Eire Og shook up the Carlow Senior Football Championship at Netwatch Cullen Park yesterday by dethroning three in a row seeking Palatine by 1-12 to 1-7 to reach their first final since 2012.
Pal hit the front early on when the ball deflected off David Reid and into the net but Eire Og picked off some fine points in the first half from Chris Blake, Eoghan Ruth, Darragh O’Brien and Ross Dunphy.
The sides were level at 1-3 to 0-6 at half time during which Murtough Ware was dismissed on a straight red card.
When Darragh O’Brien goaled in the second half the writing was on the wall for a Pal side who just couldn’t get into their groove in this game and there was always going to be just one winner as the game progressed.
Eire Og also had a penalty saved by Cormac Holloway after Craig Kearney was black carded for conceding it in the first place but Eire Og continued to push on and were deserving winners.
The other semi final was a tough, physical and not for the faint hearted battle between two sides who know each other inside out as Rathvilly beat Old Leighlin 0-12 to 0-10.
The tackling was ferocious in this one and both sides dished out plenty of big hits over the 60 minutes.
Brendan Murphy kicked two fine points off the left boot in the first half while Hughie Gahan sent over an equally as impressive score at the far end and at half time Rathvilly led 0-7 to 0-5.
Murphy kicked another score on the restart and Old Leighlin continued to battle with Patrick Hickey and Sean Bambrick scoring from play but Rathvilly always replied and when they led by a point late on it was Danny Molloy who fisted over the final score and Rathvilly were on their way to the final.
There was a flashpoint after the game when both sides enganged in a bit of argy bargy but all in all it was a tense encounter which Rathvilly shaded.