O’Carroll leads the rout as Crettyard rattle their neighbourly rivals

Crettyard 2-12 

Graiguecullen 0-10 

CRETTYARD are safe in the Laois Shopping Centre Senior Football Championship for another year after Evan O’Carroll scored 2-6 of their 2-12 to beat Graiguecullen by eight points in Stradbally on Sunday afternoon.

The victors led by three points at half-time, 0-7 to 0-4, before they stepped on the gas in the second half with them outscoring Graiguecullen 2-6 to 0-6.

Crettyard set the tone early on and Cormac Murphy raised an orange flag with just 30 seconds gone. Dylan Murphy got Graiguecullen up and running to cut Crettyard’s lead in half. Crettyard led four points to one after five minutes thanks to two points from the boot of Evan O’Carroll.

Graiguecullen took over for the next 10 minutes or so as they drew level thanks to two points from Brian Byrne and a free from Dylan Murphy. Crettyard went ahead again when O’Carroll and Jonah Kelly split the posts.

Murphy had two chances to first level the game and then put his side in front, but he missed both attempts from outside the arc. Crettyard ended the half with a free from O’Carroll to send them into dressing rooms ahead by three.

Jonah Kelly had the first big chance after half-time, but his shot was saved by the feet of Luke Dooley. O’Carroll continued to increase his and Crettyard’s tally with Josh O’Brien getting a point in reply. Graiguecullen were then reduced to 14 players for 10 minutes as Seanie McGrath was shown a black card, O’Carroll kicked over the resulting free.

Murphy pointed a free and Aaron Dorgan raised a white flag as Graiguecullen got back within two points, but that’s as good as it got as Crettyard scored 1-3 in the space of three minutes.

Ciaran Burke got the three points, two of them coming at the one time. O’Carroll then blasted the ball past Dooley to put them eight points up with 10 minutes to play.

That burst of scoring proved decisive as Crettyard finally opened up some daylight between the sides after a tight first half. Graiguecullen continued to battle and Murphy kept the scoreboard ticking over, but they were unable to produce the goal they needed to get themselves back into contention.

Murphy scored three points in the final 10 minutes of the game, two of them coming from a free outside the arc. Graiguecullen needed goals however but couldn’t get the ball past Eoin O’Shea as Murphy attempted a goal from a close-range free. O’Carroll finished the game with a goal to take his final total to an impressive 2-6.

Crettyard progress into the semi-finals of the SFC ‘B’, while Graiguecullen must now win two games to stay up with three teams getting relegated to the Intermediate Championship. For Crettyard, it was a strong second-half showing that ultimately settled the contest and secured their place in the next round.

SCORERS:

Crettyard: Evan O’Carroll 2-6 (0-2fs, 0-1 45), Ciaran Burke 0-3 (1tp), Cormac Murphy 0-2 (1tp), Jonah Kelly 0-1.

Graiguecullen: Dylan Murphy 0-6 (1 tpf, 0-2fs), Brian Byrne 0-2, Josh O’Brien and Aaron Dorgan 0-1 each.

CRETTYARD: Eoin O’Shea; James Kelly, Pierce Nash, Evan Dunne; Dara Kelly, John Brennan, Fionn O’Sullivan; Patrick O’Reilly, Alex Whelan; Jason Carroll, Jonah Kelly, Sean Browne; Cormac Murphy, Ciaran Burke, Evan O’Carroll.

Subs: Michael Nash for Carroll (39m), Tiernan Patterson for Browne (48m), Cormac Brennan for J Kelly (54m).

GRAIGUECULLEN: Luke Dooley; Warith Oyeniyi, Trevor Collins, Seanie McGrath; Eoin Aylesbury, Danny McGrath, Aaron Dorgan; Mark Timmons, Lee Nolan; Danny O’Brien, Jamie Sheehan, Dylan Murphy; Josh O’Brien, Aidan Bradley, Brian Byrne.

Subs: Danny Aylesbury for Nolan (ht), James Horohan for D O’Brien (42m), Chris Hurley for J O’Brien (54m), Bob Doogue for Bradley (56m).

Referee: Brendan McCann (Portarlington)