U19 Men’s Footballers: Éire Óg have made it three wins from three games in Group 1 of the U19 ‘A’ Football Championship after a narrow win over An Tóchar on Sunday morning. Both sides will now feature in the semi-finals of the competition.
The hosts opened the scoring two minutes in thanks to a point by Colm Condon. Darragh Shanahan passed across to Daniel Conaghty. The wing-forward played it back to Condon who ran in and fisted the ball over the bar.
The visitors responded two minutes later with a point of their own. Joe Heatly gave a short ball to Éanna Nolan on the right-hand side. The wing-forward switched the play to the left wing where John Paul Nolan was waiting to kick his side’s first score of the game.
After the equalising point, there was no more scores for another thirteen minutes. That all changed when Geroid Murphy restored Greystones’ advantage. Joe Prendergast played a beautiful ball to Murphy, who kicked the score to put his side back in front.
The lead did not last long though, John Paul Nolan putting an easy free from the 21 over for Roundwood a minute later.
An Tóchar took the lead for the first time five minutes later through Ciarán Murphy. Éanna Nolan set up Murphy nicely for a score, and the half-forward made no mistake, putting the ball over off the post. However, this lead would not last long either. A minute later, Cameron Brady failed to catch the ball in a defensive position. Cian O’Loiningh pounced on the chance, striking the ball into the top corner of the net to give Éire Óg a two-point lead.
The away side reduced the deficit to a point on half-time, Matt Nolan scoring a difficult free from a long way out. This meant there was just one point in it at the break, Éire Óg leading by a scoreline of a goal and two to four points.
It was the hosts who scored first in the second half. Substitute Fintan Potts played the ball inside for Shanahan.
The wing-forward took his opportunity very nicely to extend his team’s lead to two again. It took five minutes for the visitors to find a response, Josh Healy playing a sideline to Alex Hassett who kicked a point.
One minute later, An Tóchar levelled the score. Éanna Nolan played a through pass to Piaras Morris who tied up the game with a point. Almost straight after drawing level, Roundwood took the lead as John Paul Nolan put over a free from long range.
Soon after that, the visitors went two points in front for the first time. Healy gave a short pass to JP Nolan who scored. His team kept their foot on the pedal and made it five unanswered points through substitute Niall Sheehan soon after.
However, Éire Óg hit back with a goal to draw level two minutes later. Murphy was down on the ground. The full-forward popped a pass to Condon who fired a shot into the bottom corner.
Greystones then retook the lead through a free from Prendergast out wide. The game was turning into a real ding-dong affair.
The hosts made it three scores without reply as Kevin Booth scored a point a minute later. O’Lionaigh set Booth up in front of goal. The wing-back shot for goal, but his effort smashed the crossbar and went over.
There was no scores for five minutes after this, but then Daniel Conaghty scored for Éire Óg. Shanahan played the ball to Conaghty in a wide position. The wing-forward did well to squeeze his shot between the posts to put his side a goal ahead. Greystones then put themselves in a great position soon after as Condon put them four in front with his team’s fifth consecutive score.
The visitors kept themselves in the game with a point by Sheehan late on. Hassett scored two more points to make it a one-point game with very little time remaining. However, the hosts held on well for the win, which also secured top spot in the group.
This win has set up a home semi-final against St. Nick’s on Sunday for Éire Óg. Throw in is at 11 a.m. An Tóchar will travel to Blessington for an away semi-final. That match will begin at the same time.
Éire Óg: 1. Sean O’Neill, 2. Gordon Bailey, 3. Callum O’Connor, 4. Mark Hayden, 5. Darragh Rush, 6. Fionn Melia, 7. Kevin Booth, 8. Joe Prendergast, 9. Colm Condon, 10. Daniel Conaghty, 11. Colin O’Shea, 12. Darragh Shanahan, 13. Oisín Shanahan, 14. Geroid Murphy, 15. Cian O’Lionaigh. Substitutes: 16. Daniel Byrne, 17. Fintan Potts, 18. Dara McGowan, 19. Max Scully, 20. Ruairi Parker, 21. Dara McGowan, 22. Chris Stuart
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