Credit Union County Senior Football League, Division 2, Round 2.
Templenoe 0-09, Na Gaeil 0-08.
Templenoe hosted Na Gaeil in round 2 of the county league on Sunday, seven months on from their meeting the county club championship when a last-minute goal from Aidan Crowley saved Templenoe from a relegation play-off. A single point was all that separated the sides again this time, after Templenoe survived a nervy finish to come out the right side of a tight contest once again.
There was good crowd in attendance for Templenone’s first home game of this year’s county league, with the weather holding dry and little or no breeze. It took both sides a while to settle especially the hosts who failed to register a score in the opening quarter, squandering numerous scoring opportunities. Na Gaeil got their opening score in the 9th minute courtesy of Dara Devine (f) and soon after they added two more points with Tomas O’hAinifein and Dara Devine putting them 3 points to the good midway through the first half. In between, Na Gaeil almost had a goal but were denied by Templenoe keeper Mark Looney, while at the other end Brian Crowley went agonisingly close with a palmed effort that was kept out by the fingertips of Na Gaeil net minder John Kearney.
Jack Bourke extended the visitors lead to four points in the 18th minute. The hosts continued to struggle for scores before they finally got off the mark in the 21st minute with Patrick Clifford ending their scoring drought. This seemed to spark the hosts into life, with further points following from Clifford once more and John Rice. The first half ended with Tomas O’hAinifein and Hugh Granville trading scores.
Half Time Score: Templenoe 0-04, Na Gaeil 0-05.
It was all to play for at the restart. Whatever got said in the Templenoe dressing room at the interval appeared to work with the hosts firing over four unanswered points in the third quarter through Colin Crowley with two 45s and Brian Crowley with one placed ball and one from play. The score was now Templenoe 0-08, Na Gaeil 0-05 and it could have been more, only for John Kearney diverting a goal bound shot from Mark Casey out for a 45. Just like Templenoe in the opening quarter, Na Gaeil’s shooting was letting them down in the second half with a high wide count.
Brian Crowley got what turned out to be pivotal point for the hosts in the 49th minute, after he combined well with Patrick Clifford before fisting the ball over the bar. However, Na Gaeil weren’t going to give this game up without a fight and points from Dara Devine and Mark Lynch set up a tense finish to make the score 0-09 to 0-07 coming into injury time. Try as they might Na Gaeil couldn’t find a pathway to goal, but they did reduce the margin to a single point after Peter Doyle popped over a long-range point. There was time for one last play, but much to the relief of the home support the Templenoe defence were able to force a turnover from Na Gaeil and with that the final whistle went.
Final Score: Templenoe 0-09, Na Gaeil 0-08.
Scorers:
Templenoe: Brian Crowley 0-03 (1f), Colin Crowley 0-02 (2 45s), Patrick Clifford 0-02, John Rice 0-01, Hugh Granville 0-01.
Na Gaeil: Dara Devine 0-03 (2f), Tomas O’hAinifein 0-02, Jack Bourke 0-01, Mark Lynch 0-01, Peter Doyle 0-01.
Teams:
Templenoe: Mark Looney, Michael Hallissey, Kieran O’Neill, Ríain O'Byrne, Kieran McCarthy, Mark Casey, Ciaran Crowley, Sean Sheehan, John Rice, Martin Reilly, Patrick Clifford, Hugh Granville, John Moriarty, Brian Crowley, Colin Crowley.
Subs used: Daniel Crowley.
Na Gaeil: John Kearney, Enda O’Connor, Ryan O’Neill, Sean Barrett, Peter Doyle, Ruairi O’Sullivan, Kieran O’Donovan, Tomas O’hAinifein, Jamesie O’Connor, Cian Devine, Dara Devine, Eoin Doody, Mark Lynch, Jack Bourke, Jack Sheehan.
Subs: Senan Ross, Jack Costello, Tadhg Reen.
