Oldcastle 4-14, St. Michaels 0-19

A fine spring afternoon for this Division 2 match in Millbrook, and it was Oran Mulvanny who got the first touch of the ball, palming her down to Conor Delaney, back to Oran, on to Paddy Rahill who gave her a lovely touch off the side of his boot, a nice diagonal ball in to Garrett O’Reilly in the corner, Garrett turned and scored, the first point of the match to Oldcastle! Conor McHugh’s kickout found Dylan Garrigan, on via Steven Lawless, to Lee Healy, back to Steven, to Conor Delaney; a sideways kick across to Oran Mulvanny, to Paddy Rahill, back to Lee, to Steven, on to Tom Lynch, to Conor, to Lee, to Paddy, nice and measured, on to Garrett O’Reilly, to Lee once more, on to Louis Colleran, to Dylan Garigan, back to Garrett, to Lee, to Louis, to Dylan again, and finally in to Pearse Sheridan who smashed her to the back of the net for a super goal, and just reward for a well-worked piece of play. The kickout was plucked out of the air by Steven Lawless, on to Conor Delaney, to Pearse, to Garrett and in to Paddy, Paddy Rahill for a super old-style point. St. Michaels were on the attack soon after, until one Oran Mulvanny dispossessed them, the ball now heading in the right direction once more via Conor Delany, to Garrett, taking hits left, right and centre, but seeming to twirl right out of them, on to Pearse, to Darren Hawdon, back to Oran and finally to Lee Healy for another lovely point. St. Michaels’ kickout was intercepted by Ciaran Connell, on via Oran Mulvanny, to Tom Lynch and Thomas Sheridan, back to Tom Lynch, to Pearse and in to Darren Hawdon who fisted her over for a point. That kickout was captured by Tom Lynch, on via Delaney, to Rory Crawley and a lovely chip in to Garrett O’Reilly for a goal! St. Michaels must have been stunned at this stage, it was 2-04 to 0-01 and only ten minutes gone, but they knuckled down: a super two-pointer followed by a point and then another two-pointer, then a free and a point from play, saw them make the score a much more respectable 2-04 to 0-08 in a matter of minutes, a reminder of how powerful the two-pointers can be! Oldcastle got going again; Conor McHugh’s kickout finding the always reliable Steven Lawless, on to Paddy Rahill, to Delaney, to Lee, back to Delaney, a powerful kick from him which would have been a smasher of a goal except for the fecking crossbar, back off that like a rocket but caught again by Lee Healy and sent back once more, between the posts. Another point for St. Michaels, but then another super period of play from Oldcastle: points from Oran Mulvanny, then a beauty from Ryan Halpin, his first point in a senior competitive match, and the first of many we are sure! It was Ryan again in the next play who got a great pass in to Rory Crawley for a goal. Ryan Kevin was in for a certain score soon after, brought down, penalty, Pearse Sheridan sent her to the back of the net. Pearse again with the next score, and Ryan Halpin with another point soon after, a fine effort from way out, leaving the half-time score at Oldcastle 4-09, St. Michaels 0-10.  

The second-half got underway with Lee Healy shooting a wide, but redeeming himself immediately, the St. Michael’s kickout being caught by none-other than the aforementioned Lee Healy, on via Ryan Kevin, to Louis Colleran, and in to the self-same Lee Healy who seems to be able to be in two places at one time, catch, turn, shoot, point! Two points from St. Michaels, they were definitely still in this match and looking to win. Conor Delaney was next on the scoreboard with a mark-free, another to St. Michaels, then a point for Ryan Kevin. A few minutes of a lull for both sides, substitutions on for both sides, but it was St. Michaels who came back with three unanswered points. Oldcastle’s buffer was sufficient though, no panic, Conor McHugh’s kickout meeting a great catch from Ryan Kevin, on via the speedy Ben Grey and in to Ronan Maguire for an Oldcastle point. St. Michael’s were handed an easy free leading to a point from an Oldcastle failure to hand-the-ball-over, and took the next point also. It was now 4-13 to 0-18, and the next minute could have changed the outcome of the game, St. Michaels being awarded a penalty! Their man stepped up and gave it his all, but Oldcastle had the secret weapon of Conor McHugh in goals, delighted with a bit of action his end, he put in a great dramatic save, and killed off any hopes of a Carlanstown revival. A final point from a free for the opposition, but Oldcastle were well ahead, and when the final whistle blew it was on a score of Oldcastle 4-14, St. Michaels 0-19. Goals win matches, as Dermot M is fond of saying, and they certainly did today, but this really was anyone’s match, Oldcastle had 18 scores to St. Michaels 19, the crucial difference being that four of ours were under the bar, instead of over! Lots of positives, including the fact that twelve different Oldcastle players scored – a good day at the office! 

Oldcastle: Conor McHugh, Thomas Sheridan, Steven Lawless, Ciaran Connell, Lee Healy (0-03), Dylan Garrigan (0-01) , Tom Lynch, Oran Mulvanny (0-01) , Conor Delaney (0-01) , Paddy Rahill (0-01), Pearse Sheridan (2-01) , Louis Colleran, Darren Hawdon (0-01), Garrett O’Reilly (1-01) , Rory Crawley (1-00). Subs: Ryan Kevin (0-01), Ryan Halpin (0-02) , Ronan Maguire (0-01), Cillian Connell, Ben Grey, Fionn McCabe. 

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