County Senior Football League, Division 2, Round 4.
Annascaul 0-14, Templenoe 3-10.
Templenoe recorded their first win in the County league following an entertaining encounter away to Annascaul last Saturday evening. With both teams losing their opening three matches in the league, this game was seen by many as critical, in the survival stakes. Much remains to be done of course, but Templenoe will take encouragement from this result.
Annascaul had the wind to their backs for the first half and struck the opening score of the game courtesy of James Crean straight from throw in, to put them in front for the first and only time in this contest. Then two minutes later, Templenoe’s Colin Crowley found himself one on one with the keeper and he made no mistake with the finish for the visitors first goal. Buoyed by this, Templenoe put together some great passages of play to hit five unanswered points with Brian Crowley, Josh Crowley Holland, Danny Cahalane, Aidan Crowley and Stephen O’Sullivan all finding the range to make it 0-01 to 1-05, after 13 minutes of play. Credit must also go the Templenoe defence with Kieran O’Neill and company not putting a foot wrong in this period and answering every question that was asked of them. Jason Hickson converted a free to pull one back for the home side, but then Templenoe hit them with another sucker punch, when Aidan Crowley combined with Stephen O’Sullivan who fisted home from close range for their second goal. Annascaul were now nine points adrift, but they did rally somewhat before the break to fire over three points on the trot through Jack Farrell (2) and David O’Brien.
Half Time Score: Annascaul 0-05, Templenoe 2-05.
Annascaul continued where they left off and a comeback looked possible when the impressive James Crean (2) and Killian Falvey reduced the margin to just three points, after 36 minutes of play. Templenoe had now gone seventeen minutes without scoring, before Brian Crowley helped settle the nerves with a much needed point for the visitors. Colin Crowley added another, but Annascaul remained determined and responded with two more scores from James Scanlon and James Crean. At times in the second half, Templenoe were sloppy with their possession and matters got worse when Stephen O’Sullivan was dismissed for a second yellow card offence. However, when they needed to most, Templenoe were able to dig deep and tag on scores. Sean Sheehan, Brian Crowley and Aidan Crowley (free) helped steady the ship for the visitors to put them ahead 0-10 to 2-10 by the 50th minute. Annascaul fought back though with two scores of their own from David O’Brien and James Hanifan, before the game was then finally put out of reach when Josh Crowley Holland played the ball through for Daniel Crowley to bag the visitors third goal. The hosts threw everything at Templenoe in the remaining minutes, but the Templenoe defence stood tall and in the end, Annascaul had to settle for two late points from Jason Hickson and Killian Falvey.
Final Score: Annascaul 0-14, Templenoe 3-10.
Scorers:
Annascaul: James Crean 0-04, Jason Hickson 0-02 (2f), Jack Farrell 0-02, David O’Brien 0-02, Killian Falvey 0-02, James Scanlon 0-01, James Hanifan 0-01.
Templenoe: Colin Crowley 1-01, Stephen O’Sullivan 1-01. Brian Crowley 0-03, Daniel Crowley 1-00, Aidan Crowley 0-02 (1f), Josh Crowley Holland 0-01, Danny Cahalane 0-01, Sean Sheehan 0-01.
Teams:
Annascaul: Tommy Pierce, Andrew Finn, Colm Moriarty, David Smith, James Scanlon, Gearoid Lyne, James Hanafin, Jason Hickson, Bryan McKenna, Cian Griffin, Killian Falvey, James Crean, Donal Crean, David O’Brien, Jack Farrell.
Subs used: Alan Falvey.
Templenoe: Mark Looney, Mark Casey, Kieran O’Neill, Kieran McCarthy, Brian Crowley, John Rice, Michael F O’Connor, Sean Sheehan, Tom Spillane, Josh Crowley Holland, Danny Cahalane, Daniel Crowley, Aidan Crowley, Stephen O’Sullivan, Colin Crowley.
