Credit Union County Senior Football League, Division 1 – Round 4
by Sinéad Pigott
Laune Rangers 3-14
Rathmore 3-09
Laune Rangers made it four wins from four games on Sunday afternoon when they claimed the points from their encounter with Rathmore in a sun-soaked J.P. O’Sullivan Park. An early purple patch from the home side saw them claim the upper hand in the opening quarter, however Rathmore began to settle in and came into the game for the second quarter to let just two points between the sides at half-time; 1-07 to 1-05 in the home side’s favour. The second half was an exciting and tense battle with two further goals from both sides, however it was Laune Rangers who finished the stronger going on to win 3-14 to 3-09 at the full-time whistle.
John Tyther opened the scoring for the home side with a point from a free in the second minute. Oisín Birmingham pounced for Laune Rangers’ first goal in the 6th minute when he was on the receiving end of a good pass from Matthew Leslie and took his goal well to finish it to the back of the Rathmore net. Rathmore responded well with a goal of their own from corner forward Anthony Darmody to let the score 1-01 to 1-00 in the home side’s favour with 7 minutes of the opening half played. Dáire Cleary pushed the home side further ahead with two points in as many minutes before Darragh Nagle slotted over from play for Rathmore’s first point of the afternoon and it stood 1-03 to 1-01 in Rangers’ favour with 11 minutes played. Laune Rangers’ wing back Ciarán O’Sullivan travelled the length of the wing to claim the ball from Fiachra Clifford and slotted the ball over the bar to push Laune Rangers 3 points to the good, 1-04 to 1-01, with 15 minutes played.
Rathmore began to settle into the game at this stage and this was reflected on the scoreboard with a point from Brendan O’Keeffe and two from Ciaran Collins (1 free) in the minutes that followed to level the game at 1-04 apiece heading into the final 10 minutes of the half. Dáire Cleary pushed Laune Rangers ahead once more in the 23rd minute after he worked hard to win back possession. Cleary added another to his tally in the 26th minute when his fisted effort went over thanks to some earlier super defending from Oisín Birmingham and Patrick Daly. Laune Rangers’ Callum Moriarty saw his shot saved and pushed out for a 45’ in the 27th minute. The 45’ was taken short and a subsequent mark called by Fiachra Clifford who sent the ball over to bar to let the score 1-07 to 1-04 in Rangers’ favour. The final action of the half came from a James Darmody point. The Darmody brothers linked up well to close Laune Rangers’ lead to 2 points at the short whistle. Half-Time score: Laune Rangers 1-07 to 1-05 Rathmore.
Laune Rangers opened the second half scoring in the 2nd minute with a Fiachra Clifford effort from play to put 3 points between the sides once more. A quiet patch ensued with both defences working hard to over-turn possession and both sides registering a number of wides. Rathmore substitute John Moynihan got his name on the score-sheet in the 9th minute with his own well taken effort. Rathmore were then awarded a penalty in the 10th minute when centre back Dan Murphy was fouled. Ciaran Collins stepped forward to take the shot and cooly slotted the ball to the Laune Rangers net to swing the lead in the visitors’ favour, 1-08 to 2-06. Laune Rangers replied immediately with their second goal of the afternoon. Substitute Tom Whittleton’s attempt at a fisted point came off the upright and was pushed into the net by Stephen Sealy who was running in. The lead swung once more, back in Rangers’ favour; 2-08 to 2-06 with 11 minutes of the second half played. Rathmore went down to 14 men when Fionn Hoolohan received a black card, which following an earlier yellow card resulted in Hoolohan being shown a red card. John Tyther put Laune Rangers 3 points ahead once more in the 12th minute before Rathmore’s Dan Murphy added another for the visitors in the 16th minute. Both sides swapped scores again soon after with Fiachra Clifford adding a pointed free for Rangers and his counterpart, James Darmody, adding a free for Rathmore at the other end and the game stood 2-10 to 2-08 in the home side’s favour heading into the closing 10 minutes of the game.
Laune Rangers’ Patrick Daly had just entered the game when he added his name to the scoresheet with a well taken point and it was a 3-point game once more. James Darmody kept his side’s tally ticking away with another pointed free in the 21st minute. Rathmore pounced for their third goal of the afternoon in the 26th minute when Cian Dineen linked up well with Dan Murphy who cut through the Rangers’ defence and found the net to put the visitors ahead by one point, 2-11 to 3-09, at a vital time in the game with just 4 minutes of normal time remaining. Laune Rangers dug deep, lead by substitute Gearóid Hassett on his return from injury. Hassett was fouled in the 28th minute and Patrick Daly converted the resulting free to level the game at 2-12 to 3-09 with two minutes remaining. Hassett was involved again in the 29th minute when he went through for his own fisted effort to give the home side a one-point advantage once more. Laune Rangers won the resulting kick-out and worked hard to keep possession. Hassett was involved once more and headed towards goal and was again fouled, with Fiachra Clifford converting the free on the 30-minute mark. Rathmore went down the field in search of a goal but Laune Rangers’ defence worked hard to over-turn the ball once again and went on the counter-attack. Dáire Cleary powered through the Rathmore defence and sent a bullet to the back of the Rathmore net in the game’s final action – quite possibly the move of the match. Full time score: Laune Rangers 3-14 to 3-09 Rathmore.
Team and scorers:
Laune Rangers: Pádraig Ahern, Seán Cleary, Oisín Daly, Rory O’Connor, Oisín Birmingham (1-00), Patrick Carey, Ciarán O’Sullivan (0-01), Callum Moriarty, Eoin Clifford, Fiachra Clifford (0-04, 1m, 2f), John Tyther (0-02, 1f), Stephen Sealy (1-00), Dáire Cleary (1-04), Eoin O’Sullivan, Matthew Leslie. SUBS: Gearóid Hassett (0-01), Tom Whittleton, Patrick Daly (0-02, 1f), Stephen Gannon, Killian Spillane.
