SECOND-HALF GOAL SECURES CUALA WIN OVER DAVIS
ADULT FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
CUALA 1-9 THOMAS DAVIS 0-9
By Daire Walsh
At the end of a tentative Adult Football League Division One encounter at Kiltipper Road on Wednesday evening, a second half goal by David McMahon was enough to secure a hard-fought victory for Cuala at the expense of Thomas Davis.
With the sides deadlocked on no fewer than seven occasions, a sharing of the spoils appeared to be the most likely outcome. McMahon’s cool finish on 52 minutes finally created significant daylight between the teams, though, and the Dalkey men remained in the ascendancy until the end of the contest.
While Cuala were coming into this game off the back of a comprehensive defeat to St Vincent’s last Saturday, back-to-back successes over Ballinteer St John’s and St Sylvester’s ensured they were well clear of the relegation zone they occupied for much of last year’s campaign.
They were, of course, minus the influential presences of Michael Fitzsimons and Con O’Callaghan at either end of the field – in addition to dual star Mark Schutte. Although they followed up an opening day draw at home to Ballinteer St John’s with a morale-boosting triumph against Sylvester’s, consecutive reversals to Kilmacud Crokes and Ballymun Kickhams in the previous rounds ensured Davis’ could ill-afford another slip-up.
The early signs were positive for Paul Kelly’s side, as midfielders Brendan Kirby and Ryan Deegan combined to set-up Eoin Kirby for the opening point of the night. Nominally selected at full-forward, Jamie Keenan initially played a much deeper role in the Cuala set-up.
He converted a close-range free in the third-minute, which was soon cancelled out by a terrific Jim White effort for Davis’. Indeed, following Niall O’Callaghan’s superb score for the visitors, the dynamic White added his second to edge the Tallaght outfit back in front.
It was quite an open affair up to this point, but a subsequent series of stoppages took the sting out of the game to a considerable degree. Keenan missed a couple of frees on either side of the field for Cuala – who briefly replaced centre-fielder Brian Smith with a blood injury.
Though the Cuala full-back line dealt effectively with the direct ball into the Davis’ attack, half-back Brian Kirby was providing a strong outlet on the left-wing. At the end of a 19-minute barren spell in front of the posts (for both teams), Keenan brilliantly converted a tricky set-piece.
As a result of his previous wayward attempts out of his hands, Keenan opted to take his remaining frees off the ground. This led to Cuala taking the lead for the very first time – his outstanding curled strike on the right-hand side splitting the uprights in devastating fashion.
Davis’ netminder Robbie Crilly then stepped forward to level matters from a ’45’, only for the marauding Jack Flynn to kick Cuala into a 0-5 to 0-4 interval advantage. This wasn’t the kind of cushion that the visiting team could rest on and it came as no surprise when Eoin Kirby restored parity straight from the restart.
His opposite number – Keenan – was becoming a prominent figure for Cuala, however, adding points in the 33rd and 36th minutes to peg back Davis’ once again. A goal-bound McMahon shot was later diverted away from the target – after Brendan Kirby had fired wide of the mark with his own gilt-edged opportunity.
Deegan’s first point of the day reduced the gap to a single point (0-7 to 0-6) at the end of the third-quarter, before eventually registering an equalising score with eight minutes of normal time to play. Yet, after Cuala secured the resulting kick-out, they embarked on the move that ultimately placed the tie beyond Davis’ reach.
When the ball broke into his path close to the opposition goal, McMahon displayed great composure to fire into the bottom right-hand corner. This suddenly threw down the gauntlet to Davis’, who had earlier introduced Joey O’Reilly for inside forward Adam Fitzpatrick.
David Newell was later added to the mix, just in time for Chris Sallier (free) to open his personal account. Keenan and Deegan proceeded to trade scores in second-half injury-time, which ran for more than five minutes.
A game-changing score alluded Thomas Davis in this period, and a fine single by former Dublin U21 star Darragh Spillane (son of Kerry great Mick) was the insurance for the victorious Cuala.
They will be back in action at home to St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh on June 6, whereas Davis’ travel to St Mobhi Road on the same evening to play Na Fianna.
Scorers – Cuala: Jamie Keenan 0-6 (6f), David McMahon 1-0, Jack Flynn, Niall O’Callaghan, Darragh Spillane 0-1 each. Thomas Davis: Ryan Deegan 0-3 (2f), Jim White, Eoin Kirby 0-2 each, Robbie Crilly (’45’), Chris Sallier 0-1 each.
CUALA: Luke Kelly; Liam McHugh, David Sheerin, John Fitzsimons; Jack Flynn, Luke Keating, Kevin Killion; Eoghan Breathnach, Brian Smith; James Power, Mark Treacy, David McMahon; Niall O’Callaghan, Jamie Keenan, Darragh Spillane. Subs: Alan Benson for Smith (18-21, blood sub), Cathal O’Giollain for Breathnach (33).
THOMAS DAVIS: Robbie Crilly; Adam Fallon, Peter Boland, Eoin Lambert; Josh Lambert, Gavin Carruth, Brian Kirby; Brendan Kirby, Ryan Deegan; Cian Murphy, Jim White, Mark Nolan; Adam Fitzpatrick, Eoin Kirby, Chris Sallier. Subs: Joey O’Reilly for Fitzpatrick (43), David Newell for B Kirby (56), Aaron Shorten for Carruth (65).
Referee: Andrew Cummins (Round Tower Clondalkin).