Last gasp winner sees Sarsfields past Athy in edgy affair at Geraldine Park
Sarsfields came out on top against Athy, 1-15 to 1-14, thanks to a late winner from Karl Hartley in their Kildare SFL Round 9 meeting
It was changes galore for both sides when Athy met Sarsfields in Division 1 Round 9 action on a bright Thursday evening at Geraldine Park with the away side grabbing a late winner through Karl Hartley to emerge victorious in this Kildare Senior Football League Division 1 clash.
The win keeps Sash in the hunt and keeps Athy under pressure.
The sun shone but little else did in the opening exchanges. A Niall Kelly free opened the scoring before Matty Byrne injected some real quality with a side-footed two-pointer at the other end. Tony Gibbons made this game 0-2 apiece after 10 played.
After singles from Barry Coffey and Killian Mulhall, Sarsfields went two clear with their second orange flag when Jake Loakman boomed one between the sticks from well outside the arc.
It was a short-lived advantage with Athy hitting the front with a green flag. Tony Gibbons was seemingly surrounded but spun and was dragged and eventually managed a scuffed half-volley effort that was far from textbook but was enough to find the net past Marc Courtney Byrne.
A fine Niall Kelly score from a tight angle put Athy 1-4 to 0-5 ahead after 15 minutes.
Coffey hit again for his second point, this time from a free, before back-to-back points from the aforementioned Kelly, which were then followed by Coffey’s third.
Ryan Kearney had The Sash within one again with five minutes to go before the break but it was Athy who surged late with the halves final three scores to carry a 1-9 to 0-8 lead in at the interval.
Sash were second best in the first half but, much like a sleepy commuter, had Coffey to wake them up. The Sarsfields star hit 1-1 without reply after the restart to level this game for the first time since the 12th minute.
Kelly and Kearney knocked one over at each end but, after a lull proceedings, Kelly struck again, this time from outside the arc, to fire the home side ahead with 10 minutes to go.
Athy went two clear when Brian Kelly slotted a score from a tight angle no more than 20 seconds after entering the field.
Marc Courtney Byrne slotted a single for Sarsfields before Jack Dooley fired back to leave the boys in red with a two-point lead with three minutes to go.
The Sash goalkeeper then had the chance to level things in the 59th minute after Athy breached the 3v3 laws and the trailing side opted for an outer arc effort. Courtney Byrne delivered a fine score to draw this game level at 1-14 apiece.
The winning score came just past the hour mark after superb build up play from Sarsfields. The visitors bided their time and worked the ball to Karl Hartley who cut inside and fired between the posts under intense Athy pressure.
Hartley’s first and only point of the game was enough to get a win for his side on a scoreline of 1-15 to 1-14.
Sarsfields: Barry Coffey 1-4 (0-2 frees), Marc Courtney Byrne 0-3 (0-3 frees, 1 x 2ptf), Matty Byrne 0-2 (1 x 2pt), Jake Loakman 0-2 (1 x 2pt), Ryan Kearney 0-2, Rian Beagan 0-1, Karl Hartley 0-1.
Athy: Niall Kelly 0-8 (0-2 frees, 1 x 2pt), Tony Gibbons 1-1, Killian Mulhall 0-1, Kieran Farrell 0-1, Ben Purcell 0-1, Brian Kelly 0-1, Jack Dooley 0-1.
SARSFIELDS: Marc Courtney Byrne; Jimmy O'Neill, Cian Hughes, David Huggins; David Shalvey, Barry Coffey, Colm Hartnett; Matty Byrne, Shane Higgins; Rian Beagan, Ryan Kearney, Alan Scully; Jake Loakman, Karl Hartley, Conor O'Donovan. Subs: Harry Redmond for Shane Higgins (Half-time), Shane Doyle for Jake Loakman (48 minutes), Cian Costigan for Conor O'Donovan (57 minutes), Ronan Fitzgibbon for David Shalvey (57 minutes), Ethan Mountaine for Jimmy O'Neill (58 minutes).
ATHY: James Roycroft; Michael Spillane, Mark Hyland, Niall McEvoy; Killian Mulhall, Sean Moore, Cian Keaveny; Conor Kelly, Jack Dooley; Ben Purcell, Kieran Farrell, Conor Doyle; Cathal Kennedy, Tony Gibbons, Niall Kelly. Subs: Paidi Behan for Cathal Kennedy (37 minutes), Brian Maher for Killian Mulhall (44 minutes), Brian Kelly for Kieran Farrell (52 minutes).
Referee: Paddy McDermott