant that Paul Conway’s charges were on the receiving end of a 22-point reversal.
Scorers
DCU: S Carey 3-6 (0-4f), U Harney 1-1, S Carthy, C McGraynor 1-0 each, D O’Connor, M Quinn, D Mannix 0-2 each, D Ward 0-1. AIT: K Martin 1-5 (0-2f), C McMonagle 0-2.
DCU: Brendan Flynn; Jack Smith, Dessie Ward, Paudie McKenna; Stephen Attride, Conor Moynagh, Caolan McGonagle; Shane Carthy, David Byrne; Mark Plunkett, Diarmuid O’Connor, Michael Quinn; Shane Carey, Conor McGraynor, Conor McNally. Subs: Ryan Lyons for Plunkett (h-t), Eoin Smith for Ward (34), Ultan Harney for McNally (43), Rory Connor for Quinn, Cian Breheny for McKenna (both 50), David Mannix for McGraynor (54).
Athlone IT: Darren O’Connell; Daniel Monagle, Aidan Claffey, Michael Kearney; Dan Wharton, Stephen Flynn, Anthony Byrne; Eamon Quigley, Mark Daly; Dylan McDermott, Kieran Martin, Alan Fitzpatrick; Cein McMonagle, Theo Watts, Alan Coffey. Subs: Dara Petit for Coffey (36), Killian Rudden for Daly (43).
Referee: Fergal Kelly (Longford).
in a nutshell
Martin in defiant form for AIT
Shane Carey and Conor McGraynor were in sparkling form for DCU, but even though his side were comprehensively beaten, Athlone IT’s Kieran Martin still managed to make a significant impact on the play. He drove Athlone forward at every available opportunity, and also managed to contribute a personal tally of 1-5 (0-2 from frees).
Talking Point
Although the interval breaks in games of this nature are traditionally quite short, Athlone were made to wait for the return of DCU for the start of the second half. A full 15 minutes had elapsed before the hosts returned from the college’s back pitch, and although DCU were already in control, this did cause some annoyance amongst the Athlone camp.