Kildare JFC rundown with wins for as Robertstown, Straffan and Grange

Full match reports from Roberstown vs Rathcoffey, Straffan vs Kill and Grange vs Ballykelly

Tom Cross Transport Junior Football Championship

Robertstown 1-12

Rathcoffey 0-11

Despite being level at the break, and falling behind mid-way through the second half, Robertstown rallied well to defeat Rathcoffey in this Group A, JFC clash at Allenwood on Saturday evening, 0utscoring their opponents 1-6 to 0-2 late on to claim victory.

With both sides looking to give a solid account of themselves it was Rathcoffey that got off the mark first with a point after five minutes of action.

Robertstown responded soon after and with three unanswered points in five minutes, the last of these a set ball coming from Danny Scully.

Michael O’Connor looked to respond with his first placed ball of the evening before Scully coolly slotted over a further two to leave Robertstown three clear with four minutes left in the opening half.

Unable to maintain their discipline as the half came to a close three frees ensured to cost Robertstown this advantage. With O’Connor making sure he profited on each occasion. Raising three late white flags to leave the sides level at the break.

A Scully free seconds after the restart looked to restore the Robertstown advantage before Rathcoffey again burst forward in a bid to seize control. Again it was poorly timed challenges that looked to cost Robertstown as three quick frees from O’Connor again levelled matter for the third time and gifted Rathcoffey a two-point advantage with twenty-six minutes remaining in the tie.

Having been the stronger side throughout the tie Robertstown once again looked to get back to scoring ways. A Scully free followed by two from O’Connor again left Rathcoffey in control before a further Robertstown free and a goal from the midfielder Scully blasted Robertstown one clear for the first time since the latter stages of the opening half.

Three further Robertstown frees ensured to send them into a healthy advantage as the half wore on.
With ten minutes remaining in the tie they enjoyed a four-point advantage as Rathcoffey struggled to get the ball into their forward line in any meaningful way.

A late O’Connor free two minutes from time was not enough to stop Robertstown as an injury time free wrapped up matters late on.

RATHCOFFEY: Stephen Hayden; Evan Moriarty 0-1, Oisin Brilly, John Coyle; Niall O’Brien, Jamie Brilly, Cillian McGovern; Cathal Travers 0-1, Colum Fagan; Mark Holligan 0-1, Michael O’Connor 0-8 (5f, 1 Mark), Conor Harris; Adam Toman, Jason Acton, Evin McGovern.

Subs: Cormack Sullivan for Holligan, 30; Alex McGovern for Toman, 40.

ROBERTSTOWN: Richard Price; Ben Buggy, Diarmuid Walshe, PJ Ewing; Peter Hogarty, Mark Kelly, Anthony Moran; Niall Kane, Danny Scully 1-6; James Keely, Brion Kennedy 0-3, Diarmuid Healy; Jason Butler 0-1, Joe Kavanagh, John O’Sullivan 0-2.

Subs: James Carthy for Healy, 38; Brian Dowling for Keely, 50.

REFEREE: PJ Cummins.

Tom Cross Transport Junior Football Championship

Straffan 1-12

Kill 0-12

Eadestown was the venue for this Tom Cross Transport Junior Football Championship, Group 1, game with Straffan, Division 4 champions and promoted to Division 3 for 2023, took on near neighbours Kill.

Both sided had won their opening game, Straffan defeating Robertstown while Kill were too strong for Grangenolvin.

In the end it was Straffan who came out on top by three points and can now look forward to at least a quarter-final.
Kill controlled the early exchanges and a jack Healy point saw them take the led but Straffan, gradually too control of the game, firing over six points on the trot from Austin Allen (2), John Tracey (2) and two more from Ruairi Power; Cian Gaynor added a point.

Kill had their chances but found it hard to find the target but eventually added points from Gary Moran, Paul Kirwan and Matthew Ryan, while goalkeeper Mike Jones brought it back to two between the teams before late points from Ruairi Power and Aaron Kiernan had Straffan lead by four at half time.

Early pressure from Kill in the second half was dealt with by an organised and controlled Straffan defence, who broke out well from the backs. John Tracey scored three from play from counter-attacks to see Straffan lead by six with 15 minutes to play.
Kill slowly worked their way back into the game with two Gary Moran frees; Paul Kirwan scored a free.

Kill carved out two great goal chances, Matthew Duggan saved well from Luke Purcell before a Dara Challoner's punched effort hit the cross-bar before going over.

