Coralstown/Kinnegad deny The Downs in league opener

Coralstown/Kinnegad 1-11

The Downs 1-8

Damien Maher

Early momentum is hard gained in any competition. Sometimes it takes a floodlit derby on a Friday night to set the pulses racing and that was certainly the case as reigning champions, The Downs took on their Coralstown/Kinnegad neighbours last Friday in Kinnegad for a terrific first round match.

Coralstown/Kinneagd prevailed by three points in the end, but can thank alert goalie Sean Martin for a point-blank save in the 13th minute to deny Philip Martin a goal. That allied to some superb finishing by Dan Leech and Callum Cruise at the opposite end of the park.

The evening was pleasant and a good-sized crowd turned up for this first round clash. It was the home side who led by seven points at the break, 1-7 to 0-3, following Leech’s superbly taken goal on 20 minutes. It followed a direct delivery by Cruise, a wonderful long punt inside to the target man whose finish gave Trevor Martin little chance.

The Downs, though clearly understrength, were in no mood to offer up a handy brace of league points and made Pascal Kelleghan’s charges work hard for the victory in the second half. A brilliant early goal got them right back in the match: directly from the throw-in, Kevin O’Sullivan made a strong run through the heart of the opposing cover and set up Jack Carroll for a wonderful goal, his powerful left-footed strike finding the roof of the net.

For the home side it was a case of going from cruise control to a spluttering incline, but they pressed down the accelerator again and got over the finish line. Division 1 is a competitive arena and the county champions ensured that was preserved, scoring 1-2 without reply to get right back into the match - it was 1-7 to 1-5 after 38 minutes.

However, that was as close as it got, the impressive Carroll just wide with a 56th minute free that would have made it a one-point game had he nailed it. Coralstown/Kinnegad produced a good response to an impressive black and amber rally and James Maxwell got a much-needed point in the 42nd minute. After that, Leech and Cruise converted crucial frees.

It remained competitive and there was a slight edge to it as the game wore on. In added time, The Downs were reduced to 14 men when Joe Moran picked up a straight red card from excellent referee Alan Coyne, who was always in control of this derby joust.

Kelleghan is joined by former Westmeath supremo Jack Cooney on a strong Coralstown/Kinnegad management team, with Joe Giles and Ken McNevin also teaming up. There’s clearly a desire to push on from some promising campaigns in recent years and they certainly have oodles of potential to work with.

Lar Wall won’t be under any stress for losing this one and he quite clearly has a strong hand to pick from as he aims to defend league and championship titles this year. It’s tough at the top.

SCORERS - Coralstown/Kinnegad: D Leceh 1-3 (0-2f), J Maxwell, D Giles and C Cruise (frees) 0-2 each, W Fox 0-2. The Downs: J Carroll 1-4 (0-3f), T Tuite 0-3 (3f), K O’Sullivan 0-1.

CORALSTOWN/KINNEGAD - Sean Martin; Ronan Doyle, Ciaran Daly, Josh Gahan; Eoghan Bracken, J Macken, Ciaran Daly Jnr.; Darren Giles, Danny Woods; Eoin O’Brien, Podge Quinn, James Maxwell; Dan Leech, Callum Cruise, Wayne Fox. Subs: Jack Torpey for Quinn (32), Shane Fleming for Woods (40), Brían Cooney for Daly Jnr. (52), Rory Cole for Leech (53).

THE DOWNS - Trevor Martin; Keith Carroll, Peter Murray, Conor Gavin; Joe Moran, Oisín Murphy, Eanna Burke; Kevin O’Sullivan, Liam Moran; Ciaran Nolan, Ben Harte, Oisín Raleigh; Jack Carroll, Philip Martin, Tom Tuite. Subs: Lorcan Mullen for Harte (47), Eoghan Murray for Gavin (50), Stephen Wynne for Martin (50), Billy Moffatt for Raleigh (55).

REF - Alan Coyne (Castletown-Finea/C/W).

Examiner's Eye on the game

Man of The Match

Dan Leech (Coralstown/Kinnegad): Leech scored 1-3 and was always a tormentor for The Downs' defence in the inside line.

Score of the match

Kevin O'Sullivan's barnstorming run led to a chance for Jack Carroll at the start of the second half and the lively corner forward finished clinically to the net.

Match officials

Alan Coyne handled this game very well on what was a hectic weekend for him and his officials: it was off to Wexford the following day and then Breffni Park, Cavan on the Sunday.

Footnote: A minute’s silence was observed before the game in memory of the late Colm Rowley Murray.