Bun leave it behind against defending champs

Bunbrosna slumped to their second defeat in the Senior Championship when they went down by the minimum margin against current county Champions Castledaly on Saturday evening last in Kinnegad. They failed simply because they could not convert pressure into scores and kicked away oodles of possession with long range hopeful; efforts when they had the chances to put their opponents to the sword. Add to that some poor defending that saw them concede far too many scorable frees and a propensity for short passing and it is little wonder that they came out second best. Playing Andrew Whitney at centre forward was also baffling and they only began to play when he moved into a more customary back line position and not playing enough ball into Brian Maguire at full forward when he was catching or fisting everything that came his way. Bun will wonder how they let this one slip and they are now under serious pressure while for the champions this was a bit of an escape and they again showed little of the flair and passion that brought them their first Flanagan Cup last October and they will need huge improvement if they are to have any say in the destination of this year"s titleBunbrosna started much the better and they held sway in the opening ten minutes but kicked 4 poor wides in that period and the play in general was poor and hard to watch. Castledaly took heart from Buns ineptitude and they registered the first score of the game after 4 minutes from the lively Michael Duffy who was causing serious consternation in the Bun defence. When he was again fouled Brendan Kelly stepped up and converted the free to double the lead. Peter Tormey got Bun on the scoreboard but it had taken 14 minutes to do so and Michael Duffy negated that with score of the game from a fine move. The lead was not to last long though as first Tormey and then Fintan Finnan converted frees to level matters and then another Tormey Free put Bun ahead. Castledaly were fouling their way to defeat at this stage but on a break Paul Kelly found M.J.McLoughlin and he levelled matters with a fine point and then Brendan Kelly put them back in front with another well worked score as Castledaly began to cut loose. Just before the break they could have had a goal when Michael Duffy was clean through but his goal bound shot was brilliantly saved by Damian McCormack in the Bun goal and at the break it was 0-5 to 0-4 in Castledalys favourDerek Heavin got his team up and running in the second half with an inspirational point from a long solo run but the game became a bit disjointed thereafter and it took a well converted free from McLoughlin to lift the game and put 3 between the sides. Kevin Mitchell had a goal chance for Bun but it was well defended but he made up for that with a good point started in his own half and finished superbly. Andrew Whitney pulled the game back to a single score and at this stage it looked as if Bun would power home and when Fintan Finnan pointed a free on 47 minutes the game was level again. Castledaly hit back and went in front from a McLoughlin free but Tormey replied in-kind from the dead ball and with 10 minutes remaining the game could have gone either way. Brendan Kelly was fouled needlessly by a nervous looking Bun defence and McLoughlin converted and then a super solo effort from Niall Duffy put the champions 2 ahead with just over a minute to go. Bun went in search of the equaliser but they were denied by a wonder save from James Kinahan and the help of the upright as a Simon Moorehead effort somehow stayed out and then a high 45 was fisted just over by Brian Maguire and seconds later Sean Carroll blew the final whistle to the relief of the Castledaly faithfulConor Newman, Kevin Tormey and keeper McCormack were the pick of the Bun defence while Finnan and Murphy tried hard at midfield. Peter Tormey and Fintan Finnan were the main threat up front while Maguire did all he could with limited ball but they will need to improve their finishing if they want to retain Senior status. Heavin was superb and he had back up in defence from Warburton and Enda Kelly. Casey and Niall Duffy more than held their own at midfield while Michael Duffy and Brendan Kelly were the main thrust of the attack but overall it was just about an average performance from Castledaly and they were slightly fortunate that Bunbrosna were so profligate in front of goal and can thank Kinahan for a miraculous save that saved their bacon.Scorers - CastledalyM.J.McLoughlin 0-4 3 frees, Michael Duffy and Brendan Kelly (1 free) 0-2 each, Derek Heavin and Niall Duffy 0-1 eachBunbrosnaPeter Tormey and Fintan Finnan 0-3 each (3 frees apiece), Kevin Mitchell, Andrew Whitney and Brian Maguire 0-1 eachTeamsCastledalyJames Kinahan, Michael Gavin, Niall O"Neill, Ciaran Henson, Enda Kelly, Derek Heavin, Tommy Warburton, Russell Casey, Niall Duffy, M.J.McLoughlin, Gordon Duffy, Paul Kelly, Michael Duffy, James Galvin, Brendan Kelly subs: Stephen Kavanagh for Michael Duffy 48 minsBunbrosnaDamian McCormack, Conor Newman, Simon Moorehead, Sean Walsh, Kevin Tormey, Liam Mitchell, Kevin Mitchell, Aidan Finnan, Kieran Murphy, Peter Tormey, Andrew Whitney, Fintan Finnan, Kenny Conroy, Brian Maguire, Simon Maher Subs: Niall Harte for Maher 52 minsReferee Sean Carroll The Downs