Longford SFC: Dromard battle it out for vital victory against Rathcline

Dromard . . . 1-15 Rathcline . . . 1-9

Dromard collected their second win in the Senior Football Championship when they produced a strong finish to defeat pointless Rathcline in difficult conditions at Oliver Lynch Park in Abbeylara on Sunday last.

There was little between the sides for much of this Round 3 encounter before Dromard finally broke clear, kicking the last four points of the contest to leave Rathcline still searching for their first win in the current Connolly Cup campaign.

Driving rain and a strong wind made life difficult for both teams. Handling errors and turnovers were plentiful, while Dromard will feel their winning margin could have been greater after dropping seven efforts short and registering a sizeable wide count.

Rathcline, however, will rue two gilt-edged goal opportunities. Oran Kenny was denied in a one-on-one situation before half-time, while Ryan Carberry somehow failed to convert from close range early in the second half before later making amends with a well-taken goal.

Dromard had an impressive spread of scorers. Defenders Ronan Corcoran, Ronan Bleakley, Dylan Vance and Peadar Kiernan all got forward to raise white flags, while William McEntire supplied the crucial goal from midfield.

Their main attacking trio of Joseph Hagan, Aaron Farrell and Francis McGee contributed 10 points between them, while captain Fionn Hourican, despite not troubling the scoreboard, covered an enormous amount of ground in an industrious display.

McGee opened the scoring from a free awarded for dissent before Rathcline responded through Oran Kenny and Bryn Peters. Farrell and Hagan found their range for Dromard, with Farrell adding another to edge his side ahead.

Rathcline were using Shane Kenny as the primary target from their kick-outs and he landed a two-point free following another dissent penalty. Harvey Myhill followed with a point before Oran Kenny struck sweetly off his left as Rathcline enjoyed their best spell.

Hagan converted a free after Rathcline were penalised when a kick-out failed to travel the required distance before producing the score of the first half, bending over a superb two-pointer with the outside of his boot.

There was still time for Rathcline to manufacture a huge opportunity. Oran Kenny broke through one-on-one and would normally have been expected to find the net, but Sean McNerney got down brilliantly to make a crucial save. It left Dromard narrowly ahead, 0-7 to 0-6, at the break.

McGee stretched their advantage after the restart with a terrific score at the end of a powerful 50-yard run, but Rathcline soon began punching holes through the Dromard defence.

Iarla O’Sullivan drove directly through the middle before squaring for Carberry, who somehow failed to force the ball across the line.

O’Sullivan was again the catalyst moments later, carrying strongly before finding Peters, whose pass across goal was this time finished to the net by Carberry for his first championship goal.

A brilliant Matthew Heneghan turnover then resulted in another Oran Kenny point as Rathcline seized the initiative.

Kiernan responded for Dromard before Kenny converted a free, but the decisive moment arrived when Rathcline repeatedly surrendered possession during one passage of play and were eventually punished.

County U-20 midfielder McEntire drove through and applied a superb finish to the net to put Dromard back in front at 1-9 to 1-8.

Farrell fisted over and Bleakley added another, although Rathcline stayed in touch when Shane Kenny punched over after Peters’ effort dropped short. That, however, proved to be their final score.

With the game still there to be won, Dromard finished with authority. Bleakley landed his second point before Farrell, Vance and Corcoran completed an unanswered four-point burst to finally put daylight between the teams.

For Rathcline, Peters and O’Sullivan carried the ball particularly well while Oran Kenny finished with three points from play from an absorbing individual battle with his Longford colleague Oisín O’Toole.

Dromard, though, possessed more scoring threats across the field and, after an error-strewn contest dictated by the conditions, their strong finish was enough to secure another valuable championship victory.

DROMARD: Sean McNerney; Christopher Grimes, Oisin O’ Toole, Ronan Corcoran (0-1); Ronan Bleakley (0-2), Dylan Vance (0-1), Peadar Kiernan (0-1); Daniel Conboy, William McEntire (1-0); Fionn Hourican, Aaron Farrell (0-4), Conor McGauran; Joseph Hagan (0-4, 1tp, 1f), Francis McGee (0-2, 1f), Ben O’ Reilly.

Subs; Donnacha Reynolds for Peadar Kiernan (46 mins); Bernard Sheridan for Ben O’Reilly (51 mins), Eoghan Palin for William McEntire (58 mins).

RATHCLINE: David Mulvihill; Jakub Kajan, James Carroll, Matthew Heneghan; Oisin Kenny, Iarla O’ Sullivan, Shane Donohoe; Michael Morrissey, Harvey Myhill (0-1); Garth O’ Reilly, Shane Kenny (0-3, 1tpf), David Rooney; Oran Kenny (0-4, 1f), Bryn Peters (0-1), Ryan Carberry (1-0).

Subs; Ultan O’Sullivan for Garth O’ Reilly (39 mins); Niall Keane for Shane Donohoe (55 mins); Cormac Casey for David Rooney (58 mins, injured).

Referee: David Tiernan (Ardagh Moydow).