Kelly lands 8 points in sensational display to guide Athy to 10-point rout of Carbury
Athy 1-22
Carbury 0-15
Joe Mallon SFC Group B round one
Niall Kelly was the star of the show for Athy as he kicked eight points from play in a sensational display to guide his team to an easy win over Carbury. In what looked set to be one of the most evenly contested games of the weekend, a first half scoring burst from Emmanuel Kennedy’s men paved the way to a 10-point win over a Carbury side that were well short of their best form.
The style and panache in which Kelly kicked many of his scores was a joy to behold, and he ably helped in the scoring stakes by the marauding David Hyland who surged forward from the half-back line time and again to cause serious damage.
Athy showed no hangover from their Division 2 league title win just seven days previous, and on this display they will take some beating.
Athy kicked off this game in determined fashion, surging three points clear early on as their attack looked menacing right from the get go. James Eaton burst through to nudge over the opening point in the second minute, before adding a second from a free, and Niall Kelly then curled over his first of the day with a fine effort from a tight angle.
Carbury eventually settled into the game around five or six minutes in, and it was veteran Morgan O’Flaherty who got them up and running with a tidy score, though Kelly responded at the other end with a good point from the right wing.
Two points in quick succession following for Sean McLoughlin’s side, Jack Cully cutting through at pace to deliver the first before O’Flaherty slipped over his second under pressure as the gap was cut to one midway through the half. Kelly was continuing to cause serious problems at the other end though, and another fine point doubled his side’s lead.
All-Ireland winning U20 goalkeeper Aaron O’Neill impressed at midfield in the opening stages, and he showed good composure in front of goal to angle over a point before Eoghan O’Flaherty’s first of the evening levelled matters at 0-5 apiece.
Athy dominated the rest of the first half however, and an eight minute scoring burst which delivered 1-5 ultimately settled the game. Kelly and Cian Reynolds both raised white flags before Kevin Feely, roaming between midfield and full-forward curled over a couple of tidy points to out the south Kildare men in control.
Kelly’s brilliant point from the left wing on 24 minutes was one of the scores of the day, and that arrived just a minute before the breakthrough goal. Barry Kelly won a ball close to goal and showed plenty of selflessness to slip it out to David Hyland, allowing the Kildare full-back to round Declan Conroy and find the net.
Carbury could have goaled at the other end almost immediately afterwards when Eoghan O’Flaherty found space, but his rasping effort hit the underside of the bar and was smothered by Sean Ronan.
Further points from Barry Kelly and Hyland pushed Athy further ahead, though O’Flaherty did manage one final score from a free before the end of the half to leave the scores at 1-12 to 0-6 at the turnaround.
The second half was a bit of a listless affair as the intensity plummeted and the only thing left to determine was what margin of victory Athy would record.
It started in the same pattern that the majority of the first half followed, with Athy bagging the first three points as Hyland, Barry Kelly and Eaton all hit the target, the latter finishing a fine team move that opened up the Carbury rearguard like a tin opener.
O’Flaherty knocked over Carbury’s first point of the new half six minutes in, but that was immediately cancelled out and bettered by a couple of converted Liam McGovern frees. Stephen McGlynn impressed off the bench for Carbury, and his impressive long range point was a rare bright spark in the second half.
After Niall Kelly had kicked Athy 12 points clear they seemed to completely take their foot off the gas as they emptied their bench and went through a spell of around 15 minutes without a score.
Carbury managed to bite into the Athy lead as O’Flaherty kicked four points in a row from frees, but that was only ever putting some gloss on a facile scoreline.
Niall Kelly and McGovern were both on target before the final whistle, while David Kelly, a star of last year’s Kildare minor team, knocked over an excellent point from distance near the end. It was all inconsequential however as Athy had done the hard work in the first half to set up their easy win.
Scorers for Athy: N Kelly 0-8, D Hyland 1-3, J Eaton(1f) and L McGovern(2f) 0-3 each, K Feely and B Kelly 0-2 each, C Reynolds 0-1.
Scorers for Carbury: E O’Flaherty 0-9(7f), M O’Flaherty 0-2, A O’Neill, S McGlynn, D Kelly and J Cully 0-1 each.
Athy
Stephen Davies; Killian Mulhall, David Hyland, Conor Ronan; Sean Ronan, Mark Hyland, Ross Bell; Kevin Feely, Pascal Connell; Liam McGovern, Paddy Dunne, James Eaton; Hughie Mahon, Barry Kelly, Niall Kelly.
Subs used: Darroch Mulhall for Reynolds 32mins, John Moran for Bell 35mins, David Holligan for C Ronan 48mins, Tadgh Foley for Connell 48mins, Kieran Farrell for Eaton 56mins,
Carbury
Declan Conroy; Kevin O’Neill, Josh Browne, Danny Boyle; Morgan O’Flaherty, Brian O’Flaherty, Ger Hunston; Willie Groome, Aaron O’Neill; Andy Dermody, Derek McCormack, Eoghan O’Flaherty; Jack Cully, James Kelly, Sean Haslem.
Subs used: Stephen McGlynn for K O’Neill HT, David Kelly for McCormack 44mins, Dale Redmond for J Kelly 44mins, Mark Cully for J Cully 55mins.