COADY SHINES FOR CHONAILL
‘Scoil’ see off battling ‘Boughal in close IFC encounter
IFC GROUP 3
SCOIL UI CHONAILL 2-12
BALLYBOUGHAL 1-12
Daire Walsh
CONOR Coady grabbed a brace of goals on the Clontarf Road last Saturday to propel Scoil Ui Chonaill towards a deserved victory against Ballyboughal in Group Three of the Dublin Intermediate Club Football Championship.
Despite a late flourish by their opponents, the combined forces of Coady and Robert Kennedy ensured Terry McGinnis’ men emerged with the spoils. Whereas Ballyboughal already accounted for St Margaret’s on their home turf two weeks earlier, Scoil had received a bye in the opening round.
SPACE
They played with the aid of a strong breeze in the first half, which led to Ballyboughal deploying corner-forwards Gerry Seavers and Timmy O’Sullivan in sweeper roles. Nevertheless, it was the visitors who drew first blood – former Dublin senior panellist Seavers converting a tricky free at a distance of 30 metres.
Scoil responded through a Kennedy ’45’, before Neil O’Flynn released Coady for a palmed finish on 10 minutes. There was no sense of panic within the Ballyboughal ranks, though, and they soon found themselves back in the ascendancy.
Following another Seavers point, centre-back Cormac Flynn broke forward into space and fired beyond the reach of Scoil custodian Jason Redmond. Kennedy and O’Flynn got Scoil back on track with quick-fire points at the opposite end, but an O’Sullivan free restored parity for the fourth time in the half.
However as the play progressed, it was the hosts who began to take over. After Conor Dixon and Kennedy (his third ’45’) increased the Scoil tally, corner-back Eoin O’Connell registered an inspirational score on the left-wing.
Seavers’ latest effort kept Ballyboughal in touching distance, only for Scoil to once again flex their muscles. Supplementing Louis Costello and Ruairi Coady singles, Niall Doherty’s precise pass enabled Conor Coady to beat David Downey for a second time.
A Ben Callanan point for Ballyboughal ended this scoring sequence, but Scoil were commanding 2-8 to 1-5 leaders at the break. Given the strength of the elements, Ballyboughal couldn’t be rule out of the equation.
Cathal Begg’s point on the restart reduced their deficit, although they suffered a set-back when Seavers was black carded in the 35th-minute.
This preceded an off-the-ball incident involving his team-mate Willie Cooney and Scoil’s O’Flynn – resulting in both players receiving their marching orders.
This disrupted the flow of the game, until Scoil got up and running again with Kennedy’s first from play. Unwilling to go down without a fight, Ballyboughal kept in the reckoning courtesy of back-to-back points by Flynn and John Rodgers (free).
The subsequent introduction of Paudie Conlon provided a fresh spark to the Scoil attack and either side of his 54th-minute score, the outstanding Kennedy was on target to move them seven in front.
Even though Eoghan McPhiblin (two), Anthony Rooney and Rodgers amassed four points without reply during a lengthy spell of stoppage-time, Scoil Ui Chonaill had done enough to get over the line.
MATCH FILE
Scorers – Scoil Ui Chonaill: C Coady 2-0, R Kennedy 0-6 (3 ’45’), E O’Connell, L Costello, C Dixon, R Coady, N O’Flynn, P Conlon 0-1 each. Ballyboughal: C Flynn 1-1, G Seavers 0-3 (3f), E McPhilbin (2f), J Rodgers (f) 0-2 each, T O’Sullivan (f), A Rooney, C Begg, B Callanan 0-1 each.
SCOIL UI CHONAILL: J Redmond; A Wilson, M Tierney, E O’Connell; K Cagney, D Lane, C Twomey; C Coady, L Costello; C Dixon, N Doherty, R Coady; R Kennedy, T Crowe, N O’Flynn.
Subs: P Conlon for R Coady (50), S Cogavin for Lane (57, BC), E McKay for C Coady (59-61, blood).
BALLYBOUGHAL: D Downey; W Cooney, J Rooney, J Ryan; J Rodgers, C Flynn, A Rooney; R Downey, C Flynn; C Begg, B Callanan, G Rooney; G Seavers, E McPhilbin, T O’Sullivan.
Sub: D Glanville for Seavers (38, BC).
MENTORS – Scoil Ui Chonaill: Terry McGinnis, John Foley, Mick O’Connell, Colin McMahon, Cormac Coady. Ballyboughal: Lar Lynch, Dee Donohue, Eanna O’Reilly.
Referee: Ian Kavanagh (Raheny).
WIDES – Scoil Ui Chonaill: 7 (4+3). Ballyboughal: 9 (2+7).
CONDITIONS: Windy but also sunny.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Conor Coady (Scoil Ui Chonaill).