Laragh v Cornafean Hotel Kilmore Junior Championship Quarter final 2012

St Felims Park Drumalee was the venue for the junior championship quarter final on Saturday evening last which saw the clash of Laragh United and Cornafean. Both teams came prepared with neither out to underestimate the other. Cornafean were first of the mark playing against the wind which saw goalkeeper Andrew Smith take a 50m kick off the ground and place over the blackspot in through Cluxton style. Cornafean continued and corner forward Cian Geoghegan got of the mark placing a well taken free over the bar. With both teams eager to take the spoils attacks were exchanged and hard tackles were put in, it was the tenth minute before Laraghs Adrian Cooney broke through the Cornafean defence and laid of to a defiant Colm Mc Kenna who found Paddy Rudden thundering through to kick a well taken point without breaking stride. Laraghs Declan King showed great leadership winning the next breaking ball from the kick out and carried forward to within scoring range however miss kicked it to send the ball wide. Cornafean punished with a well worked score between Gerard Sheridan and Padraig Tully which saw Tully kick a good point from a difficult angle. Cornafean continued to work hard and putting the Laragh side under great pressure however Laraghs Colin Oats using all his power and strength carried the ball forward from the Laragh half back line breaking through some very hard tackles before laying of to Adrian Cooney who kicked a great score from 40 metres out. Cornafean now had a period which saw them kick five consecutive wides a waste which cost them severely at the final whistle. Again it was Paddy Rudden for the Laragh side who broke Cornafeans charge winning the ball at midfield and kicking accurately into Colin Mc Kenna, chasing after it, taking the pass back and kicking a fantastic point for the Laragh side. Rudden who had a fantastic game again showed his determination kicking the next score for the Laragh side a well taken point kicked under pressure from 45m out. The pressure from both sides had really intensified by this stage with only a few minutes to go until the break, Cornafeans Liam Duignan kicked in a great ball to his full forward line which was well caught by corner forward Cian Geoghegan who never broke momentum and fired to hit the back of the Laragh net for a great goal for the Cornafean side. Laragh responded in the next attack which saw Enda Cullivan kick wide from a difficult angle the half time whistle blew leaving the half time score Cornafean 1-03, Laragh 0-04.

Coming out from the break it was the Cornafean side that got off to a flying start with half forward Adrian Caffrey winning the ball from a kick out carrying forward and taking a well earned score. The Laragh side from this point started to show more hunger and desire, Paddy Rudden converted a free for his side and corner forward Conal Donohoe kicked over a difficult score from a ball that was overturned in the Laragh defence by the hard working Paddy Smith and well worked up the field. Cornafeans Cian Geoghegan came back again to kick a great score from a difficult angle. Laragh continued to take on the Cornafean defence putting them under severe pressure which led to free kicks being given away. The accurate boot of Paddy Rudden punished Cornafean in this regard kicking four points in a row three directly from frees and one saw Rudden take a quick free to Conal Donohoe sprint forward and take the ball back to kick over the bar in a great display of leadership. Cornafean was not without their leaders either with midfielder Val Sheridan kicking a great score high over the bar from 45 metres out. Laragh now looked like they were not going to be beat and stepped it up another gear and pushed until the final whistle with midfielder Declan Brady winning the ball from the kick out laying off to Adrian Cooney who carried it forward before letting fly over the bar. Cornafean were on the next attack however Laraghs Shane O Rourke overturned the ball in the Laragh full back line which was played forward at speed and ended with corner forward Enda Cullivan kicking accurately over the bar. The last score of the game came from Laraghs Conal Donohoe which was a well worked point set up by Adrian Cooney and Colin Mc Kenna. Cornafean had one more attack up the field knowing a goal was all that would suffice they took three shots on goal all were blocked by the Laragh defence and the ball was worked out of danger to the referees final whistle leaving a full time score of Laragh 0-13 to Cornafean 1-06. This was a great win for the Laragh side and a great game to win, Laragh can continue to build with confidence as they now look forward to a championship semi-final.

Laragh United

Martin Smith, Patrick Smith, Shane O' Rourke, Barry Cullivan, Declan King, Seamus Cooney, Liam Brady, Colin Oats, Declan Brady, Adrian Cooney, Patrick Rudden, Colm Mc Kenna, Enda Cullivan, Gerry Murray, Conal Donohoe (Subs) Enda Clarke, Liam Mc Kenna

Cornafean

Andrew Smith, Nial Corcoran, Mark Johnson, Paul Brady, Ciaran Duignan, Cormac Geoghegan, James Cullen, Val Shierdian, Cathal Sheridan, Adrian Caffrey, Barry Doyle, Gordon Morrow, Cian Geoghegan, Gerard Sherdian, Padraig Tully (Subs) Thomas Duffy, Liam Duignan Tweet

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