Kelly goal helps Celts to five point win over Gaels
06 May 2010
Cootehill Celtic 1 - 10
Cavan Gaels 0 - 8
Cootehill Celtic got their second win of the season with a well deserved 5 point win over a battling Cavan Gaels side in Terry Coyle Park on Saturday last. Apart for the opening ten minutes where they were slow to get out of the traps, the Celts were full value for their victory and were for the most part in control of the game. The visitors also had to contend playing with 14 men for the final few minutes of the game when Sean Fitzpatrick got a second yellow card but even then the Gaels never looked like narrowing the margin enough to take anything from the game.
While Cootehill had a sluggish opening ten minutes, they still enjoyed plenty of possession but couldn’t convert it into scores and kicked three wides in quick succession early on before wing forward Brendan McCrudden opened the scoring with a fine point from 30 yards out after 8 minutes. The visitors recorded another wide before Cavan Gaels responded with a point and full forward Alan O’Riordan pointed a free two minutes later to put his side into the lead for the only time in the match and that was also the last score from the home side until the second half. A free from Mark Mullen tied the game again at the end of the opening quarter as Cootehill began to show their dominance around the middle of the field with Paul McCarney, John McCutcheon and Brian Sherlock all to the fore. Another Mullen point put the Celtics back into the lead but further opportunities were missed with some poor shooting accounting for two more wides.
A pointed free from the boot of Neil Kelly put Cootehill two clear and wing back Sean Fitzpatrick got on the end of a flowing move to fire over a neat effort from the left wing. The Celts continued to keep their opposition on the back foot collecting a lot of the breaking ball around the middle third of the field and any attacks the Gaels did mount, the Cootehill defence dealt with comfortably, corner back Joshua Hayes in particular had an excellent game on danger man Martin Dunne and kept last year’s Senior Championship top scorer very quiet over the course of the match. Brian Sherlock stretched his side’s lead to three points with a fisted effort sailing over the bar after a powerful run through the heart of the Gaels defence, leaving Cootehill Celtic with five points to Cavan Gaels’ two at half time.
Cavan Gaels improved considerably after the break and opened the second half with two frees from Dunne to cut the gap down to the minimum. An impressive catch from full back Barry McGahan when he was under pressure in his own square started off an excellent passing move from the Celts which went the entire length of the field before Cathal McCabe got on the end of it and fired over the bar to keep them in front.
The Celts stuck a crucial blow in the 42nd minute of the game as Ciaran Fox put John McCutcheon through on goal and the county defender waited until he drew Gaels full back Mark Leddy out and slipped the ball over to Neil Kelly who rounded the keeper and fired to the net opening up a five point margin. The Cootehill defence had to be alert a few moments later with Aidan McCabe and Joshua Hayes combining to deny Dunne a shot at goal from close range. The Gaels did answer back with a point shortly after but that was cancelled out by a point from Damien Sherlock after an accurate pass from his brother Brian found him in plenty of space. A long ball from a Ciaran Fox free found Brendan McCrudden who collected his own break and pointed on the turn for his second point of the afternoon to push the gap out to six.
Another Cavan Gaels free was cancelled out by a second point from Brian Sherlock when the mid fielder was happy with to settle for a point and fisted over when through on goal. With the game entering its final ten minutes, a point from Daniel Graham brought the gap back to five and the pressure on the Celtics was increased as Fitzpatrick got his second yellow card and Cootehill were down to 14 men and another Gaels white flag left four between the sides. But the Celtics defence held firm in the final few minutes and kept the home side at bay and actually finished the match on the attack and forced a 40 metre free which Mullen pointed to ensure a five point winning margin as the Gaels efforts fizzled out in the end.
The result meant Cootehill were picking up their second win of the league after last week’s dramatic victory over Drumgoon while the Gaels remain bottom of Division 2 suffering their third defeat of the campaign.
Cootehill Celtic: Ciaran Boyle; Joshua Hayes, Barry McGahan, Aidan McCabe; Sean Fitzpatrick (0 - 1), Neil McCluskey, Damien Sherlock (0 - 1); Brian Sherlock (0 - 2), John McCutcheon; Brendan McCrudden (0 - 2), Paul McCarney, Cathal McCabe (0 - 1); Mark Mullen (0 - 3, 2 frees), Ciaran Fox, Neil Kelly (1 - 0).
Subs: Glen Nulty for Damien Sherlock.
Cavan Gaels: Niall O’Riordan; Patrick Heslin, Mark Leddy, Liam Og Cooke; Chris Quinn, Padraig Byrne, Pauric Smith; Declan Meehan, Dominic Reilly; Ronan Farrelly, Daniel Graham, Ciaran Flynn; Martin Dunne, Alan O’Riordan, Kevin Meehan,
Subs: Damien Kellegher; Ciaran McGlade; Michael Meehan; Michael Mooney; Dallan McCormack.
