Carbury defeat Eadestown by smallest of margins
Carbury 1-12
Eadestown 1-11
A late free from super sub Jack Cully was all that separated Carbury and Eadestown on Saturday afternoon in Round Towers after an extremely tight 60 minutes.
Cully came up big for Carbury with three points after being introduced in the 41 st minute. Though it was very tight at the end, it didn’t start out that way at all.
Carbury were slight favourites coming into this one, and they showed why early on. Both Stephen McGlynn and Brian O’Flaherty notched a pair of scores each in the opening exchanges as Carbury raced into an early lead.
Things almost got even better for them when Justin Reilly went baring down on the Eadestown goal in the 7 minute, however, he was denied on the line by a heroic block from Sean Hynes.
Eadestown were slow to get off the mark, not managing to open their scoring account until the tenth minute thanks to a point from Cian Boran. Boran’s opener was followed shortly afterward by a free from Cian Bolton.
Eadestown had their tails up and managed to take the lead in the 17 minute. Carbury’s Justin Reilly dropped the ball inside his own 45 and Adam Fitzsimons capitalised, latching onto it and eating up the ground in front of Carbury’s goal.
Fitzsimons slipped it to Conor McCarthy, who’s unstoppable left-footed effort hit the back of the net before the keeper could even move.
Carbury enjoyed a strong finish to the first period, and thanks to a point by Alan Kearney sandwiched between two JP Gill frees, they went in at half-time a point to the good.
On the resumption Kearney was shown a black card and it was a draw game when he returned.The introduction of Cully was certainly a turning point for Carbury, as his impressive form in front of goal was a huge factor in getting them over the line. He opened his scoring account with consecutive scores in the 43 and 46 minutes.
With the game level entering the last ten minutes and with extra time looming, it could have gone either way. However, with nine minutes remaining, Carbury raised a green flag of their own, and it went a along way in securing the win.
Substitute Oisin Milmoe showed great energy by carrying the ball at breakneck speed towards the Eadestown goal. He fisted the ball to his left into the path of Jack Smyth. Smyth unleashed a goal-bound effort towards the bottom left corner. Eadestown keeper Shane Sargent got down low to make a smart save, but Smyth’s effort was too hot for him to handle. He parried the ball back into the square, where Brian Milmoe was on hand to finish.
The goal gave Carbury some breathing room, however late scores from Conor McCarthy and Conneff leveled the match for the seventh time.
In the game’s dying embers, Cully stepped up to knock a free over the bar and send his side into winners group, where they’ll face Celbridge, Clane and Clogherinkoe.
Eadestown meanwhile will play in losers group C against Raheens, Confey, and St.Laurences.
CARBURY: Declan Conway, Paul Flemming, Dean Cummins, Brian Milmoe (1-0), Justin Reilly, Brian O’Flaherty (0-2), Conor Denehan, Alan Kearney (0-1), Jimmy Dunne, Conor Gallagher, Stephen McGlynn (0-4, 2f), John Gallagher, JP Gill (0-2, 1f), William Groome, Jack Smyth. Subs: Jack Cully (0-3, 2f) for McGlynn 41, Oisin Milmoe for Groome 41, Aaron O’Neill for B. Milmoe 51, Ciaran Kenna for C. Gallagher 55, Morgan O’Flaherty for Kearney 59
EADESTOWN: Shane Sargent, Rian Monahan, John Lawlor, Darragh Jemeson, Tom Mernagh, Jack Sargent 0-1, Sean Hynes, Niall Cummins 0-1, Rian Boran, Adam Fitzsimons, Cian Boran 0-2, Ben Fitzsimons, Cian Bolton 0-2 (1f), Conor McCarthy 1-2 (1f), Darragh Behan Subs: Eoin Conneff 0-3 for Behan 30.
REFEREE: Brendan Cawely.