14 man Castledermot sneak through their first Leinster challenge

Castledermot                                      0-8 Clonaslee St Manmans(Laois)     0-5 AIB Leinster Intermediate Club Football Championship round one

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They won't remember this game for a long time down in Castledermot, but that won't matter to them if they achieve their ultimate goal of winning the Leinster Championship. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o-aEPLNPzI "It's bonus territory alright but we're looking to go far in it. We're a bit dissapointed with today's performance but the referee made a bags out of the first half and it stained it for the whole game. To send a lad off for not having a gumshield in is harsh," said Castledermot selector Tom Lawlor following the game. He was referring to the dismissal of corner-forward Gavin Keating in the 28th minute of the first half. Referee David Fedigan gave the youngster his marching orders for not having a gumshield in his mouth, although he had one in his hand and claimed he had only taken it out during the break in play. It was the fourth yellow card that was dished out in the opening 30 minutes for the same offence, with the referee perhaps making a controversial bed early on and having to consistently lay in it from there on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY38cQRnPgs In a stop-start game, which wasn't helped by a plethora of stoppages for frees that could have been let go, it was Castledermot who always looked like they had the quality to win. Castledermot produced nowhere near the level of performance they produced during the Kildare championship, but you could always tell that they had more talented players at their disposal and if they were able to perform for some periods of the game they would win this one. [caption id="attachment_52304" align="alignnone" width="731"] Referee David Fedigan sent Gavin Keating of Castledermot of for a second yellow.[/caption] They started very well, going three points clear in the opening five minutes of the game. Gavin Farrell won the ball straight from the throw-in and drove a diagonal ball straight into the bread basket of Gavin Keating, who turned his man and curled the ball straight over to register the game's first score. A second point quickly followed when Paddy Wheland was chopped down 35 metres out, and centre-back Pauric Murphy stepped up to curl over the resultant free. Gavin Keating added to the lead with a long range free of his own and Castledermot looked completely settled. [caption id="attachment_52296" align="alignnone" width="800"] Castledermot's Gavin Farrell and Clonaslee's William Young compete in the air for the ball.[/caption] Clonaslee eventually settled and Glen Mc Evoy, who had already missed one attempt from a free, got their first score with a close range free. Darren Hogan smashed over the point of the game from the right wing soon after to close the gap to one point. The game then entered a lull period, with neither side scoring for 15 minutes, but David Keating eventually got the scoreboard ticking again when he rushed onto a pass from Emmett O'Keefe and slotted over from close range. Mc Evoy responded down at the other end with his second point from a free, but this was quickly cancelled out by another pointed free from Murphy. Then came the sending off, with most of the crowd puzzled as to what exactly Keating had done wrong, with the player clearly distraught at being sent to the line too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pcIQ_AbrOw It left the second half finely balanced but through a combination of committed defending from Castledermot and poor finishing from Clonaslee, the Kildare club kept their opponents at bay. Mc Evoy got the Laois side up and running with a simple tap over from a free, and Castledermot were finding it very hard to create any openings up front. They eventually got onto the scoreboard again with 14 minutes of the second half played when Gavin Farrell hacked over a loose ball after David Keating's free had dropped short. [caption id="attachment_52300" align="alignnone" width="800"] Liam Cosgrave of Castledermot beats Clonaslee's Glen Mc Evoy to the ball.[/caption] John Molloy responded at the other end for the visitors as the game entered the final ten minutes, though this would be the last score that either side would muster until after the hour mark. It was finely poised with just one point separating the sides and Clonaslee missed a number of good chances while David Keating fired a hugely presentable free wide at the other end. Aaron Murphy made a fine impact off the bench when he came on for Castledermot late on, and his two late points from frees were vital as Castledermot hung on to clinch victory.   Scorers for Castledermot: G Keating(1f), P Murphy(2f) and A Murphy(2f) 0-2 each, D Keating and G Farrell 0-1 each. Scorers for Clonaslee: G Mc Evoy 0-3(3f), D Hogan and J Molloy 0-1 each. Castledermot P Murphy; B Kelly, T Murphy, L Cosgrave; D O'Keefe, P Murphy, Barry Nolan; G Hendy, G Farrell; Brian Nolan, D Keating, A Roche; E O'Keefe, P Whelan, G Keating. Subs used: H Germaine and A Murphy Clonaslee St Manmans C Gorman; D Conroy, W Murray, M Mc Evoy; J Rowney, C Mc Evoy, J Molloy; S Rosney, W Young; D Rooney, G Dunne, J Rigney; T Tynan, G Mc Evoy, D Hogan. Subs used: PJ Fitzpatrick and N Corbett Referee: D Fedigan