Celbridge into Quarter-Finals after passing stiff Cloghs test in Kildare SFC

Celbridge 1-16

Clogherinkoe 1-10

Celbridge came through a stiff test against already eliminated Clogherinkoe to book their place in the Joe Mallon Motors Kildare SFC Quarter-Final stage.

The eventual winners were expected to be in command but didn’t have it all their own way in the opening half, even if their superior quality eventually paid dividends.

It took six minutes to open the scoring and Celbridge did so through Tony Archbold who fisted over the bar from close-range. The Cloghs levelled instantly through Mark Nolan from their next possession.

The teams crossed the 10-minute mark at 0-2 each after fine scores at either end from Paddy Brophy and Cein McMonagle.

Kevin O’Callaghan and Fergal Conway then put Celbridge two ahead with points off their respective weaker sides.

The trailing side got back to within one after Jimmy Lynch and Mark Nolan pointed with just a Kevin Flynn score on the counter coming for Celbridge. The spell of quick-fire scores left them with an 0-5 to 0-4 lead after 16 minutes.

Moments later, Celbridge turned on the style for their first goal of the afternoon. Paddy Brophy carried the ball forward on the counter-attack and combined with Tony Archbold to leave himself a simple slap into the back of the net of an empty net.

Despite 13 minutes remaining in the half, just two more points were added after the goal with Dean O’Donoghue and Aaron Browne registering. The leading side held a six-point advantage at 1-7 to 0-4 at the break.

With no disrespect to the already eliminated trailing side, this game was expected to peter out but The Cloghs battled to the last and got their goal in the 37th minute to make this game 1-9 to 1-5. Andrew Hill latched onto a breaking ball from the sideline before sidefooting past Shane McNamara.

After a further point at either end, Celbridge reassumed control and rattled off four without reply to give themselves a healthy eight-point lead headed into the final few minutes.

It was a seemingly comfortable margin with five to go, but two quick-fire Clogherinkoe two-pointers from Aedan Boyle and Jimmy Lynch with just a single Celbridge point splitting them had tensions high in Clane.

The contention of every decision was now higher than ever, but Clogherinkoe didn’t have the requisite quality or energy to give it one final push.

Fergal Conway got the game’s final score as Celbridge finished as 1-16 to 1-10 winners after a tough battle.

Celbridge, Paddy Brophy 1-2, Aaron Browne 0-3 (0-2 frees), Tony Archbold 0-2, Dean O'Donoghue 0-2, Fergal Conway 0-2, Kevin O'Callaghan 0-1, Kevin Flynn 0-1, Mick O'Grady 0-1, Killian Browne 0-1, Davy Hughes 0-1.

Clogherinkoe, Andrew Hill 1-0, Jimmy Lynch 0-3 (0-3 frees, one 2pt free), Mark Nolan 0-2, Aedan Boyle 0-2, Cein McMonagle 0-1, Rian Cully 0-1, Eoghan McMonagle 0-1.

CELBRIDGE: Shane McNamara; John Clarke, Mick O'Grady, Cian Powell; Dean O'Donoghue, Johnny Owens, Niall O'Regan; Eoghan Light, Fergal Conway; Kevin Flynn, Kevin O'Callaghan, Tony Archbold; Paddy Brophy, Aaron Browne, Killian Browne. Subs: Davy Hughes for Paddy Brophy (32 minutes), Luke Murray for Johnny Owens (40 minutes), Daragh Finnegan for Tony Archbold (53 minutes), Conor Plunkett for Kevin O'Callaghan (55 minutes), Liam O'Flynn for Niall O'Regan (55 minutes).

CLOGHERINKOE: Keith Wilkinson; Rian Cully, Eoghan McMonagle, Ben Kenny; David Hill, Conor O'Donoghue, Andrew Hill; Daniel Grehan, Killian Galligan; Aedan Boyle, Mark Nolan, Caelum Flanagan; Jimmy Lynch, Cein McMonagle, Rory Phelan. Subs: Jamie Boyle for Caelum Flanagan (48 minutes), Daire Travers for Rian Cully (51 minutes).

Referee: Fergal Barry

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