Coralstown/Kinnegad win with ease as Caulry lack firepower

Coralstown/Kinnegad cruised to an impressive win over a dysfunctional Caulry team in what was a predominantly one-sided Westmeath SFC Section A encounter at Joe Fox Memorial Park, Tang on Sunday afternoon.

Caulry, striving for their first win following two defeats, were below par over the game's duration and ultimately proved no match for a sharper Coralstown/Kinnegad team, who asserted their dominance from the throw-in and showed why they are serious contenders for the Flanagan Cup this year.

Shorn of attacking duo Senan Baker and Conor McCormack (injured), the Mount Temple/Baylin club seemed devoid of attacking inspiration. In contrast, Jack Cooney's charges were laden with confidence, this win moving them into pole position of Section A with two rounds of fixtures to play in the round robin phase.

In a low scoring opening 30 minutes where a low tempo pervaded, it was Coralstown/Kinnegad centre back Josh Gahan who opened the scoring on two minutes when penetrating the Caulry defence at pace before clipping over a good point. Scoring opportunities were at a premium in the opening quarter and it was the tenth minute before there was further activity on the scoreboard when Jack Torpey pointed for the winners.

The impressive Brían Cooney completed the first quarter scoring on 13 minutes when pointing under pressure from Caulry's Kevin Maguire as Coralstown/Kinnegad took a firm hold on the contest.

Occasional forays into the Coralstown/Kinnegad defence proved fruitless for Nigel Dineen's charges and they had to wait until the 17th minute for their opening score of the contest when goalkeeper Jack Connaughton sent over a two-point free to give cause for hope among Caulry fans.

This white flag was to prove Caulry's sole first-half score as Coralstown/Kinnegad continued to exert their dominance on the scoreboard. Gahan had his second of the half when pointing from the angle before his defensive colleague Eoghan Bracken kicked a two-pointer, much to the delight of the red and white faithful in attendance.

As Caulry continued to flounder in attack, Cooney showed great composure to score a left-footed point in added time, the winners leading on the scoreboard by five points as the opening 30 minutes of play concluded.

One expected a more determined display from Caulry in the second half as they looked to keep their hopes of progression to the knockout stages intact, but it was their opponents who maintained their dominance.

Darren Giles kicked a two-pointer to maintain the tempo for the winners and when Cooney blasted to the net on 38 minutes, the game was all but won as Coralstown/Kinnegad stretched their lead out to ten points.

Stephen Connolly struck Caulry's first score in 23 minutes when sending over a two-pointer, the midfielder adding to his scoring tally within 60 seconds when pointing a placed ball.

Coralstown/Kinnegad reeled off four consecutive scores between the 43rd and 50th minutes as the men from the east of the county maintained complete control of the contest. Firstly, Giles pointed a free before Dan Leech pointed on the turn. Torpey then pounced on a Connaughton kickout error to fire over and when Giles added to the winners' tally, there was eleven points between the teams as the game approached its closing stages.

Now looking a defeated team, Caulry put some gloss on the scoreboard when Tadhg Baker expertly recorded a two-point score before departing the contest with an injury, something which will give cause for concern for the team's management.

The Kinnegad based side added to their winning margin when Rory Cole pointed on 57 minutes, Tiarnán O'Donovan momentarily reducing the deficit two minutes later for Caulry.

The winners' dominance was firmly cemented in stoppage time when full forward Leech added his second and third points of the game to ensure a comprehensive win for Coralstown/Kinnegad.

Scorers - Coralstown/Kinnegad: B Cooney 1-2; D Giles 0-4 (1tp, 1f); D Leech 0-3; J Gahan, E Bracken (tp) and J Torpey 0-2 each; R Cole 0-1. Caulry: S Connolly 0-3 (1tp, 1f); J Connaughton (tpf) and T Baker (tp) 0-2 each; T O'Donovan 0-1.

Coralstown/Kinnegad - Stephen McNevin; Eoin O'Brien, David Giles, Eoghan Bracken; Rory Cole, Josh Gahan, James Maxwell; Ciaran Daly Jnr, Brian Cooney; Shane Fleming, Darren Giles, Jason Macken; Jack Torpey, Dan Leech, Ger Leech.

Caulry - Jack Connaughton; Sean Clinton, Kevin Maguire, Cormac Murphy; Tadhg Baker, Olan Healy, Glenn Carolan; Sean Murphy, Stephen Connolly; Eoghan Grennan, Shane Lawless, Tiarnán O'Donovan; Oisin Shortall, Colin Murphy, Dean Martin. Subs: Luke Buckley for Martin; Eoin Fox for Shortall; Dean Martin for Baker.

Referee - Niall Ward (Garrycastle).