Wicklow Senior Mens

 

Blessington 0-10

 

Tinahely 2-15

 

Eoin Horkan

 

Arklow

 

Anyone in attendance in Arklow on Sunday evening witnessed a spectacular game of football in this group 2  round 3 game to decide who would go into the next round of the Wicklow senior football championship.

It was the county champions from two seasons ago who were led by sharpshooter Matthew Ging who eventually managed to grab second place in the group.

 

With the aid of a stiff breeze in Arklow, Tinahely flew out of the blocks with all of the full forward line raising white flags inside the opening six minutes. The first of these came from Matthew Ging along with efforts from Rory Stokes, Jason Cush and Ging doubling his tally for the day after an early goal chance. This seemed to kick the west Wicklow side into gear as Paddy Small found his range from play before two of Blessington’s veterans Anthony McLoughlin and Curtis Geraghty had the gap narrowed to one. They also left a goal chance behind them when McLoughlin was played through by Kevin Quinn but his effort narrowly flew past the post.

With the midway point of the first half on the horizon Ging slotted a free before Quinn managed to open his account for the day as his long range effort bounced over the bar,  before Ging split the posts from play in the twentieth minute.

 

The last 10 minutes saw Blessington rue another missed goal chance as Quinn broke through but his effort from a narrow angle managed to miss the far post. This was in between Eoin Darcy minor and an orange flag from Ging with a dead ball from outside the arc. The final score of the half came from the boot of Gerathy who casually stroked over a placed ball leaving four between the sides at the break.

 

It was a dream start forTinahely after the interval as Ging found himself in the right place to slot into the back of the net after a fine flowing move involving half the team. Within minutes the same man stepped up to take a penalty which he coolly slotted away. The inside line of the south Wicklow side  were clearly too much to handle for the  opposition as Stokes managed to add to his account for the day.  Just before the midway point of the half another McLoughlin free narrowed the gap before Stokes notched his third of the day.

With the game well in the reds favor two more scores from the opposition another of which was off the boot of midfielder McLoughlin before wing back Brian Bohan's long range effort narrowed the gap ever so slightly.

With the final whistle just over the horizon both sides started to empty their benches as the side in control managed to have a stronger impact as Tommy Kelly found his range after another Stokes free.  These two quick scores were canceled out by the in-form McLoughlin who used the breeze to his advantage to fire over a two point dead ball. It was then the run of another sub in Brian Walsh to slot over, this was just before Ging puting  the icing on the cake for his side with his ninth score of the day.

 

In the final passage of play the opposition launched one more attack, firing a long ball into the square. This was won by Mcloughlin who was subsequently brought down in the box. Leading to the second penalty of the game. Unlike his counterpart up the other end, Niall Byrne stood strong in the goal to keep out the final strike of the game.

 

This result meant Tinahely would finish second in the group behind AGB who bet Rathnew out in Auhgrim at the same time.

 

Blessington: Mikey O’ Toole;Aaron Curran,Steven Bohan, James Dooley;Brian Bohan (0-1), Craig Maguire, Ronan Smyth;Dan Cooney, Anthony McLoughlin(0-5 2fs  1 2pf): Kevin Quinn(0-1),Eoin Keogh,Patrick Small(0-1);Ethan Cotter,Jack Hardy,Curtis Geraghty (0-2 1f).

Subs Used.Austin Brennan for Eoin Keogh, Jordan McGarr for Ethan Cotter, Mikey O’Connor for Patrick Small, Finn Behan for Curtis Geraghty, Aaron Keogh for Ronan Smyth.

 

Tinahely: Niall Byrne: Kevin Mulhall,Curtis Keating,Bradley Hickey;Barry Kealy,Noel Mulhall,Larry Kinsella,Daniel Hedderman,Peter Stapleton;Eoghan Byrne, Eoin Darcy(0-1), Cillian McDonald;Matthew Ging (2-7 2fs 1 2ptf 1 pen),Rory Stokes(0-4 1f),Jason Cush(0-1).

Subs Used: Brian Walsh(0-1) for Peter Stapleton, Thomas Kelly(0-1) for Eoghan Byrne, Cormac Murphy for Jason Cush.

 

Referee: Stephen Fagan