Raheens and Celbridge come out on top of seven-goal thrillers in Kildare SFC

Full match reports from both Celbridge vs Kilcock and Raheens vs St Laurence's below

Joe Mallon Motors SFC Preliminary round

Celbridge 6-16

Kilcock 1-10

Celbridge put the rest of the SFC on notice with a massive 21-point margin of victory over Kilcock. The stars shone bright for this one as Fergal Conway, operating at full forward put on a scoring showcase with a fantastic 2-4 on the night. Aaron Browne helped himself to 1-4 of his own and further back the pitch Tony Archbold was his usual busy and effective self.

Celbridge survived a Kilcock spell in the first half where their opponents hit the post or crossbar three times from big green flag chances and the score could have been so much closer at the break.

It’s hard to look past the gulf in quality of personnel as a reason for this Celbridge win as the sides probably played the same quality of game in the opening half.

Inside a few minutes all it took was one ball into Fergal Conway and the green flag was raised moments later as he turned and blasted the ball home.

Many feared the worst as Conway wheeled away in celebration and those concerns of a possible rout were put to the side for a while as Celbridge were opened up just as easily at the other end and Kilcock’s Cameran Nairn took his goal excellently. Nairn, who was playing minor last year, took the ball in his stride and cut across it to rifle it into the roof of the net.

Not to be out done Aaron Browne found space at the other end of the pitch and got a green flag raised of his own. It would be safe to say that both sides and their relevant management teams could scarcely believe the defending, or lack thereof, on display in the opening few minutes.

The game settled down momentarily as the sides traded well-taken points but as shortly as it appeared order would be restored, chaos made a swift return. Following a Celbridge point to bring the scores to 2-5 to 1-4, Kilcock had several goal opportunities in a spell of under five minutes.

The first of which came when Cameron Nairn popped up once again finding space and looked to slot home a carbon copy of his first goal but this time saw his effort cannon back of the post.

Next up was Ciaran Murray who won a high ball straight in front of the Celbridge goal and launched a shot off the crossbar with Raheens club members still waiting for it to stop shaking.

Celbridge re-took control and rattled off 1-6 without reply before the break in a dominant spell.

The second half offered little drama in comparison to the first as Celbridge began to put some shine on the scoreboard and had tightened their defence sufficiently to close this one out.

Scorers

Celbridge, Fergal Conway 2-4, Aaron Browne 1-4, Niall O'Regan 0-3, Johnny Owens 1-0, Hugh McGrillen 1-0, Shane McNamara 0-2, Niall Donnelly 0-1, Tony Archbold 0-1, Cian Powell 0-1.

Kilcock, Cameran Nairn 1-1, Daniel Courtney 0-3, Daragh McArdle 0-1, Cormac Divilly 0-1, Jason Gibbons 0-1, Ciaran Murray 0-1 ,Shane Farrell 0-1, Chris McCarthy 0-1.

Teams

CELBRIDGE: Shane McNamara; Niall Donnelly, Mick O' Grady, Tony Archbold; Hugh Mc Grillen, Mick Konstantin, Dean O'Donoghue, Cian Powell, Fergal Conway; Conor Plunkett, Niall O'Regan, Johnny Owens; Liam O' Flynn, Aaron Browne, Darragh Murphy. Subs: Kevin O’Callghan for Mick O’Grady (half time), Ross Maycock for Aaron Browne (45 minutes), John Clarke for Dean O’Donoghue (47 minutes).

KILCOCK: Stephen Cussen; Cormac Divilly, Mark Durkan, Johnny Sullivan; Jason Gibbons, Mark Gibbons, Daniel Courtney; Brendan Gibbons, Cameron Nairn; Sean Eves, David Duke, Daragh McArdle; Ciaran Murray, Shane Farrell, Shane O'Rourke. Subs: Rory Nairn on for Sean Eves (26 minutes), Rory Nairn on for Daragh McArdle (Half Time), Cian Sullivan on for Daniel Courtney (40 minutes), Danny Byrne on for Mark Gibbons (45 minutes).

