SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: Free scoring Éire Óg cut loose

Éire Óg 2-17   Wolfe Tones 1-6

ALTHOUGH Wolfe Tones turned up in person for their second-round championship game in Gurteen last Sunday afternoon, in footballing terms they never showed.

 

Underlining their no-show was their management team’s decision to make four substitutions at half-time.

 

That didn’t work either. Éire Óg led 1-8 to 1-3 at half-time and won by 14 points in total.

As poor as Wolfe Tones were, Éire Óg notched some superb scores, although they still kicked 10 wides.

The winners netted their first score in the third minute, following a foul on full-forward Seán Crotty, which resulted in a penalty scored by Eoin Glynn.

Ironically, Wolfe Tones responded impressively to this early set-back and ran the Éire Óg full-back line ragged for the next five minutes.

Chris Dunning and Kevin Cahill, from a free won by himself, pointed twice, while Gary Leahy goaled after nifty build-up play involving Daniel Gallery, Jamie Roughan and Stephen McInerney.

This scoring burst put Wolfe Tones 1-2 to 1-0 up after just six minutes. That they could add just four points during the subsequent 54 minutes of football clearly indicates that Wolfe Tones saved their best for the opening minutes.

Éire Óg settled again and produced some nice scores from corner-back Francie Keane, the impressive Graham Glynn, free taker Shane Daniels, Seán O’Meara and Eoin Glynn, both of whom were flying.

Wolfe Tones’ half-time changes made no difference and, in fact, Éire Óg went on the rampage during the opening 15 minutes of the second half. Points from Seán Crotty, Daniels, O’Meara and Glynn shot the winners into a 1-14 to 1-4 lead, with Seamus Farrell managing just a single Wolfe Tones riposte.

A Liam Corry run set up Brian Frawley for Éire Óg’s second goal five minutes from time. The midfielder looked a bit uncertain for a second but steadied himself to bury the chance.

Éire Óg’s scoring burst was what most pleased their manager, James Hanrahan.

“We hadn’t been scoring well in the last two matches against Kilrush and Kilmurry Ibrickane so we were a bit apprehensive going into the game as to whether we’d get enough scores to win the match. It turned out we got some good scores and the forwards played well,” he said. They have several young players in their ranks this year, many of whom are playing good football.

“I think we had three minors playing at various stages. We had no choice really in that we were caught for numbers during the league, so we decided we’d start introducing a lot of the younger players. They’re playing well and they’re getting a bit of confidence,” Hanrahan said.

Meanwhile, Wolfe Tones’ Mike Riordan couldn’t hide his shock at how his side had played.

“It was a very disappointing display. There’s not much more to say. The only thing we have in our favour is that we’re still a very young team. Also, we’ve really got to get out of Division 3 now and get up to 2. That’s our biggest aim,” he said.

They were without a number of players, including Seán Brennan, William Flynn, U-21 county hurler Aaron Cunningham and Stephen Monaghan.

Éire Óg: Eoin Slattery; Francie Keane, Donie Lyne, Saran Butler; David Russell, Dean Ryan, Seán Corry; Brian Frawley, Darren O’Neill; Liam Corry, Shane Daniels, Seán O’Meara; Eoin Glynn, Seán Crotty, Graham Glynn.
Subs: David Smith for Seán Corry (44), Colin Smith for Graham Glynn (47), Darren O’Meara for Seán O’Meara (49), Cian Darcy for Liam Corry (55) and Brian Dolan for Saran Butler (55).
Scorers: Shane Daniels (0-6f), Eoin Glynn (1-2), Seán O’Meara (0-4), Brian Frawley (1-0), Seán Crotty (0-2), Francie Keane, Graham Glynn and Liam Corry (0-1 each).
Wides: 10; frees won: 19.

Wolfe Tones: Ciarán Argue; Colm McCall, Brendan Hughes, Barry Murphy; Davy Dunne, Craig O’Brien, Stephen McInerney; Joe McGauley, Kevin Corbett; Chris Dunning, Jamie Roughan, Daniel Gallery; Brian O’Connell, Kevin Cahill, Gary Leahy.
Subs: Seamus Farrell for Daniel Gallery, Jack Kelly for Stephen McInerney, Darren Ryan for Joe McGauley, Aaron Brennan for Davy Dunne (all half-time) and Mickey O’Connell for Barry Murphy (injured).
Scorers: Kevin Cahill (0-3, 2f), Gary Leahy (1-0), Chris Dunning (0-2) and Seamus Farrell (0-1).
Wides: 7; frees won: 17; 45s: 1.
Yellow cards: Brendan Hughes, Joe McGauley, Colm McCaul, Davy Dunne and Gary Leahy.

Referee: Pat Cosgrove, Corofin.