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Cardiff Colmcilles opened their home league game with the visit of Western Gaels |
Cardiff Colmcilles opened their home league game with the visit of Western Gaels at a very wet, very cold and very very windy Pairc Na Colmcilles on the Sunday morning following their successful dinner dance.
The temperature at throw in was recorded as 6Oc but with the wind chill it felt like minus 6Oc. This no doubt influenced Jimmy Knowles absence. The Laois man is well known to be hesitant to tog out in less than ideal conditions.
Straight from the throw in, Colmcilles exerted their superiority and much of the first half was one way traffic with the gale slightly favouring the home side. Early points from Declan Carney & Eoin Hanney edged the home side in front and the lead was added to with a goal from Sean Roddy. The left footed shot found its way to the bottom corner with doubts surrounding if the flying winger was shooting for a point.
Constant pressure on the Western Gaels kick-out presented the Cardiff forwards with many more opportunities. Martin Flood-McCarron availed of two such chances with points off his left and right foot. The Longfort sharp-shooter able to shrug off the disappointing attendance for his home debut. Special mention should go to Tommy Flaherty who braved the elements and carried out linesman duties on the far side. Meanwhile Crossmaglen’s very own Conor McCloskey undertook the same task on the near sideline without leaving the Jeep.
Cardiff were guilty of wasting some easy scoring opportunities whilst on top in the first half. Chief amongst those was Barry McDonnell who managed to get himself into many promising positions, the first attempt started straight and ended up wide right. His next chance resulted in an over-compensation and started straight and ended up wide left. His third effort of the half by this stage had McDonnell perplexed and this one started left and stayed left. Back to the drawing board for Dr. McDonnell to come up with the correct formula next time.
Newly crowned Player of the year Ollie Harney was pulling the strings at centre forward and directing the play. The full forward line of Griffin, Flood-McCarron & Murtagh were continually out in front and Dave Grifin’s patented spin move got him out of a tight spot along the sideline and teed up Ollie Harney for another three pointer. A feature of the first half was the work rate of the Cardiff forwards whilst not in possession. This resulted in the Cardiff defence having an edge in defending any advances by Western Gaels who were not allowed time to settle on the ball. Eoin Butler had his hands full dealing with Georgie Brown in the right corner. Brown was cutting edge of the toothless attack, always willing to face the teeth of the gale and try and find the gap. The short whistle was blown with the home side in front 2 – 6 to no score.
Cardiff rung the changes at the beginning of the second half with the introduction of Dara Grant from Senegal, Mattie Brady & the belated introduction of Dan McCool after his shocking omission from the starting line-up. McCool’s presence was inadvertently missed in the dressing room as he took his seat behind the kit bag. He soon made his presence felt on the pitch with an incisive run and point. Fellow subs Ray McLaughlin & Red Murphy combined for Red to knock over a fine long range score from the left wing.
Western Gaels then proceeded to have their best spell and got themselves on the scoreboard after a period of sustained pressure. Soon afterwards, Cardiff re-exerted control with Ed Sullivan to the fore. The previous years Most Improved Winner continues to make the number 7 shirt his own with another dominant display. The switch of David Tack Quinn into full back also helped to tighten up the Cardiff defence after Mattie Brady’s frequent forays into the opposition half left gaps behind him. The Tyrone youngster still with a bit to learn on discipline. He managed to redeem himself with a good pointed free after being freed from the shackles of defence.
Cardiff’s scoring rate dropped as the difficult conditions left scores at a premium. McCool managed to break through and hammered a shot straight at the keeper while Sean Roddy showed his flamboyant side with a clever backheel near the sideline which released another Western Gaels attack. There was still time for one last attack with a penalty rewarded. Up stepped keeper Aidan Farrelly to smash the ball to the back of the net with the minimum of fuss. The Tipp GAA stalwart displaying the finishing instincts of Lar Corbett in his heyday.
Shortly afterwards, virgin referee Shane Galvin helped to relieve the danger of hypothermia by blowing the final whistle. Best for the winners on the day was Eoin Hanney at midfield who was at the heart of most of Colmcilles moves. The Wicklow dynamo demonstrating the quality which crowned him Student Player of the year last year. The pick of an underworked defence was Michéal Brannigan who closed down one side of the defence and left his opponent stranded on Brannigan island with no chance of a rescue. The teams left the field with still no sign of Jimmy Knowles appearing. Two wins out of two leaves Colmcilles well placed to advance to a league final.
Cardiff Colmcilles: Aidan Cech Farrelly, Michéal Brannigan, Mark O’Neill (Capt), Eoin Butler, Paddy Browne, Veteran Martin Doyle, Ed Sullivan, Eoin Hanney, Barry McDonnell, Sean Roddy, Ollie Slug Harney, Declan Carney, Dave Gooch Griffin, Martin Flood McCarron, Thomas Murtagh,
Subs: Dan McCool, Mattie Brady, Dara Grant, Red Murphy, David Tack Quinn, Ray McLaughlin, Alistair
Linesman: Tommy Flaherty, Conor McCloskey
Referee: Shane Galvin
AWOL: Jimmy Knowles
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| Date Added: 30th June 2012 |
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