Rathgormack see off spirited Stradbally to seal semi-final spot
Rathgormack's Stephen Curry tries to win possession ahead of Stradbally's Donncha Dunphy and Seathrún Kiersey during their JJ Kavanagh & Sons Co. SFC clash at Cappoquin Logistics Fraher Field. Photo: Maurice Hennebry
County champions Rathgormack are now just two wins away from a fourth successive Conway Cup after they saw off a spirited challenge from Stradbally to top Group B and secure their passage to the semi-finals of the Waterford Senior Football Championship on Saturday night.
Stradbally, going in to the game off the back of two heavy defeats, produced their best performance in quite some time - spearheaded by the magnificent Michael O’Brien, who kicked 1-8 - raising four orange flags in the process.
Stradbally led at the break, but were outscored 1-10 to 0-4 in the second period as Kenny Hassett’s men made it 19 wins in a row in Waterford.
Rathgormack hit the front after a minute when Conor Murray ran the length of the pitch and capped it off with a fine score, but Stradbally hit back in style as O’Brien curled over a superb two-pointer from play off the left flank with four minutes played.
Stephen Curry levelled, but there was soon trouble for the champions as goalkeeper Paudie Hunt went off injured - and two Pa Skehan frees made it 0-4 to 0-2 in Stradbally’s favour.
Thomas Skehan teed up Adam Murray to cut the gap to one, and Murray was then afforded acres to make it 0-4 apiece, before substitute goalkeeper Conor Drohan made a good stop to deny Paul Tobin. A fantastic Francis Roche effort eked Rathgormack back ahead - but they trailed again on 22 minutes, thanks to the magic of Michael O’Brien.
Michael Mullaney played a great ball on top of O’Brien and the county forward slipped in behind Tom Walsh, before burying it past Drohan to the bottom right corner as the shock looked on the cards. Rathgormack responded brightly as Jason Curry, Stephen Curry and Conor Murray all found the target in succession, but in stoppage time - O’Brien nailed a two-point free off the ground, and the underdogs held a 1-6 to 0-8 advantage at the interval.
A third score from play by Stephen Curry levelled matters again on the resumption, and the same man was on hand to score a fourth following good work from Glen Power moments later. O’Brien was single-handedly keeping up the fight however, as another orange flag waved following a perfect connection just outside the arc.
Francis Roche levelled for the fifth time on 39 minutes, and it was from this point onwards that the champions assumed control. Adam Murray played in Roche to grab his third point, before two frees from Jason Curry pushed them into a three-point lead heading to the final quarter.
Stephen Curry gave the Stradbally defence a torrid time all night, cutting inside his man to notch a fifth, before adding a sixth moments later following a great burst forward from Reece O’Mahony which almost yielded a goal.
It didn’t take long to yield the insurance score though as the goal did arrive with 56 minutes gone - a Michael Curry strike dropped short but it fell into the grateful arms of Thomas Skehan, and he turned and buried it to the right hand corner of the net to end the game as a contest.
There was still time for O’Brien to impressively add a fourth orange flag with another long-range free, but two dead balls from Jason Curry rounded out the scoring as Rathgormack wound up comfortable eight-point winners at the finish, despite that seeming unlikely at times.
The loss of Paudie Hunt and Conor Murray to injury will put a dampener on the result, but there will be plenty of time to nurse them back to health as it’ll be the last four by the next time we see the men in green and red.
Stephen Curry (0-6); Jason Curry (0-5; 0-4f); Thomas Skehan (1-0); Francis Roche (0-3); Conor Murray and Adam Murray (0-2 each)
Michael O’Brien (1-8; 0-6f; 3 tpf; 1 tp); Pa Skehan (0-2; 0-2f)
Paudie Hunt; Liam Mulligan, Sean Hahessy, Ger Hahessy; Glen Power, Tom Walsh, Reece O’Mahony; Michael Curry, Peter Walsh; Thomas Skehan, Francis Roche, Jason Curry; Adam Murray, Stephen Curry, Conor Murray.
Conor Drohan for Paudie Hunt (5; inj); Tom Lynch for Conor Murray (45; inj); Cathal Crowch for Glen Power (46); Ronan Elliffe for Adam Murray (52); Stephen Kirwan for Stephen Curry (57)
Darragh Farrell; Brendan Gough, Seathrún Kiersey, Paul Connors; Liam Kiersey, Liam Fennell, Donncha Dunphy; Jack Mullaney, Cormac McGrath; Pa Skehan, Michael O’Brien, John Bruton; Conor Fennell, Paul Tobin, Michael Mullaney.
Cian Weldon for Paul Connors (47); Matthew Fitzgerald for John Bruton (58); Barry O’Brien for Brendan Gough (59)
Eoin Morrissey (Erin’s Own)
