| Celbridge 0-15 Monasterevin 0-9 |
Report:
Senior Football League Division 1
Celbridge 0-15 Monasterevin 0=9
Celbridge kept up the pressure at the top of the league with a good win over Monasterevin at Hazelhatch Road last Sunday afternoon. With a three-way battle for the second place in the league final alongside Moorefield in full swing, it was crucial that the Blues record a win and hope that St Laurences drop some points in the last two games of the season.
However, it was the visitors who dominated the scoreboard in the first twenty minutes. Demonstrating a good level of commitment, pace and direction, Monasterevin put it up to the hosts in no uncertain manner early on. Celbridge opened the scoring with a Mark O’Sullivan free, but the response from the visitors was sustained pressure culminating in five unanswered points that had the Blues trailing by four points after 20 minutes. Three frees from Colm McCabe and two good scores from play by a busy Anthony Kavanagh gave Monasterevin a platform on which to build an unexpected victory. During this period, the midfield area was essentially a battle for broken ball, a battle that Monasterevin won handsomely. In addition, Celbridge conspired to kick several wides from hard-worked possession.
As the half entered its closing phase, Celbridge started to get to grips with the challenge. With Davey Byrne roving out to the centre of the field to assist and Mick Wright breaking up the Monasterevin dominance in attack, they gradually started to get a foothold in proceedings. With two frees from Mark O’Sullivan and one score from play by Tom Fitzgerald, the gap was narrowed to two points by half time. Monasterevin’s Shane O’Loughlin kicked a sole point in reply in that period.
On the resumption, Celbridge stormed back into the match. In the opening ten minutes, points from Harte, Cahill and two from Fitzgerald drew them level. Monasterevin managed two points of their own but the tide had clearly turned and the momentum was definitely with the Blues. Driven on by strong performances by Cormac McEvoy, Jim Creighton and Davey Byrne, the hosts controlled the last twenty minutes and gave further evidence that they will be a force to be reckoned with as the year progresses.
The middle period of the second half was relatively quiet in scoring terms with Celbridge adding two points from placed balls by O’Sullivan and Harte without reply. As the game entered the last ten minutes, Tom Fitzgerald made a huge catch under pressure to win another free that was easily converted by O’Sullivan, and from there on Celbridge never looked back. Four more points rained over from O’Sullivan, Fitzgerald, Dara McEvoy and Donal Moore, before an injury time consolation score from Mark Kelly from Monasterevin completed the scoring.
Monasterevin competed well for long periods in this match and will go away knowing that they are improving and closing the gap to the top teams after recent results. For Celbridge, it seems that business as usual is being restored with a winning run beginning to gather pace and momentum at the right time of the year. And if things go right for them, a win in their final match against Ellistown could yet secure a league final place.
Celbridge
P. Spratt, D. Gavin, R. Hannon, M. Deegan, O. Lyons, J. Creighton, D. McEvoy (0-1), M. Wright, T. O’Sullivan, C. McEvoy, M. O’Sullivan (0-6, frees), S. Harte 90-2), A. Cahill (0-1), T. Fitzgerald (0-4), D. Byrne
Subs – D. Moore (0-1) for Deegan (half time), M. O’Grady for C. McEvoy (53), S. Flynn For Cahill (56), T. Konstantin for Gavin (59)
Monasterevin
Martin Connolly, Mark Cornish, John Dempsey, Eoin Stapleton, Tristan Kennedy, David Christie, James Gorry, Shane O’Loughlin, Leonard Havens, Mark Kelly, Anthony Kavanagh, Paul Kelly, Shane Joyce, Colm McCabe, Gary Kelly
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