Ace Dunlea steers Canovee past Delanys

Canovee 1-10 Delanys 0-3

Lifting their game in the second-half — if ever a contest needed a lift this one was top of the pile – they finally got Delanys’ measure at Ovens on Saturday in a dire battle interspersed with appalling shooting and sloppy football.

A 20 minute delay to the second-half, while Delanys’ wing forward Darren Dineen, who suffered a nasty eye injury in the 18th minute, waited for an ambulance, didn’t help matters either. In the end, the reliable boot of Pat Dunlea ensured Canovee advanced, leaving Delanys in a relegation dogfight.

A shambles of an opening half — lazy evening, lazy football — only two sweet points from Delanys’ full-forward Paul Finnegan lifting it above the mediocrity and Canovee bemoaning nine wides, many of them ridiculous.

It took Finnegan just two minutes to get his first point. It should have been followed by a goal, corner-forward Pádraig O’Connell missing a gilt edged chance, but Finnegan’s second was a beauty from out on the right.

Still Canovee were level after the opening quarter at 0-2 apiece – Dunlea getting the first of his frees and Kevin Walsh scoring from play.

Despite Eamonn Lyons and Brian O’Donoghue ruling midfield for Canovee, Delanys were still well up to the task with Ronan Foley solid and hard running at centre-back. They lost Dineen with that eye injury after 18 minutes, but they were back in front in the 24th minute when Kevin Foley pointed. But it was all square at the break, a second Dunlea free making it 0-3 apiece.

Dunlea kicked Canovee into the lead in the 35th minute. But the game was still pedestrian, a real yawn, until Canovee keeper Tim Lyons made a great save to deny Finnegan a goal in the 36th minute. Then it all came right for the winners, who now began to open up Delanys with some menacing running.

The advent of Con Dunne — he scored two fine points — also made a huge difference as Canovee raced into a 0-7 to 0-3 lead entering the final quarter. And when Dunlea converted a 47th minute penalty, after Paul Healy was fouled, it was all over for Delanys who failed to get a single score in the second-half.

Yet Canovee, for all their superiority, only registered four points in all from play. Unquestionably, a cause for concern, as was their 16 wides tally, with all of Dunlea’s 1-6 points coming from frees.

Scorers for Canovee: P. Dunlea 1-6 (0-6 frees, 1-0 pen), C. Dunne 0-2, K. Walsh, B. Ahern 0-1 each.

Delanys: P. Finnegan 0-2, K. Foley 0-1.

CANOVEE: Tim Lyons; J. McCarthy, J. Scanlon, T. McCarthy; J. O’Brien, Timmy Lyons, B. Ahern; E. Lyons, B. O’Donoghue; D. Cronin, T. O’Mahony, D. O’Sullivan; P. Healy, P. Dunlea, K. Walsh.

Sub: C. Dunne for T. McCarthy (42m).

DELANYS: A. Cafferty; C. Foley, C. Quinlan, J. Mulcahy; P. Coughlan, R. Foley, M. Heaphy; O Cullinane, W. Coughlan; K. Foley, P. Kelleher, D. Dineen; P. O’Connell, P. Finnegan, E. O’Brien.

Subs: P. Long for Dineen (18m), S. O’Brien for W. Coughlan (56m).

Referee: E. Sheehy (Newcestown).