Immense O'Flaherty kicks 1-11 to lead Carbury to thrilling come from behind win over Castledermot

Carbury                    3-14 Castledermot          1-14 Joe Mallon SFC round 3 It was an individual performance that the large crowd in Hawkfield will never forget as Eoghan O'Flaherty kicked 1-11 to help Carbury come back from a six-point deficit to seal their place in the Senior Championship quarter-finals and end Castledermot's summer early. Things couldn't have started much better for the Blues as they surged into a six-point inside the opening five minutes to stun their more experienced opponents. David Dooley began their scoring spree with an excellently dispatched shot from the left wing, while a close range point from David Keating quickly followed. The long ball into the imposing figure of Oisin Doherty in the Castledermot full-forward line was a feature of the opening 15 minutes, and it reaped dividends on numerous occasions. The first ball played towards him resulted in consternation around the Carbury goalmouth, and when goalkeeper Declan Conroy fouled the ball in the area, a penalty was awarded. Gavin Keating placed the ball down, but he sent his effort more or less down the middle and Conroy easily saved. His goal wasn't safe for long however, as a sideline ball from David Keating found Doherty close to goal and he thundered a finish to the back of the net. Another score Keating after a neat interchange with Doherty set them up with a 1-3 to 0-0 early on. Eoghan O'Flaherty was pushed in towards the Carbury full-forward line at this stage to try and grab his side a foothold in the game, and he did just that by winning and converting a penalty to register the west Kildare team's first score of the game. Emmet O'Keefe replied with a point at the other end, but a further two scores from O'Flaherty brought Carbury to within two points of their opponents. Castledermot took the initiative once again at that stage though, and they kicked five points to Carbury's one before the end of the half. Three of those came in the space of as many minutes as they continued to win breaks around the middle of the park from Carbury's kickouts, allowing Gavin Keating, his brother David and John Joe McMahon all to raise white flags. O'Flaherty offered some resistance by kicking his third point of the day into the Newbridge end, but two more points from Gavin Keating sent Castledermot in with a 1-9 to 1-3 lead at the interval. Carbury introduced Willie Groome and James Kelly at the break in the hope of sparking a revival, but they again looked to their star man to turn the tide of the game. He began the scoring four minutes after the restart with an excellent point from play, but Gavin Keating responded at the other end with a point from a '45. O'Flaherty landed another couple of points, one from a free, before Andy Dermody finally ensured that his colleague would not be the sole contributor to the scoreboard when he kicked over a close range point. Gavin Keating was becoming the go-to man for the south Kildare men, and he kicked a lovely point to increase their advantage to three once again. Carbury were growing in confidence though, and supported by a raucous crowd, they kicked on and took the lead. A '45 was converted by O'Flaherty, before the crucial score came as Stephen McGlynn bundled the ball into the net from close range after another O'Flaherty attempt from a '45 dropped short. That levelled the game at 2-9 to 1-12, and a clearly shellshocked Castledermot never recovered. O'Flaherty kicked them into the lead with another exquisite point, before adding two more for good measure, and when Willie Groome sent over a point from play three minutes from time the tie looked safe. There was panic at the Carbury goalmouth towards the end as David Keating, Emmet O'Keefe and Doherty all came close to finding the net, but we're denied by some last ditch blocks. Carbury saw the game out with another point from Dermody and a goal from Alan Kearney late on as they sealed their spot in the quarter-final stages. Scorers for Carbury: E O'Flaherty 1-11(4F), A Kearney 1-0, A Dermody 0-2, W Groome 0-1. Scorers for Castledermot: G Keating 0-(1'45, 5f), D Keating 0-3, O Doherty 1-0, E O'Keefe, JJ Mahon and D Dooley 0-1 each.   Carbury D Conroy; G Mangan(J Kelly ht), B O'Flaherty, K O'Neill; S McKeon, M O'Flaherty, S Moore; T Collerey, S Costello; L Pender(W Groome ht), E O'Flaherty, M Kelly; T Rossiter, A Dermody, S McGlynn. Castledermot P Murphy; T Murphy, B Kelly, B Nolan; D Dooley(W Kelly 42mins), Paraic Murphy, A Roche; G Farrell, B Nolan; JJ Mahon, D Keating, O Doherty; D Farrell(A Murphy 40mins), E O'Keefe, G Keating.