Nurney chalk up a big win over Ellistown in IFC
IFC Group C
Nurney 0-11
Ellistown 1-6
Nurney secured a huge result against Ellistown when the sides met on a wet Saturday evening in Round Towers in Round 2 of The Auld Shebeen Athy IFC.
Ellistown were a match for their opponents for most of this game despite having 14 men for just seven minutes of the 60 that were played.
The losing side had Andrew McLoughlin dismissed with a black after less than a minute of play in the first half. They would also lose one of their star men for the remainder of the game in the 17th minute as Pat Martin was dismissed for an off-the -ball incident.
Martin’s moment of madness came seconds after not receiving a free-kick from Killian Jones and his subsequent red card left his side with so much to do in this crucial game.
Nurney led by three as the game entered the final couple of minutes of the first half. The leading side weren’t exactly impressive with the man advantage and saw their lacklustre showing with numerical supremacy punished late in the half.
Ellistown would kick three points on the trot, a run that began with a superb Darragh Watson 45. That was followed by a Tadhg Watson free before the same man leveled with the score of the game as he beat his man and sent a sensational effort between the posts.
The sides entered the break level, at 0-5 each.
A Conor Lindy point kicked Ellistown into the lead just after the break. But trailing to the 14-strong outfit seemed to give Nurney the jolt they needed to take over this game.
Nurney were driven on by their two midfield maestro’s in this game in the form of Michael Conway and Cathal Hagney. Conway was reliable from set-pieces and he slotted two to put his side back in front.
Hagney finished the day with a mightily impressive four points from play.
The duo in the middle and full-forward Andrew Behan would kick their side into a three point lead with five minutes to go.
All appeared to be cruising towards a comfortable win as Ellistown showed little signs of life. They needed a moment of inspiration and by god did they get one.
After a fruitless attack for his side, full-back Darragh Watson rose to take an exceptional mark from the resulting Nurney kickout. Watson gathered himself and set up a huge contested ball for towering full-forward Tom Waters.
Waters took the catch superbly, muscled off his man and blasted his effort into the back of the net. 1-6 to 0-9 after 57 minutes.
Nurney responded in the perfect manner as Andrew Behan won them a free at the other end of the field just a minute later.
A pressure kick for Michael Conway, but he delivered in the biggest moment of this game and slotted the ball over the black spot.
His partner in the middle, Cathal Hagney, would get the final score of the match as Nurney ran out winners following a game that was perhaps much harder than it ought to have been in the circumstances.
Scorers: Nurney, Michael Conway 0-4 (0-3 frees), Cathal Hagney 0-4, Andrew Behan 0-2 (0-2 frees), Tadhg Hagney 0-1.
Ellistown, Tom Waters 1-0, Darragh Watson 0-2 (0-1 frees, 0-1 45'), Tadhg Watson 0-2 (0-1 frees), Max Lennox 0-1, Conor Lindy 0-1 (0-1 frees).
NURNEY: Niall Donnelly; Neil Kelly, Darren Byrne, Daragh Conway; Eoghan Fitzpatrick, Tadhg Haney, Owen Kealey; Michael Conway, Catgal Hagney; Steven Conway, Ciaran Callan, Jessie Moore; Damien Berns, Andrew Behan, John Merrins. Subs: Kevin Conway for Jessie Moore (16 minutes).
ELLISTOWN: Oran Donnelly; Sean Lindy, Darragh Watson, Michael Kelly; Jame Neilson, Andrew McLoughlin, Pat Martin; Conor Lindy, Max Lennox; Dean Frahill, Tadhg Watson, Ciaran Lindy; David Dunne, Tom Waters, Andy O'Neill. Subs: Kevin Martin for Michael Kelly (13 minutes), Callum Donnelly for Andy O'Neill (36 minutes), Colm Donnelly for Sean Lindy (53 minutes).
Referee: Killian Jones.