Sarsfields dish out 18-point hammering to Confey in facile win over 2016 league champions

Sarsfields   2-18 Confey        0-6 Joe Mallon SFC Group D round one Confey were the Division 1 league champions in 2016, so when they are beaten by 18 points in a group stage championship game against an understrength Sarsfields team it makes for grim reading. They never looked like winning a game that was one sided from the opening stages, and the fact that they only had one scorer on the day is equally as striking as the result itself. The north Kildare side managed just one point from play too, that coming in the 57^th minute from James Gately who at least carried the fight to the 2016 county champions. Losing manager Davy Burke might have had a big effect on this side, but it surely can’t be so drastic to make them look so short of the basic skills and organisation to compete at senior level. They will have just seven days to regroup from such a disheartening display and prepare for another tough battle against Celbridge in the second round of the group stage. Sarsfields, however, will be strong favourites to achieve a similar result against Eadestown after impressing here without a number of their regular starters from championship campaigns gone by. The fact that Confey actually opened the scoring in this game is quite bizarre considering the final result, and in truth this game was pretty much over by the time Sarsfields had opened up a five-point lead after eight minutes. James Gately got the first point from a 13-metre free in the first minute, but the Sarsfields juggernaut started rolling soon after as a long ball from Conn Whelan found Dan Nea inside the square, and, being the excellent poacher he is, the corner-forward duly found the net. Ronan Fitzgibbon followed up with a nice point before Gary White smacked over a ’45 and Darragh Ryan curled over the first of his three points in the opening 30 minutes from distance. They continued to pile on the pressure and could have had a second goal when Alan Smith got in one on one with Colin Heeney, but the former Kildare ‘keeper parried his shot over for a point. Further scores from White and Smith through placed balls only widened the gap, and by the time Ryan had stroked over his second of the afternoon in the 17^th minute Sarsfields were leading by 10. Smith added another from a free before helping to set up the second goal as he played the ball in to Nea who exchanged a one-two with Adam Donoghue before finding the net from a tight angle. Confey eventually broke their duck in the 27^th minute as Gately struck from a free, but further points from Ryan and an excellent effort from Cian McConnell sent the Sash into the break with a 2-11 to 0-2 advantage. The second half was really a formality, and if referee Owen Murphy could have blown it up early it would have suited all parties in St Conleth’s Park. The second 30 minutes produced little in the way of intensity or excitement as Sarsfields just went through the motions while Confey were just hoping to limit the damage. Ben McCormack came more into the game as he struck a couple of excellent points, while Smith continued to hit the target from frees. Centre-back Sean Campbell also stroked over a beauty midway through the half, while Gary White boomed over another impressive point from a ’45 too. Gately finally got Confey’s first and only score of the game from play with three minutes of normal time left on the clock, and his late free was the last action of a tie that will not live long in the memory. Scorers for Sarsfields: A Smith 0-7(4f), D Nea 2-0, G White (2’45, 1f) and D Ryan 0-3 each, B McCormack 0-2, R Fitzgibbon, C McConnell and S Campbell 0-1 each. Scorers for Confey: J Gately 0-6(5f). Sarsfields Andy O’Brien; Shane Hurley, Tom Aspell, Cian Byrne; Cian McConnell, Sean Campbell, Adam Donoghue; Gary White, David Marnell; Conn Whelan, Ben McCormack, Darragh Ryan; Dan Nea, Alan Smith, Ronan Fitzgibbon. Subs used: Ray Cahill for Fitzgibbon 42mins, Ciaran McInerney Aspell for McConnell 43mins, Caoimghin McDonnell for Whelan 45mins, Cian Costigan for Nea 52mins, Dean Domican for Marnell 57mins. Confey Colin Heeney; Conor Dennehy, Colm Chan, Imad Mirza; Robbie McMahon; Luke Quinn, Donal McLean, Cathal Jennings; Paul Divilly, Gearoid O’Sullivan; Paddy Griffin, David Slattery, Karl Smyth; James Gately, Eoin Dennehy. Subs used: Eoin Fallon for McMahon 43mins, Ciaran Lyons for O’Sullivan 45mins.