Vital JFC wins for Carnaross and Bective

Carnaross and Bective continued their journey towards the knockout stages of the Meath JFC with impressive wins over Clann na nGael and Simonstown respectively at Pairc Tailteann today. Having lost their opening round game to Wolfe Tones Carnaross made two wins in succession with a 1-15 to 1-12 win over Clann na nGael, while Simonstown were no match for Bective with Jody devine’s side coasting to a 5-19 to 0-6 win.

Carnaross were enterprising and effective with the wind at their backs in the curtain-raiser and it took them just 18 seconds to open the scoring with Cillian Comaskey floating a mid-range effort over the bar.
Less than 50 seconds later Frank O’Reilly doubled the north Meath side’s lead with another decent score and at that stage it looked as if Carnaross would pull away.
However their failure to deal with a loose ball that spilled off Anthony Swaine, fell kindly into Gary Hanley’s path and he made no mistake to edge Clann na nGael into the lead in the fourth minute.
However they failed to score again for the next 14 minutes as Carnaross dominated possession. John L McGee had to dig the ball out from under his feet before seeing his close range effort well saved by Peter Garry, but in the ninth minute Carnaross restored parity with McDonnell on target.
Clann na nGael lost goalscorer Hanley to injury and they suffered further pain as Charles Brogan edged Carnaross ahead again before points from John L McGee (free) and Charles Brogan made it 0-6 to 1-0 at the end of the opening quarter.
Clann na nGael’s best spell yielded three points in six minutes with Micheal Priest on target twice (one free) and Hanley’s replacement Luke Swaine also finding his range to level it up for a second time.
However the closing five minutes of the half belonged to Carnaross as they used the wind to full effect with McDonnell, Dermot McGee, John L McGee and Cian O’Reilly all on target to give Ollie Murphy’s side a 0-10 to 1-3 interval lead.
It took John L McGee just 21 seconds to stretch Carnaross’s lead after the resumption, but then Clann na nGael clawed their way back into the game with four of the next five points as Eamonn O Donnchadha (two0, Graham Geraghty and Aaron Ennis (free) made it 1-7 to 0-12, Cian O’Reilly accounted for Carnaross’s score in that spell.
With the Athboy/Rathcairn side threatening to spoil all of Carnaross’s good work Frank O’Reilly settled the north Meath men before McDonnell blasted a brilliant goal in the 44th minute to make it 1-13 to 1-7.
However Clann na nGael came strong again. Points from Luke Swaine, Ennis (free), Geraghty and Darragh Griffin made it 1-11 to 1-13 with 10 minutes to go. Paddy Nugent came on to settle Carnaross with a point from a goal chance and when Darragh Griffin added his second it gave Carnaross a bit of cushion. Ennis did give Clann na nGael some hope with a late free, but they couldn’t get in for the second goal they needed as Carnaross held on.

Bective started their JFC clash with Simonstown in devastating fashion and didn’t relent throughout the opening period. Ciaran Breslin rattled the net inside 25 seconds to get Jody Devine’s side off to the perfect start and two minutes later they created another goal chance from which Brian Cantwell opted for a point.
A fine brace of scores from Cathal McConnell had Bective 1-3 to 0-0 to the good before the end of the fifth minute and they extended that lead further with two points from Marty Mulhall (one free) before Cantwell was denied a goal by a wonderful save from Gary Lynch. Mulhall converted the ‘45’ as the one-way traffic flowed into the O’Mahonys clubhouse end.
Mulhall’s fourth point was followed by another sweeping move which saw Iarlaith Brennan set up Ciaran Breslin for his second goal and while Simonstown eventually opened their account in the 14th minute with a Ben Hoey point, Bective’s response was emphatic with Kevin Brennan producing a stunning finish for his sides third goal to make it 3-7 to 0-1 at the end of the first quarter.
Ciaran Reilly and Chris O’Neill traded scores before another burst of pressure yielded further points for Mulhall and Paul McCabe.
Simonstown responded with Brin Conlon and Shane Barry (free) on target, but Bective were utterly dominant with the wind at thir backs as Ciaran Breslin’s point gave them a 3-11 to 0-4 interval lead.
Bective almost added another goal 14 seconds after the restart, but Brian Cantwell fired straight at Lynch’s head. It took Bective six minutes after the break to add to their first-half tally with Cantwell claiming a point and a minute later he did manage to find the net when he palmed a goal from close range to make it 4-12 to 0-4.
With the competitive edge long gone both sides gaves their substitutes run outs, but it was Bective who continued to look dangerous. After Paul McCabe (free) and substitute alan Meade traded points Bective kicked on again with Mulhall and Paul Lyness on target before Cathal McConnell palmed the winner’s fifth goal to the net from close range.
Somehow Ciaran McConnell both missed in the same goalmouth scramble, but Bective continued to dominate as they closed their account with scores from Mark O’Brien (two), James Davis and Mulhall (free) before James Heaney pointed for Simonstown to close the one-sided show.