An Tuaisceart bounce back to secure semi-final spot

An Tuaisceart 0-12

Bru na Boinne 0-12

SEAN WALL

THE north of the county has two teams in the knockout stages of the Dioralyte Regional FC after An Tuaisceart book their semi-final spot by the skin of their teeth at Dunganny last evening.

Brian Farrell’s side squeezed through by a far superior score difference to Bru na Boinne after both teams finished on three points from their three outings. There was something of anticlimax at the final whistle, nobody quite sure which team had progressed.

However An Tuaisceart’s revival from a five point deficit wasn’t the main topic of conversation afterwards. Instead it was the number of cards, including three red, dished out by referee Kieran Olwell, in a match that didn’t have a moment of rancour.

All three red cards were ‘awarded’ to Bru na Boinne who finished the game with the same number of points as players. Conor Harford was the first to depart midway through the second half after picking up a second yellow.

The game was in added time when Donal Landy was first shown a black and it was quickly followed by a red. Shortly after that Mark Crawley was red carded while out of the same incident Thomas Murtagh received a yellow card. A number of others were shown yellow cards throughout the match including Bru na Boinne manager Niall Flynn.

Castletown’s Declan Cribbin accounted for all of An Tuaisceart’s opening points as they led 0-3 to 0-2 after 10 minutes. A Sam Victory point a minute later had the teams level and Bru na Boinne dominated for a spell after that as they built up a 0-8 to 0-3 advantage.

A Thomas Murtagh point ended An Tuaisceart’s scoring drought and the half eventually finished with Bru na Boinne leading 0-9 to 0-5.

An Tuaisceart had the advantage of the breeze in the second half and they dominated possession but made hard work of reducing the deficit.

Donal Landy’s fourth point of the match was the East Meath side’s only score in the third quarter while Kevin Traynor, Killian Price and Killian Russell were on target for An Tuaisceart in the same period.

Declan Cribbin eventually reduced the deficit to the minimum but An Tuaisceart missed several chances after that to equalise. Ryan Hand hit Bru na Boinne’s second point of the half before Cribbin struck again at the other end.

The game was in the fifth minute of added time when Cribbin equalised from a free which had been brought closer, presumably for dissent. Two minutes later and with Bru na Boinne down to 12 sub Dean Halpin kicked what looked to be the winning score for An Tuaisceart.

However there was still time for one last raid by Bru na Boinne and when Ryan Hand won a mark he made no mistake to kick the leveller. Alas it wasn’t enough to prevent his side from bowing out of the competition.

SCORERS

An Tuaisceart – Declan Cribbin 0-6, four frees; Thomas Murtagh 0-1; Cormac Sheehy 0-1 free; Kevin Traynor 0-1; Killian Price 0-1; Killian Russell 0-1; Dean Halpin 0-1.

Bru na Boinne – Donal Landy 0-4, two frees; Sam Victory 0-2; Ryan Hand 0-2, one mark; Leo Corry 0-1; Kieran Flynn 0-1; Shane Landy 0-1 free; Jamie Flaherty 0-1.

An Tuaisceart – Dary Hutchinson (Nobber); Barry Cassidy (Nobber), Evan Hoey (Castletown), Ryan Summersby (Syddan); Shane Hoey (Castletown), Ryan Owens (Meath Hill), Mark Fedigan (Syddan); Thomas Murtagh (Nobber), Kevin Traynor (Syddan); James Mooney (Meath Hill), Paddy Matthews (Meath Hill), Gary Breslin (Meath Hill); Cormac Sheehy (Meath Hill), Declan Cribbin (Castletown), Matthew Durnin (Drumconrath). Subs – Killian Price (Castletown) for S Hoey half-time, Thomas Conlon (Drumconrath) for Durnin, Killian Russell (Kilmainhamwood) for Owens both 42 mins, Dean Halpin (Nobber) for Matthews 55m.

Bru na Boinne – Evan Connor (St Vincent’s); Conor Harford (St Vincent’s), Mark Crawley (St Vincent’s), Graham Tully (St Mary’s); Ciaran Sullivan (St Patrick’s), Ryan Hand (St Vincent’s), Leo Corry (St Vincent’s); Cian Ryan (Duleek-Bellewstown), Liam O’Neill (St Mary’s); John McDonnell (Duleek-Bellewstown), Jamie Flaherty (Duleek-Bellewstown), Shane Landy (St Patrick’s); Ciaran Flynn (Duleek-Bellewstown), Donal Landy (St Patrick’s), Sam Victory (St Mary’s). Subs – Ben Loughran (St Mary’s) for S Landy 28 mins, Landy for Loughran 41m.

Referee – Kieran Olwell (Moynalty)