A goal in each half gets Crettyard-Spink campaign off to a winning start

U/20 FC 'A' Group A Rd 1 

Crettyard-Spink 2-8 

Na Fianna Óg 0-8 

CRETTYARD-Spink made a winning start to the Laois Shopping Centre U/20 FC 'A', with a six-point win over Na Fianna Óg to kick-start Group A. Goal in each half proved the difference, with Eric Smith raising a green flag in the opening ten minutes and John Brennan converting a penalty in the closing ten minutes.

Ethan Drury kicked Crettyard-Spink into an early lead as the home side got off to a positive start. John Brennan followed that with a score from distance before Smith rippled the net to raise a green flag after only six minutes.

Eanna Byrne got Na Fianna Óg off the mark with free, but Crettyard-Spink immediately cancelled that out with a 45 from Brian Duggan struck way out on the sideline. Ben O'Meara added another to make it 1-4 to 0-1 after ten minutes.

Byrne pointed his second free midway through the half and then played in Callum McElroy for a good score. The hosts hit back with a couple of monster strikes from Duggan and Dara Kelly.

Ben Slattery landed a free from a difficult angle followed by a beautiful score, curled over the bar by Jack Behan. The visitors further closed the gap when Byrne plucked the ball out of the sky before turning and getting his shot away to leave his side down by just three points at the break, 1-6 to 0-6. Na Fianna Óg could have been ahead, having had three solid goal opportunities in the first half but fluffing their lines each time.

Both sides had plenty of chances after the break, but struggled to hit the target, with Crettyard-Spink going closest, only for Na Fianna Óg goalkeeper Simon George to make an incredible save. The half remained scoreless for the entire first 15 minutes.

An incident off the ball left Eanna Byrne jersey-less and in need of assistance to hobble off the field. After a discussion with his umpire, referee, Johnnie Brennan produced a yellow card to Crettyard-Spink midfielder John Brennan.

And it was Brennan who then got the first score of the second half, all the way in the 50th minute. Eric Smith was brought down leading to a penalty which Brennan dispatched calmly into the bottom corner.

Slattery pointed a free for Na Fianna Óg's first score of the half, but that was quickly cancelled out by two quick-fire scores from Jonah Kelly - a serious player to be able to spring off the bench. Kelly almost added a goal to his tally, but Simon George made another phenomenal intervention to keep him out.

Slattery pointed a free with the game drifting into stoppage time to leave the visitors two goals down. But the final whistle came before Na Fianna Óg had a chance to cut the deficit any further.

Crettyard-Spink took the victory, and have their clinical temperament to thank for it. Na Fianna Óg will know they were good enough to at least snatch a draw, but they simply did not convert enough of their chances.

Na Fianna Óg will welcome Ballylinan in Round 2 while Crettyard-Spink will also face Ballylinan when they next take to the field in Round 3. The other two teams in Group A are Portlaoise and last year's 'B' winners, Mountmellick Parish Gaels.

SCORERS:

Crettyard-Spink: John Brennan 1-1 (1-0 pen), Eric Smith 1-0, Brian Dugan (0-1 45) and Jonah Kelly 0-2 each, Dara Kelly, Ethan Drury and Ben O'Meara 0-1 each.

Na Fianna Óg: Eanna Byrne (0-2fs) and Ben Slattery (fs) 0-3 each, Jack Behan and Callum McElroy 0-1 each.

CRETTYARD-SPINK: Liam Kehoe; Sean Brown, Dara Kelly, Robbie Kennedy; Evan Dunne, Ethan Drury, Fionn O'Sullivan; Ryan Quinlan, John Brennan; Eric Smith, Brian Duggan, Kyle O'Reilly, Callum Costigan, Ben O'Meara, Jamie Gorman.

Subs: Aaron Kearney for Gorman (ht), Jonah Kelly for E. Dunne (44m), Aidan Lynch for Kennedy (57m).

NA FIANNA ÓG: Simon George; Ben Griffin, Andrew Wall, Conor George; Ben Moore, Ben Slattery, Sean Phelan; Odhran Kelleher, Aodhán Lowry; Killian Langton, Eanna Byrne, Kodi Dunne; Jack Behan, Darragh Kealy, Callum McElroy.

Subs: Pablo Byrne for E. Byrne (74m, inj.

Referee: Johnnie Brennan (St Joseph’s)