Sunday July 3 - Senior Football: Wolfe Tones v Shannon Blues

Shannon Blues 0-5 Wolfe Tones 1-15


The Wolfe Tones and the Blues produced somewhat of a surprise, the margin of victory being the surprise. The Tones fielded a team with former Meath star, Charles McCarthy, in the middle of the field, while Gary Brilly dropped into the half back line. The Tones got a grip on the game early on and kept a tight hold on for the 60 minutes, stifling the Blues for the duration of the game. The Blues did not get any chance of staging a comeback of any sort and will be hoping to put the performance behind them as quickly as possible

Dan McCabe tries to stop Denis McElligott.

Wolfe Tones put on a blistering first half performance to take the break 8 points ahead of the their opponents. The Southie side were on top in all facets of the game, from the full back line of Ken Regan and Eoin Naughton to Dan McCabe and James Doyle in the forward line. With the Tones picking off points and the Blues struggling to gain momentum, a goal was almost inevitable. It came with about 10 minutes to go in the first half. Brilly won the ball on his own endline, and after Brian Kinaton ran the ball the length of the field, Marty Farrell found the unmarked James Doyle who finished with a cool head. The goal put the Tones 1-7 to 0-2 ahead. After Farrell and Shane Carroll exchanged points it was 1-8 to 0-3 at the break.

Luke Kavanagh and the Tones kept a lid on the Blues challenge.

The second half continued on the same vein as the first. The Tones moved the ball well and worked well in support of each other. The Blues made changes early in an effort to get something going their way, but not much changed in that respect. With the Tones closing the spaces down in their own back line the South Boston side suffocated the Blues forwards. More points soared over the bar for the Tones from Sean Dalton, BlachField and Farrell. Things got a little bit testy in the latter stages of the game as the result became foregone conclusion. The Blues endeavored to get a consolation goal, but even that eluded them as the Tones kept the door firmly shut. A great win for the Tones, while the Blues will be looking for much better things from their next outing.

Blues:  G. Kissane, S. Kelly, S. Mann, P. Magee, D. McElligott, C. Mullen, P. Murray, B. Shanahan, S. Carroll (0-1), S. Cahill, K. O’Shea, K. Hurley (0-4), M. Lyons.  Tones:  C. Hynes, K. Regan, E. Naughton, D. Maguire, B. Kinaton, G. Brilly (0-1), L. Kavanagh, C. McCarthy, S. Dalton (0-2), M. Farrell (0-1), B. Blanchfield (0-3), D. McCabe, J. Doyle (1-2).

By Rory O'Donnell