Wicklow Intermidiate Championship

 

Annacurra 1-11

Newtown Mount Kennedy 0-6

Eoin Horkan

Pearse Park

 

A strong second half performance was enough to see Annacurra over the line in the intermediate quarter final in Arklow on Saturday evening.

With the rain earlier on in the day it made for a greasy surface in Arklow. This led to plenty of mistakes in the opening ten minutes from both sides as they couldn’t get control of the ball to make an impact on the scoreboard. Eventually it was the south Wicklow side who opened the scoring through centre forward Dylan Doyle. Newtown responded almost immediately when midfielder Mark Fitzsimons burst through two defenders  before splitting the posts from range. With both defensive units on top, it was Annacurra’s corner back Glen Austin who intercepted a ball before driving up the pitch to lay it off to corner forward Stephen Murphy to give his side the lead for the second time halfway through the first half . The north Wicklow side were finding it  difficult to make any impact on the scoring from play as Conor Odlum levelled the game with a free. Annacurra were starting to win primary possession around the middle which led to two quick scores from the boot of Frank Clune as he fired over a free before adding a second from play minutes later. With four minutes left in the half and against the run of play Newtown levelled the tie with two place balls of there own as Dean and Conor Odlum had the tie level at the break.

After the break the men in black manged to take the lead as Shane Mooney drove forward from centre back to fire over. This lead didn’t last long as Annacurra’s full forward line began to cause damage with Frank Clune adding two more to his sides tally before Conor Byrne opened his account with an effort from a narrow angle. Newtown managed to stem the flowing tide with Dean Odlum raising  what ended up being his sides final white flag of the game. The final quarter Annacurra took complete control managing a goal and four points with no response  to put the tie out of Newtown’s reach.  Byrne added his second which was a carbon copy of his earlier effort. Clune had been playing out the field was moved into his main spot at full forward this paid dividend as he notched two more points for his side. With five minutes left hard working wing forward Shane O’ Keefe won a ball in his own back line before making way up the field to point after a great flowing move. The final score of the game was a goal from the aforementioned Byrne who was in the right place at the right time to finish off the scoring for his side.

Annacurra: Robert Fitzgerald; James Keenan, Alan Byrne, Glen Austin; Pauric Doyle, Paul McDonald, Sean Weld; Martin O’ Brien, Evan Doyle; Shane O’ Keefe (0-1), Dylan Doyle (0-1), John Moran; Conor Byrne ( 1-2), Frank Clune(0-6 2fs), Stephen Murphy (0-1).

Subs Used: Shane McAllister for Glen Austin, Kevin Healy for John Moran, Stephen Murphy for Evan Doyle, Michael Healy for Stephen Murphy, Michael O’ Brien for Frank Clune.

 

Newtown Mount Kennedy: Emmet Carolan’s; James Synott, John O’ Donoghue, Michael Byrne; Sean Gregory, Shane Mooney (0-1), Declan Doyle; Mark Fitzsimons (0-1), Cathal McNicholas; Conor Odlum (0-2fs), Evan Moran, Aaron Toner; Dean Odlum (0-2 1f), Neil Martin , Sean Odlum.

Subs Used: Kenneth Turner for Mark Fitzsimons, Barry Davis for Sean Odlum, Jack Elliot for Conor Odlum.

Referee: Ciaran Fleming ( Baltinglass)