REFEREE: Paddy McDermott

Raheens 4-16

St Laurence's 3-9

Raheens got their SFC campaign underway with a win over St. Laurence’s. Raheens were always favourites coming into this one facing the recently relegated Larries but it was the underdogs who led by two at the break following an action and goal packed first half.

The sides came in at 3-6 to 2-7 which was great for the spectator but not as enjoyable a display for any defensive purists or a member of the relevant management team.

There were some great exchanges of passing that made up the seven goals within this game but the first came after five minutes when a Padraig Fogarty effort fell perfectly back off the post to Laurence’s midfielder Conor Perse who squeezed the ball under the on-rushing Declan Campbell.

A bright start but no doubt to be viewed as one of those things that goes against you, no such reasoning could be attributed to the second goal concession just moments later. With slick passes the ball found its way to Aaron Gorman who found an unmarked Niall O'Connor for support and the half-back converted.

It was green flag season in the opening half and David Fitzpatrick got Raheens their first of the afternoon driving at the heart of the defence but was excellently denied by Richard Redden, the rebound however was regained by Fitzpatrick who finished at the second time of asking.

Redden had a great game for Larries between the sticks, the keeper did well to find Mark Glynn in the midfield from kick outs on several occasions and saved a certain goal in the first half to keep his side ahead.

A quick transition of play from St. Laurence’s and the ball was sent in to Padraig Fogarty who out-muscled his man to turn and slot the ball into the bottom left corner.

The final goal of the half came from undoubted man of the match, Rob Thompson, who finished the day with 2-7. An incredibly reliable free-taker as well a constant threat to whoever his side face.

It seemed imperative that St. Laurence’s start the second half well if they were to pull off an upset but unfortunately it was that man Rob Thompson’s second goal with an ice-cold finish just after the restart that really hurt their chances.

Larries were still there or thereabouts come 47 minutes with just a two-point margin between the sides but anyone watching on could feel the tide turning in Raheens’ favour.

A quick sideline ball in from Mikey McGovern caught Larries napping and Liam Power made no mistake this time and placed the ball in the top corner. This was the killer blow for the trailing side as Raheens turned on cruise control and hope of a comeback waned.

Raheens, Rob Thompson 2-7, Liam Power 1-2, Colm Power 0-4, David Fitzpatrick 1-0, Mikey McGovern 0-2, David Malone 0-1.

St. Laurence’s, Padraig Fogarty 1-2, Conor Perse 1-0, Niall O’Connor 1-0, Felix Lawler 0-3, Adam Steed 0-1, Jason McHugh 0-1, Eoin Curley 0-1, Kevin Eustace 0-1.

RAHEENS: Declan Campbell; Colin Ryan, Jack Hamill, Tom Early; Graham Waters, Shane McSweeney, Killian Thompson; Paul Dolan, David Fitzpatrick; David Malone, Rob Thompson, Mikey McGovern; Conor Murphy, Colm Power, Liam Power. Subs: Jason Earley for Conor Murphy (49), Adam Malone for Shane McSweeney (57m), Rory Donnelly for Mikey McGovern (60m), Thomas Dore on for Graham Waters (63m).

ST LAURENCE'S: Richard Redden; Michael O'Sullivan, Niall Clynch, Eoin Curley; Niall O'Connor, Kevin Eustace, Stephen Mann; Mark Glynn, Conor Perse; Oisín Grufferty, Jason McHugh, Adam Steed; Felix Lawler, Padraig Fogarty, Aaron Gorman. Subs: Chris Fenner for Aaron Gorman (53m), Sean McLoughlin on for David Malone (53 minutes), Sean O’Driscoll on for Conor Perse (57 minutes), Jack Dargan on for Stephen Mann (66 minutes).

REFEREE: Fergal Barry.