Snarling and sizzling, irresistible Athy are not yet satisfied with historic Leinster run
ON THEY MARCH: Barry Kelly of Athy, centre, celebrates after his side's victory in the AIB Leinster GAA Football Senior Club Championship semi-final match between Athy and Portarlington at Cedral St Conleth's Park in Newbridge, Kildare. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
A few moments from Athy's sizzling, snarling first-half performance in Newbridge.
Five minutes in, captain David Hyland opting to lay down a marker with a spinning kick off the outside of his boot that soared over from nearly 50 metres out. In the 19th minute, Athy pressing up hard on Portarlington's kick-out after a point, Sean Moore catching it and finding Hyland for his second two-pointer. Close to half-time, Niall Kelly, the game's leading scorer with 10 points, diving down head-first amongst a clutch of players for a ball and flicking it away to Ronan Kelly for another score.
No surprise then with that sort of ferocity that Athy led by 0-15 to 0-2 at half-time and powered through a first Leinster club SFC final next Saturday. But where did all that defiance come from?
"There was a bit of talk during the week, a lot of people outside the group were saying, 'Isn't it great that you got this far?' It didn't sit right with us as the management team, it didn't sit right with the players," said joint manager Ross Bell, a player when Athy last contested a provincial semi-final in 2011.
"We were adamant that we weren't going to come here today and just be happy with what we'd got, reaching this stage.
"We actually had a group game against Johnstownbridge this year, coming off the back of a loss to Celbridge, where it was kind of similar. We played with a wind in the first-half in that game as well and we really squeezed their kick-out and we got good joy there. We posted a big score at half-time. It kind of felt a little like that today."
And yet it wasn't all fist bumps and high fives on Saturday. Bell wasn't overly happy with the second-half performance - wind-assisted Portarlington outscored Athy by 0-9 to 0-4 - despite losing Sean Byrne to a black card in the 38th minute.
"I know it was tough for the boys playing into the wind but we set higher standards for ourselves than what we showed in that second-half," said Bell.
A bigger issue for Athy was the muscle injuries picked up by Tailteann Cup All-Star James McGrath and teenage full-forward Colm Moran, both key players. McGrath's is a hamstring issue and Moran's a quad.
"With the quick turnaround, we might be pushing it on both but we'll see how they are," said Bell.
Against a side like Ballyboden St Enda's, Athy will need them all. They should still be competitive though and, were they to win a first-ever title, that would be no shock either. This is a side with the current Kildare captain, Kevin Feely, two veteran Kildare stars in David Hyland and Niall Kelly, and former Tyrone defender Cathal McCarron. All of them are in strong form.
Portarlington never really looked like winning. When they won two first-half 45s, they went short and backwards with both and the opportunities petered out. Patrick O'Sullivan, who was sent off in the very last action of the game, won a 24th minute penalty but Colm Murphy's kick was weak and comfortably saved. In the circumstances, and away from home, it was a lot to waste. Rioghan Murphy had a shot at goal expertly saved by the Athy goalie also, leading to one of the 45s.
The real intrigue next Saturday will be how Boden's crack forward line containing Dublin duo Colm Basquel and Ross McGarry, as well as the in-form Daire Sweeney and the underrated Ryan O'Dwyer, gets on against an Athy defence that has conceded, on average, just 0-9 per game in Leinster.
Michael Spillane didn't give Port's highly rated full-forward Darragh Galvin a sniff. Hyland, showing high fitness levels, was always happy to drop back and fortify things while Barry Kelly, crowned Kildare Club Player of the Year on Saturday night, was typically found growling and snapping at heels, breaking up the play and starting attacks.
"If we didn't match Portarlington's intensity, and their hunger, we'd have struggled all over the pitch," said Bell. "But from the throw-in, the boys really stepped up and met that head on. And that laid the foundation for us to play the good football we did in that first-half."
Portarlington got things going for a brief period in the second-half.. Jake Foster, back from Australia, came on at half-time and kicked a terrific score after the restart. The next two scores were two-pointers from long-range Colm Murphy frees. That got the gap down to eight but Port' never got any closer.
N Kelly 0-10 (1 tp, 4 frees); D Hyland 0-4 (2 tp); S Moore (45), C Doyle, R Kelly, K Feely, M Hyland 0-1 each.
C Murphy 0-8 (3 tpf, 2 frees); J Foster, R Murphy, D Slevin 0-1 each.
J Roycroft; M Spillane, P Spillane, D Lawler; B Maher, C McCarron, S Moore; K Feely, C Doyle; B Kelly, D Hyland, J McGrath; R Kelly, C Moran, N Kelly.
M Hyland for McGrath (19); B Purcell for B Kelly (48); S Bride for Maher (55); K Farrell for Moran (63); C Kelly for R Kelly (65).
L O'Reilly; A Mohan, R Pigott, C Lyons; M Bennett, J Moore, P O'Sullivan; K Bracken, S Byrne; R Murphy, R Coffey, D Slevin; J Fitzpatrick, D Galvin, C Murphy.
D Bennett for Pigott (22); J Foster for Lyons (h/t); T Corcoran for Fitzpatrick (51); E McCann for Bracken (54).
A Smith (Meath).
ENDS
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