Éire Óg CC hit 5-16 to secure two wins from two in Kildare SHC

Any day a team scores 5-16 must be regarded as a good day, to say the least, yet despite Éire Óg Corrachoill racking up such an impressive score line against Confey in the UPMC Kildare SHC, Group A, Round 2 game, there remains some questions just how good the Prosperous-Caragh outfit actually are.

That probably won't bother Declan Curran and his management team but nevertheless it will be interesting to see how they will fare out as this championship unfolds.

Frank Bass, who was probably the outstanding player on the pitch, opened for Confey and Brian Grimes put two between them.

Éire Óg Corrachoill hit back, quickly and decisively after a long ball in from Michael Clohessy was brilliantly plucked from the air by Sean O'Neill, who turned before blasting to the net; Paul Dolan and O'Neill again added points and Éire Óg Corrachoill led 1-2 to 0-3, Colm Chan having pointed for Confey, all with just seven minutes on the clock.

Four minutes later and another long delivery had the Confey defence under pressure and this time it was Scott Cramer who gained possession, was fouled, and Liam Dempsey made no mistake with the resultant penalty.

As we went through the mid-way point of the half that lead had gone out to five points, 2-4 to 0-5 and it was the Éire Óg Corrachoill boys who were leading the charge, Gary Johnson, Paul Dolan and Scott Creamer added points, Frank Bass (free) replying as the score board now read Éire Óg Corrachoill 2-7 Confey 0-6.

The boys in green and white added two points before the break from Neil Ryan and Frank Bass, and a brilliant long range free from Paul Divilly from inside his own 65 m line, while Liam Dempsey converted a free to leave Éire Óg Corrachoill leading at the break 2-8 to 0-9, all going along expected lines.

The opening four points of the second half were shared equally but with Paul Divilly moving out to midfield in a direct swap with Frank Bass, Confey certainly saw more of the ball, hitting three points on the trot from Bass (3 frees) to leave just two in it.

Éire Óg Corrachoill hit a few poor wides but points from Paul Dolan, Sean O'Neill and Liam Dempsey (free) were replied to by the accurate Frank Bass and with ten minutes remaining Éire Óg Corrachoill led by just three 2-13 to 0-16.

That, however was a good as it got for the boys from the north of the county as Éire Óg Corrachoill hit 3-3 in the final eight minutes to just a point for Confey, the goals coming from substitute Donnchadh Fitzpatrick who helped himself to two, Sean

O'Neill getting the other as Éire Óg Corrachoill ran out comfortable winners in the end on a score line of Éire Óg Corrachoill 5-16 Confey 0-17.

Scorers: Éire Óg Corrachoill, Sean O'Neill 2-4, Donnchadh Fitzpatrick 2-2 (1 free), Liam Dempsey 1-2 (penalty, 2 frees), Paul Dolan 0-4, Scott Cramer 0-2, Gary Johnson 0-1, Niall Cramer 0-1

Confey, Frank Bass 0-12 (10 frees), Neil Ryan 0-2, Colm Chan 0-1, Brian Grimes 0-1, Paul Divilly 0-1 (free).

ÉIRE ÓG CORRACHOILL: Paul Dermody; Gary Dempsey, Cormac Byrne, Niall Cramer; Adam Delmer, James Dolan, Daniel Murray; Gary Johnson, Jack Higgins; Scott Cramer, Paul Dolan, Michael Clohessy; Sean O'Neill, Kevin Connor, Liam Dempsey. Subs: Conor Sullivan for Adam Delmer (half-time); Donnchadh Fitzpatrick for Michael Clohessy (48 minutes);

CONFEY: Shane Quinn; Oisin Maher, Enda Bannon, Aidan Crean; Ben O'Boyle, Sean Leamy Luke Quinn; Brian Keane, Colm Chan; Brian Grimes, Frank Bass, Philip Quigley; Neil Ryan, Paul Divilly, Robin Breslin. Subs: Kevin Chan for Neil Ryan (52 minutes); Michael Mullarkey for Enda Bannon (55 minutes).

REFEREE: Niall Colgan.

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