Éire Óg hold off Douglas comeback in lively Division 1 league clash
PROMISING: Éire Óg's Sean Hurley wins the ball from Douglas' Niall Lynch during the McCarthy Insurance Group SFL Division 1 game at Ovens. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
A two-pointer from newcomer Sean Hurley sealed Éire Óg's win over Douglas in Division 1 of the McCarthy Insurance Group Football Leagues at Ovens on Saturday evening.
The visitors were battling back after trailing by nine at the 40th minute when the orange flag from the 18-year-old ended their comeback. Douglas had trimmed the gap to one with a burst ignited by subs Conor Russell and Harry Quilligan while Dylan Ward nailed a two-pointer as part of this rescue mission.
The hosts led 0-7 to 0-4 at the break despite Douglas dominating possession early on. Sean O’Leary and Ward had early scores before 0-4 from Éire Óg, Seán's older brother Brian Hurley got two and Dylan Foley raised an orange flag as they went in front for the first time in the 14th minute.
They closed out the half by limiting Douglas to two more scores while Brian Hurley, Foley and Brian Thompson converted at the other end.
The margin was seven points by the 35th minute after scores from Colm Clifford, Sean Hurley, Jerome Kelleher and Foley.
An excellent score by Thompson made it 0-14 to 0-5 and many thought the game was over. Douglas rallied though as Donnacha O’Callaghan, Chris O’Keeffe, Russell and Quilligan all impacted from the bench.
Quilligan and Russell were the first to put the ball over the bar.
Russell then converted a free before Ward hit 0-3, including a two-pointer from the tightest of angles. It was finely poised at 0-14 to 0-11 when Douglas were reduced to 14 after Russell was shown a black card. Still, O'Keeffe nabbed the next point and with the pressure on, Éire Óg found fresh energy.
Their problem was getting the score that would have killed the game off as Thompson hit the post and an effort from Sean Hurley dropped short.
David Buckley brought it to within one for Douglas as the clock went red. They never got a chance to level though as Hurley's two-pointer gave Eoin Fehilly's side a deserved victory.
D Foley 0-4 (1 2pt f, 0-1 f); S Hurley (1 2pt), B Hurley (0-1 f) 0-3 each, C Clifford, B Thompson, J Kelleher 0-2 each.
D Ward 0-6 (1 2pt), C Russell 0-2 (0-1 f), D Buckley, A Cantwell, S O’Leary, C O’Keeffe, H Quilligan 0-1 each.
E Kelleher; C Murphy, M Corkery, D McCarthy; C Clifford, C McGoldrick, B Thompson; R O’Toole, O O'Shea; D Kelly, C Kirwan, J Kelleher; D Foley, S Hurley, B Hurley.
M Brady for Kelly (h-t), M Kelleher for Kirwan (50), J Murphy for O’Shea (55).
A Cotter; N Lynch, J O’Callaghan Maher, D Ward; J Bourke, D Buckley, C Kingston; S Aherne, A Cantwell; K Shanahan, L Dwan Fogarty, B Powter; A O’Hare, S O’Leary, N Hartnett.
D O’Callaghan for Kingston (35); C O’Keeffe for Powter (40), C Russell for O’Hare (45), H Quilligan for Shanahan (48).
Pat O’Leary (Kilmurry)
App?
