Rabbitt keeps CFCW in the hunt for Leinster honours

AIB Leinster Club JFC quarter-final: Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall 3-10, St Mark’s (Dublin) 2-8

Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall produced an impressive display at Monastery Road in Dublin on Saturday afternoon to progress into the semi-final of the Leinster Club Junior Football Championship at the expense of St Mark’s, writes Daire Walsh.

Supplementing a 1-4 haul from midfielder Joe Rabbitt, centre half-back Glen Plunkett and Mark Cunningham also shook the net to help CFCW past the capital outfit.

Plunkett’s opposite number Joseph Cannon broke forward to grab a brace of second half goals, but Mark’s ultimately couldn’t rein in the challenge of their Lake County opponents.

This was Finea’s maiden voyage in the 2021 provincial championship, but the north Westmeath side showed no signs of nerves during the early exchanges. Following a couple of wayward efforts at either end of the pitch, the raiding Plunkett got on the end of a sharp move in the fourth-minute and rifled a firm shot beyond the reach of opposing netminder Martin Kavanagh.

Buoyed by this deadlock-breaker, inside forward Ian Kilcoyne extended their cushion with a point from play. Mark’s eventually responded through David Glynn’s white flag strike, before CFCW pounced for another major on nine minutes.

The lively Kilcoyne was the instigator of this attack and after being picked out in front of goal, Cunningham found the bottom corner of the net with style and aplomb. Kevin Brazil had a glorious opportunity to bag a three-pointer of his own, but Kavanagh denied the full-forward with a fine point blank save.

However, Brazil was subsequently on hand to cancel out a point from Mark’s substitute Mark O’Meara and this ensured CFCW were six points in front at the first half water break. There was reason to be wary of a potential backlash from the Metropolitans, but Finea continued to take advantage of the strong wind that was at their disposal.

Rabbitt recorded 2-2 in their county final success over Bunbrosna last month and registered two points in the space of 60 seconds following this brief interval. Either side of another Glynn contribution for Mark’s, Rabbitt and his centre-field partner David Devine found the target to reinforce CFCW’s authority on the proceedings.

Named at corner-forward, Patrick Murphy spent the majority of the contest as an extra body in front of the Mark’s full-back line. This left Emmet Corrigan free at the far end and he ventured forward to kick an excellent 29th-minute point.

Murphy (free) and O’Meara did likewise for Mark’s, but CFCW were full value for their 2-7 to 0-5 half-time lead.

Playing against the breeze - on what was a bitterly cold day - was always going to be more of a challenge, albeit it was one CFCW were willing to meet head on. With Plunkett and Willie Coyne leading the way, their defence turned over Mark's on numerous occasions before making a smooth transition into attack.

Rabbitt had converted a close-range free just four minutes after the restart and Kilcoyne later doubled his tally by splitting the uprights from a tight right-hand angle. Mark’s were struggling to impose themselves on the game, but offered renewed hope to their supporters either side of the third-quarter mark.

As an addition to Murphy’s second free of the action, Cannon crept into space for a magnificent goal in the 46th-minute. Though the prospect of Mark’s forging a dramatic fightback was beginning to look entirely feasible, CFCW re-established themselves on the stroke of 50 minutes.

Capitalising on Brazil’s outstanding approach play, Rabbitt made no mistake off his trusty right boot to claim his side’s third goal of the game.

Graham Browne and Devine went on to trade points, but there was another chink of light for Mark's when Cannon squeezed his shot past Gary Sullivan for a second goal.

Murphy’s latest placed-ball effort followed in the 58th-minute, but this was to be the final score of the tie. In the eight minutes of stoppage-time that were added on, Mark’s lost Eoin Doyle and Graham Whelan to straight red cards while Allan Devine (CFCW) and Glynn (Mark’s) were also sent to the sin-bin.

In the end, however, it was Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall who marched on into the penultimate round of the competition.

Scorers – Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall: J Rabbitt 1-4 (0-3f), G Plunkett, M Cunningham 1-0 each, D Devine, I Kilcoyne 0-2 each, E Corrigan, K Brazil 0-1 each. St Mark’s: J Cannon 2-0, P Murphy 0-3 (3f), D Glynn, M O’Meara 0-2 each, G Browne 0-1 each.

Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall: Gary Sullivan; Charlie McCormack, Willie Coyne, Emmet Corrigan; Shane McGarry, Glen Plunkett, Allan Devine; Joe Rabbitt, David Devine; John McCarthy, Luke Moore, Darren Kilcoyne; Ian Kilcoyne, Kevin Brazil, Mark Cunningham. Sub used: Oisín Gaffney for McCarthy (44).

St Mark’s: Martin Kavanagh; Gary Kett, Conor Hurley, Darren Gleeson; Daniel McCann, Joseph Cannon, Graham Whelan; Shane Galvin, Luke Doyle; David Glynn, David Kearns, Robert Glynn; Patrick Murphy, Wayne Crosbie, Jamie Phillips. Subs used: Mark O’Meara for Kearns (5), Christopher Delmar for Hurley (17), Eoin Doyle for R Glynn (34), Graham Browne for Galvin (37), Cian Moonan for Crosbie (48).

Ref: Eamonn O’Connor (Offaly).

Man of the match: Joe Rabbitt (Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall).