Eire Og footballers too strong for score shy Golden Kilfeackle

By John O’Shea at Golden 

Eire Og Annacarty, last winners of the title in 2019, got their Shane Hennessy Agri Adviser West Junior B Football championship off to a winning start at Golden on Friday evening. Throughout this game they were never in trouble against an understrength Golden outfit. 

Pat Aherne got the scoreboard ticking over after two minutes when he converted a free at the dressing room end. This was the only score to come from a placed ball for the duration of the game. Points from Tommy Quinn and Willie O’Neill had the visitors three to the good after nine minutes. With both defences on top, scores were hard to come-by and it took Golden seventeen minutes to register their opening score.

This came from James O’Connell following a quickly taken free by Ian Collins. Five minutes later Brian Fogarty followed up with what was the best score of the game, cutting the deficit to the minimum. This was as close as they would get as Eire Og took a foothold on the game. Philip McGrath and Cian Mooney got in for two further points to leave the half time score, Eire Og 0.5, Golden/Kilfeacle 0.2. 

Eire Og attacked from the throw in and Willie O’Neill kicked two points inside the opening minute. Try as they might Golden failed to penetrate the Eire Og defence, with goalkeeper Michael Furlong in top form. Eire Og found it easier to tack on the scores and eventually ran out eight-point winners in what was an enjoyable game played in bad conditions. 

Scorers: 

Eire Og; Willie O’Neill (0.3), Philip McGrath (0.3), Pat Aherne (0.1 free), Tommy Quinn (0.1), Cian Mooney (0.1), David Breen (0.1) 

Golden/Kilfeacle: James O’Connell (0.1), Brian Fogarty (0.1) 

Teams: 

Eire Og: Michael Furlong, Adam O’Dwyer, Cathal Coughlan, Peter O’Dwyer, Jordan Hayes, Dan Hogan, David Breen, Richard O’Doherty, Pat Aherne, Evan Heffernan, Willie O’Neill, Tommy Quinn (Captain), Philip McGrath, Michael Buckley, Cian Mooney

Subs used; Brian Ryan for Evan Heffernan (35 mins.), Sean Hogan for Michael Buckley (38 mins.), Liam Ryan for Philip McGrath (53 mins.) 

Golden/Kilfeacle; Luke Bennett, Colin Tuohy (Captain), Paul Fogarty, Derry Ormond, Brian Marnane, Paudi Dalton, Aidan Tuohy, Gavin Dalton, Mikey Bergin, Brian Fogarty, Ian Collins, David Queally, Aidan Fogarty, Bobby Smith, James O’Connell

Referee: John McCormack (Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams)