Timmons displays nerves of steel to earn Graiguecullen a share of the points

Arles Killeen 2-7 

Graiguecullen 1-10 

ARLES Killeen and Graiguecullen had to settle for a share of the points as the sides could not be separated in Maganey on Saturday afternoon.

It looked like the home side had snatched the winning points when Donie Kingston converted a free after Graiguecullen were in breach of the three-up rule in injury time.

But there was still more drama to come. As the third minute of injury time ticked by Graiguecullen went in search of the equaliser and were awarded a 13-metre free at an angle. Mark Timmons showed nerves of steel to level the contest with the last kick of the ball.

It was home side the opened the scoring with impressive Oisin Byrne slotting over a free. The away side responded through a brilliant two pointer from Josh O’Brien.

Byrne hit two more to put his side back into the lead early on in the game.

Graigue started to dominate around the middle and Paul Mulready hit Graiguecullen’s second two pointer to put the away side back into the lead.

The away side then hit the next two points through Danny O’Brien and Jamie O’Brien as Killeen held a lot of the possession but couldn’t breakdown the defence.

They eventually did as Byrne found a way through the defence and unleashed a powerful shot leaving the keeper with no chance.

Donie Kingston finished off the scoring in the first half with a free leaving the scores at 1-4 to 0-6 in favour of the home side.

Kingston started the second half like he finished the first half with a brilliant point from a mark which easily could have been a goal.

Mulready added another point before the second goal of the game through Kingston. A long ball in found Kingston who caught it brilliantly and left two defenders for dead and found the back of the net to give Killeen a four-point lead.

Jamie O’Brien and Byrne traded points in the 46th minute and it looked like Killeen were going to hang to their narrow lead.

But a goal from Paul Mulready sparked the Graiguecullen fight back after a brilliant team moved which saw Mulready at the end of it to palm the ball into the net.

Mark Timmons then levelled things with eight minutes to go, and it was anyone’s guess who was going to win this encounter.

It took until injury time to find another score as Donie Kingston slotted over a free after Graigue were in breach of the three-up rule.

It looked like it would be the late winner but there was still time for an attack and Graigue found a close range free with Mark Timmons holding his nerve to pop it over which was the final kick of the game.

SCORERS:

Arles Killeen: Oisin Byrne 1-4 (0-1f), Donie Kingston 1-3 (0-1 mark, 0-2fs).

Graiguecullen: Paul Mulready 1-3 (1 tp), Josh O’Brien (1 tp), Jamie O’Brien, Mark Timmons (0-1f) 0-2 each, Danny O’Brien 0-1.

ARLES KILLEEN: Jason Enright; Andrew Wall, Joe Mulhare, Dermot Julian; Michael Wall, John Mahon, Ben Griffin; Conor Keightley, Oisin Byrne; Niall O’Rourke, Sean O’Shea, Gerry McWey; Shane Byrne, Donie Kingston, Michael Doheny.

GRAIGUECULLEN: Cody Tucker; Adam Kerfah, Sean McGrath, Eoin Alsybury; Aaron Cullen, Jamie Sheehan, Warith Oyeniyi; Lee Nolan, Paul Mulready; Jamie Horohan, Josh O’Brien, James Doogue; Jamie O’Brien, Danny O’Brien, Mark Timmons.

Subs: Ross Hennessy for Doogue (ht), Aaron Forbes for Josh O’Brien (48m), Chris Hurley for Danny O’Brien (58m).

Referee: Des Cooney (St Joseph’s)