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Athy
are minor
champions for 2008
Athy 2-11
Sarsfields 0-10
On a historic
day for Athy GFC the
minors won
the county final for the first time since 1973, impressively beating
favourites
Sarsfields
with a truly awesome display.
One minute into
the game the rain started and it looked like this was going
to be a scrappy, close fought final.
Not so, as Athy played excellent football
getting some magnificent scores throughout the day. The first of these
was a
point from Corey Moore in the 9th minute from
wide on the right
wing. Athy raced into
an early 4 point lead, with
points from Moore, two from Liam
McGovern and one from James Eaton. Sarsfields
were at
sixes and sevens and 15 minutes had gone before they got their first
point of
the day. Athy’s two man
forward line of James Eaton
and Darroch Mulhall caused
endless problems and in one-on-one situations these two will beat most
defenders,
even at senior level. Mulhall
skipped past his man in
the 17th minute and as he raced towards goal his
shot just blazed over
the bar. Three minutes later the same man capitalised on a poor kickout to send Athy into a 5 poimt lead. Further points from
Eaton and Cian Reynolds
put Athy into a
commanding 0-8 to 0-1 lead. Sarsfields
got two more
points before the break, one from a free, while Eaton knocked over one
more to
leave Athy comfortably
0-9 to 0-3 ahead at half time.
The Sash came
out all guns blazing in the second half as expected and
knocked over two early frees before a defining moment in the game came-Mulhall again beating his man,
sprinting away and flicking
the ball over the keeper as it bounced up. 1-9 to 0-5 and Athy
were now firm favourites to take the game. Sarsfields
kept fighting and kicked three more points between points from Daniel
O’Keefe
and one exceptional point from Tony Gibbons. 1-11 to 0-8 and things
were
getting tighter; another point from Sarsfields
danger
man Cahill then reduced the deficit to 5 points. In the 28th
minute
a long ball into the Sarsfields
full back line saw
midfielder Daniel O’Keefe rise highest to punch the ball into the back
of the
net. Elation for Athy
as they extended their lead to
8 points with just minutes remaining. One final point from Sarsfields
midfielder Sean Campbell was not enough to stop a possessed Athy
team from claiming their long awaited minor title.
Fantastic
scenes followed after the final whistle as the crowd flowed
onto the pitch. Captain Brian Kinahan
accepted the
trophy while James Eaton picked up the man of the match award. The team
went
back to Athy to a
roaring reception in Emily square
and afterwards to the clubhouse where the celebrations went on for most
of the
night. Who knows when they will end!
Athy team: Paul Clynch, Alan Bowden, Joe Kinahan,
T.J. Clare, Shane O’Brien, David McGovern, Tony Gibbons(0-1), Daniel
O’Keefe(1-1),
Brian Kinahan, Liam
McGovern(0-2; 1f), Cian
Reynolds(0-1), Corey Moore(0-1), Darroch
Mulhall(1-2),
James Eaton(0-3; 1f), Conor
Ronan.
Subs used:
Shane Brophy.
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