Garrycastle 1-11
Emmet Óg Killoe (Longford ) 1-10
Dessie Dolan struck a last gasp point as Garrycastle won a lively Leinster Senior Club Football Championship quarter-final over Emmet Óg Killoe at Cusack Park on Sunday.
There was plenty of late drama and controversy as the Longford outfit had a goal disallowed in the closing stages of a well-contested encounter at the Mullingar venue. It seemed as if Darragh Bennett’s late effort would edge Emmet Óg into the penultimate round, but a goal wasn’t awarded.
It was a frenetic match from start to finish as the visitors were keen to cause a mild surprise in the Midlands. Eugene Clarke and Larry Moran were instrumental in the build up to Paddy Thompson’s opportunistic second minute goal for Killoe.
Inevitably Dessie Dolan occupied a central role in Garrycastle’s recovery and the Westmeath champions were level by half-time, 1-4 to 0-7.
After the restart Emmet Óg made another burst as Ronan McGoldrick was sharp in attack, but Garrycastle remained calm. James Duignan injected urgency into Garrycastle’s play nailing a delightful point before manufacturing a goal for Mark McCallon when combining with the excellent Dessie Dolan.
Michael Quinn was effective for Killoe, who drew level, but Dessie Dolan returned to centre stage kicking a point from an acute angle as Garrycastle prevailed. Having emerged from Westmeath, Garrycastle now face All Ireland champions St Vincent’s at Parnell Park on Sunday November 23.
Garrycastle: C Mullin; M McCallon (1-0 ), J Donoghue, A Fox; K Henson, J Gaffey, G McCallon (0-1 ); J Barrett, A Browne; A Gardiner, D Dolan (0-5, 2fs ), M Guiheen; C Cosgrove (0-1 ), G Dolan, J Dolan (0-1 ). Subs: M Monaghan (0-2, 1f ) for Guiheen (19 mins ), D Rushe for Cosgrove (h-t ), J Duignan (0-1 ) for Gardiner (43 mins ), S O’Donoghue for Rushe (b/c, 54 mins ).
Emmet Óg Killoe: S McCoy; C Farrelly, D Bennett, D Keogh; S Dowd, J McCormack, R Keogh; P Thompson (1-0 ), S Kiernan; D McGoldrick (0-4, 3fs ), M Quinn (0-2 ), E Clarke; L Moran (0-1 ), S McCormack (0-1, free ), M Hughes. Subs: R McGoldrick (0-2 ) for Farrelly (black card, 13 mins ), P Kiernan for Clarke (37 mins ), L Hughes for Moran (57 mins ).
Referee: F Smyth (Offaly ).
