Last gasp Egan score secures Clane’s senior status as Leixlip drop to Intermediate Championship

Clane 0-13 Leixlip 0-12 Joe Mallon SFC relegation final By Robert Cribbin A fisted point in the fifth minute of stoppage time from Danny Egan helped Clane hold on to their Senior Status by the edge of their fingertips with a one point victory over Leixlip. Leixlip had looked like they were on the verge of winning the game when leading 0-12 to 0-10 with five minutes remaining but the Clane bench had a huge impact with Ethan O’Donoghue and then Egan scoring as they found a way to dig out the victory. It was a game full of drama and talking points as both teams finished with 14 men with Jack Barrett getting a straight red card for Leixlip at the start of the second half while Paddy Regan also went on a couple of yellow cards. In a tight and tense affair it was Leixlip who got the opening score with an Eamonn  Murphy free. Rob Tone extended the lead a couple of minutes later while Brian Claffey had a chance for a goal when he palmed a shot into the sidenetting from a dropping sideline ball courtesy of Tommy Moolick. Chris Byrne got Clane’s first point from a difficult angle in the 9^th minute before himself and Mikey Culhane scored to edge Clane into a 0-3 to 0-2 lead halfway through the half. Murphy got his second point with a fisted effort to level up matters again before the sides shared efforts with Culhane and Bernard Deay registering for Clane in response to Murphy and Paddy Meagher. Jake Devey got up from corner back to put Clane back in front but there would be no separating them at the interval after another Murphy free found the target to leave the sides at 0-6 apiece. The action was not over there though as after Murphy landed the free, bits of handbags started out amongst the players with Cathal Egan ending up on the ground. As a result before the ball was thrown in for the second half referee Niall Colgan gave Jack Barrett a straight red card for his role in the incident and for the second game in a row Leixlip had to play on with a man less. After the interference Clane retook the lead with a Brian McLoughlin free and the full forward also had a glorious goal chance but he was denied by Shane O’Meara. Minutes later Paddy Regan was sent off on a second bookable offence to level up matters but Clane still held control with points from McLoughlin, Byrne and Deay. Leixlip were slowly but surely beginning to turn the screw though and after Moolick, Meagher, Murphy and Brian Claffey scored to level matters, it looked set for a dramatic ending. Leixlip looked poised for victory when Meagher and sub Cathal Melville put them 0-12 to 0-10 in front but they went scoreless for the last ten minutes as Clane battled back. Clane emptied their bench in pure desperation late on but it paid off with Danny Egan and Ethan O’Donoghue scoring to bring the sides level. The team in white were blessed when Paddy McKenna denied a goalbound effort from Murphy in the final moments while Leixlip had a late chance from a free but the move broke down and Clane countered at pace with O’Donoghue and Cathal Geoghan combining to set up Egan who fisted between the posts. The final whistle went soon afterwards as Clane crept to a 0-13 to 0-12 victory as Leixlip drop down to the Intermediate grade for the first time since the 1980’s. Scorers for Clane: C.Byrne 0-3, M.Culhane 0-2 (0-1f), B.Deay 0-2, D.Egan 0-2, B.McLoughlin 0-2 (0-2fs), J.Devey 0-1 and E O’Donoghue 0-1. Scorers for Leixlip: E.Murphy 0-5 (0-4fs), P.Meagher 0-3, B.Claffey 0-1, T.Moolick 0-1, R.Tone 0-1 and C.Melville 0-1. Clane Paddy McKenna; Noel Haverty, Paddy Regan, Jake Devey, Tomas Fahey, Cathal Egan, Tadhg Montgomery, Eoin Naughton, Cian O’Donoghue, Cathal Geoghan, Mikey Culhane, Robbie Hyland, Chris Byrne, Brian McLoughlin, Bernard Deay. Subs used: Sam McCormack for Montgomery h-t, Brian Corbett for Devey 44 mins, James Behan for Hyland 50 mins, Danny Egan for Byrne 52 mins, Ethan O’Donoghue for McLoughlin 52 mins, Conor Murphy for Deay 55 mins. Leixlip Shane O’Meara; John Roche, Ryan Doyle, Ciaran Fadian, Tom Gibbons, Brian Gibbons, Rob Tone, Tommy Moolick, Brian Claffey, Padraig Mulrennan, Paddy Meagher, Dessie Hynes, Ciaran Masterson, Eamonn Murphy, Jack Barrett. Subs used: Cormac O’Toole for Masterson h-t, Paul O’Neill for Doyle 40 mins, Cathal Melville for Mulrennan 45 mins, Ivan Clancy for Hynes 50 mins.