The senior footballers got their league campaign of to a winning start when accounting for Aochadh Eochaille at Páirc Mhic Dháibhéid on Sunday with a last gasp point in injury time, from Aaron Slane, giving us the spoils by the minimum margin.
It was Aaron who also opened the scoring with a 2 point free after a foul on Paul McLoughlin just outside the arc in a central position. The Cloney men opened their account after a bit of scrappy play when Ronan Graham kicked a nice point but we quickly replied when the ball was moved quickly through the hands and Brady Maguire slotted over the bar. The visitors then had a goal scoring opportunity when Nathan Maginn flung his body in front of a goal bound shot and the subsequent follow up was also saved and we managed to get the ball to safety.
The warning signs were there and the opening goal came shortly after when Dan O’Neill burst through the middle and finished to the net to edge the visitors in front. They extended their lead in the 10th minute with a point from a free when the ball was moved forward following an indiscretion and Ronan Graham duly converted the opportunity. We closed the gap when Sean O’Neill took possession in his own half, raced up field, jinked to his right and fired over the bar. Aochadh Eochaille reeled off the next three points through Diarmaid Graham, Donal Graham and Noel Crossey with Paul McLoughlin kicking a nice point from out on the left side to keep us in touch. The final point of the half went to the visitors from Dan O’Neill and left us trailing 0-5 to 1-6 at the break.
Patrick Graham put five between the sides with a well taken point on the restart but after a great passage of play Anthony Rowntree goaled to put us back in the game. Neil Crossey responded for Aochadh Eochaille to restore their goal advantage but a brace of points from Sean O’Neill, a nice effort with the outside of his boot and Gerard Slane after some nice interplay between CJ Sullivan and Brady Maguire reduced the deficit to a single point. A pointed free from out on right by Donal Graham left us two in arrears. A flick on in the middle of the pitch from a kick out saw Mick Connolly race onto the breaking ball and he raced forward and fired past the keeper to put us in front. A Sean Smyth pointed free from out on the left followed and we had the visitors on the ropes. However, they hit straight back with a goal from Noel Crossey to edge back in front but a Gerard Slane ball deep into the goal area found its way to the back of the net and again the lead had changed. CJ Sullivan then put a goal between the sides with a point after a good lay off from Anthony Rowntree and Caoimhe Slane further extended our advantage with a well taken point. A McDonnell goal left the minimum between the sides and when Ronan Graham pointed the sides were level.
Two points from Gerard Slane, one from a free, gave us a two point cushion as we moved into the 31st minute. An excellent two point effort from Dan O’Neill looked to have given the visitors a draw but one final surge forward resulted in the award of free just inside the arc and Aaron Slane steeped up and coolly split the posts. This was the last kick of the game and we had taken the win in a very competitive game to get our campaign up and running.
Click here for photos of the game.
Scorers: A Slane 0-3 (1 – 2pt), B Maguire 0-1, S O’Neill 0-2, P McLoughlin 0-1, A Rowntree 1-0, G Slane 1-3, M Connolly 1-0, S Smyth 0-1, CJ Sullivan 0-1, C Slane 0-1
