Daly’s late goal secures last four placing

Coralstown/Kinnegad 2-9, Tyrrellspass 0-7

By Gerry Buckley

A goal apiece from James Maxwell and Liam Daly proved decisive as Coralstown/Kinnegad defeated Tyrrellspass by a somewhat flattering eight-point margin in the teams’ last round robin game in the Westmeath senior football championship at TEG Cusack Park last Sunday afternoon.

The upshot of this disappointing contest is that both sides retained their pre-match position in the table, with the men in red and white through to the penultimate round and the Tidy Town advancing to a quarter-final showdown with Tang next Sunday. However, on the evidence of this often-scrappy game, both need to improve greatly if they are to get their name on the Flanagan Cup next month.

Coralstown/Kinnegad had the aid of a useful wind blowing towards the scoreboard end of the ground, but it was their opponents who went into a two-point lead by the sixth minute courtesy of scores from Tommy Ryan (a lovely curled shot) and Nigel Harte (a low-trajectory effort). Darren Giles halved the deficit in the eighth minute when he judged a tricky free to perfection.

A minute later, when a Brían Cooney lob came back off the crossbar the ball fell kindly for Ronan Doyle, but Joe Hyland quickly smothered him when a goal looked likely. Ryan doubled his tally from frees before Josh Gahan kicked a superb point for the winners after breaking from defence. This left his side a point in arrears (0-3 to 0-2) at the end of the opening quarter.

Peter Pierson (at the end of a swift counterattack) and Giles (a routine free) traded points before James Maxwell pounced for the game’s first goal in the 22nd minute, the wing forward setting up the score with a timely interception and exchanging passes with Giles before coolly slotting the ball past Hyland.

There was to be no further work for the scoreboard operator for the remainder of the half, with both teams – the winners, in particular – guilty of poor decision-making when scores beckoned. At the break, Coralstown/Kinnegad led by 1-3 to 0-4.

Giles converted a left-footed free some 90 seconds after play resumed, the ball having been moved closer to the target for dissent. From the resultant kick-out, a careless handling of the ball on the ground gave Cooney a simple chance to slot over a right-footed free. Ray Sheridan’s troops responded with a brace of points of their own from the boots of Ryan (a free) and a neat score from play by impressive sub Kieran Geraghty.

Gahan availed of a gift to point in the 40th minute, moments after he had spurned another opportunity. Geraghty converted a ‘mark’ to leave the deficit at two points (1-6 to 0-7), but the men under the tutelage of Pascal Kellaghan and Jack Cooney replied with a well-taken brace via David Giles and Gahan (thereby completing his hat-trick).

Tyrrellspass’ woes were compounded with ten minutes of normal time remaining when Aaron O’Brien picked up his second yellow card of the afternoon. Down to 14 men, the sky blue and navy-clad outfit were now fighting a losing battle and the winners added an unanswered 1-1 in what was a scrappy closing period.

The point was cleverly worked from a quickly-taken free by sub Shane Fleming to Gahan, and the former scored a delightful point after taking a return pass. Liam Daly copper-fastened the win with a close-range goal at the end of a Cooney delivery to round off a largely forgettable game.

Man of the match: Josh Gahan (Coralstown/Kinnegad). A Westmeath panelist last year, the hard-working wing back kicked three crucial points in an eye-catching display.

Key moment: James Maxwell’s well-taken goal in the 22nd minute was particularly timely, as his wind-assisted side had wasted a number of good point opportunities prior to this three-pointer.

What it means: Tyrrellspass will play Tang in the quarter-final on Sunday; Coralstown/Kinnegad are in the semi-final, awaiting Athlone or Caulry.

Scorers – Coralstown/Kinnegad: L Daly, J Maxwell 1-0 each, J Gahan, Darren Giles (3f) 0-3 each, David Giles, B Cooney (f), S Fleming 0-1 each. Tyrrellspass: T Ryan 0-3 (2f), K Geraghty 0-2 (1m), P Pierson, N Harte 0-1 each.

Coralstown/Kinnegad: Sean Martin; Ciaran Daly Snr, Daniel Woods, Ronan Doyle; Liam Daly, Jason Macken, Josh Gahan; David Giles, Callum Cruise; Eoin O’Brien, Darren Giles, James Maxwell; Dan Leech, Brían Cooney, Wayne Fox. Subs used: Ciaran Daly Jnr for L Daly (blood, 28 to 30), Shane Fleming for Cruise (45), Podge Quinn for Leech (49), Jack Torpey for Fox (57), Ciaran Daly Jnr for Cooney (57).

Tyrrellspass: Joe Hyland; Peter Clarke, Cormac Monaghan, Jamie Gonoud; Nigel Harte, Conor Slevin, Aaron O’Brien; Adam Flanagan, Denis Glennon; Cathal Dunne, David Glennon, Tommy Ryan; Peter Pierson, Stephen Quinn, Evan Connell. Subs used: Kieran Geraghty for David Glennon (inj., 25), Ger Egan for Dunne (51), Chris Daly for Slevin (58), David Lynam for Denis Glennon (60+1).

Ref: Shane Maher (Ballynacargy).