Straffan, following a great turn-over when substitute Brian Tracey riffled a shot into the bottom corner to restore Straffan’s lead to six points once again.

Kill hit back with three points but Straffan held out for a fully deserved win by three points

Scorers

Straffan, John Tracey 0-5, Ruairi Power 0-3, Brian Tracey 1-0, Austin Allen 0- 2(1 free), Arron Kieernan 0-1, Cian Gaynor 0-1.

Kill, Paul Kirwan 0-3 (3 frees), Gary Moran 0-4 (4 frees), Liam O'Carroll 0-1, Dara Challoner 0-1, Mike Jones 0-1 (free), Jack Healy 0-1, Matthew Ryan 0-1.

Referee: Alan Lagrue.

Tom Cross Transport Junior Football Championship

Grange 1-14

Ballykelly 0-8

After a resounding defeat against Kill in the opening round of the Tom Cross Transport Junior Football Championship, Grange bounced back with an impressive victory of their own against Ballykelly.

Ballykelly entered this one having won their first game with the last kick of the ball against Rathcoffey, however they got off to the worst possible start in the Laurences’ sunshine.

Straight from the throw in, Grange ace Conall Bergin drove a long diagonal ball into his brother Fionn. With a flick of his wrist Fionn found Wayne Dooley in an acre of space in the Ballykelly box, who drove the ball high into the net for the game’s only goal.

Ballykelly opened their scoring account through a free from Darragh Byrne shortly afterwards, but wouldn’t score again until the 18th minute thanks to a combination of poor shooting and excellent defending.

At this stage in the game, Ballykelly were reckless and careless in possession, and Grange certainly capitalised.By the time Ballykelly had raised another white flag, once again through a Darragh Byrne free, Grange had stretched their lead to eight. The scores came from the likes of Tomas Cullen, Lee Doyle, Nathan Doyle, Oran Bergin and Conall Bergin.

The period leading up to half-time was the best Ballykelly put together in the whole game. Spearheaded by Lee Moore, Darragh Byrne and Conor Byrne, there looked to be some sort of Ballykelly resurrection on the cards.

Moore played a big role in two consecutive scores for Ballykelly as they finished the first half with three on the bounce. The deficit at the break stood at six.

Ballykelly came out of the traps the quickest in the second period, and looked to be building up a head of steam when Mikey Delahunty got the first score of the second half. However, any momentum that Ballykelly had was swiftly lost when Cole Grattan pulled Grange’s Fionn Bergin to the ground and was shown a black card.

A man down, Ballykelly struggled to keep up with Grange’s pace and intensity. Grange went on a scoring run in Grattan’s absence that ultimately ended the game.

The main culprit in Ballykelly’s downfall was Conall Bergin. In his first year as part of the Grange senior set up, the youngster showed maturity beyond his years to pick apart the Ballykelly defence on many occasions. His six points doesn’t say enough about how good he actually was on the night. He is undoubtedly one to watch for the future.

With six minutes remaining on the clock, Grange almost rose a second green flag, however Tomas Cullen saw his thunderous effort ricochet back out off the crossbar.

Four minutes later, Arnie Cullen was shown a black card after a dreadful tackle on Cullen. At this stage, though, the game was long over.

Minutes later the final whistle sounded. Having been much the better side, Grange were worth every bit of their nine point victory. They’ll look to continue their good form from this game into their next against Straffan in two weeks’ time.
For Ballykelly, it’s back to the drawing board, as they now look ahead to their next fixture against Robertstown.

GRANGE: Timmy Doyle, Paul Huntington, T Nolan, Gavin Ivory, Luke Costigan, Keith McGloin, Peter Cogan, Oran Bergin (0-1, 1f), Cillian Bergin (0-1), Nathan Doyle (0-1), Fionn Bergin, Tomas Cullen (0-2), Lee Doyle (0-2), Wayne Dooley (1-1), Conall Bergin (0-6, 5f)

Subs: Jason Lambe for F. Bergin (50), David Thornton for T. Nolan (52).

BALLYKELLY: Davy Moore, Cole Grattan, Eoin Sinnott, Darragh Perry, Arnie Cullen, Owen Whelan, Russell Holmes, Darryl Brereton, Ciaran Byrne (0-4, 1f), Jack Smyth, Eddie O’Connell, Josh Lawler, Darragh Byrne (0-2,2f), Mikey Delahunty (0-1), Lee Moore (0-1)

Subs: Liam Behan for Delahunty 52

REFEREE: Ken Doyle.