Rathvilly 2-12 Éire Óg 1-10
Rathvilly pulled off a stunning victory over Éire Og in Carlow GAA headquarters today, stopping Éire Óg’s drive for 5 dead in its tracks.
Netwatch Cullen Park hosted the Carlow Senior Football Final that featured two teams who have gone unbeaten in this year’s club championship.
Rathvilly came out of the traps with hunger and intent and secured a goal early on. Éire Óg were quick to respond with a point from Christopher Blake who put in an impressive display in the first quarter.
Brendan Murphy started off shaky with a poor wide but soon found his composure. Pacey Christopher Blake found the net 10 mins into the game which came after a lapse in concentration from the Rathvilly defence.
Blake then kicked another point, racking up an impressive 1-2 to his personal tally.
Both teams set themselves up well defensively but Éire Óg will be disappointed that their usual talisman didn’t perform to their usual standards. Brian Murphy levelled things up on the halftime whistle with both teams recording a scoreline of 1-6.
The second half
The game resumed with Rathvilly making much more of their opportunities in front of the goal than their opponents.
In what was a nip-and-tuck game, Rathvilly were lucky to have such a consistent and cool-headed free-taker in Brian Murphy. He contributed a total of 1-8 from play and frees.
Éire Óg were slow to make changes but brought in Niall Quinlan and Eoin Ruth with eight minutes left on the clock.
Brian Murphy had a stand out performance on Sunday but Robbie Molloy also deserves a special mention with superb kick-outs throughout the game and a jaw-dropping save in the final quarter.
It was Rathvilly very much in the driving seat from then on. They held on right to the final whistle, securing their ninth senior title in the club’s history.
RATHVILLY: R Molloy; BJ Molloy, P Curran, D Curran; J Moore, C Doyle, P Deering; B Murphy (0-1), E Finnegan; K Murphy, A Kelly, C Byrne; B Murphy (1-8 6fs), B Smith, J Elliott (0-3 1f).
Subs: E Molloy (1-0) for Kelly (42), D Molloy for Byrne (54), T Bolger for Deering (56), P Bolger for Elliott (62).
ÉIRE ÓG: R Moore; J Lowry, M Fitzgerald, B Kavanagh (0-1); J Morrissey, M Furey, P McElligott; K Chatten, S Gannon; R Dunphy, A Murphy, R Denieffe; D O’Brien (0-5fs), C Blake (1-3), C Hulton.
Subs: M Ware for Denieffe (h/t), N Quinlan (0-1f) for Hulton (51), E Ruth for Murphy (51), S Buggy for Fitzgerald (56), L Moore for Furey (62).
Referee: Paud O’Dwyer (Palatine)
