Geraghty's Castledaly cruise into quarter-finals

NEEDING a win to be sure of a place in the quarter-finals of this year's senior football championship, Castledaly made light of their pressurised situation when coasting to victory over St Malachy's at Moate last Friday evening. Similar to their last Division 1 outing, a win against Tubberclair, Castledaly did most of the damage here in the second half, outplaying and outscoring (by 1-6 to 0-1) their opponents after the restart. Up until that point, St Malachy's (who only had two points going into the game but were fully safe from relegation and assured of top-grade football next year), had stayed in touch with Graham Geraghty's green and golds. Alan Stone's eleventh minute goal was all that stood between the teams at the interval, but Castledaly simply blew Malachy's away in the second half, with the evergreen Paddy Corcoran registering the Castletown-Geoghegan men's sole score of the second half with just four minutes remaining. The defeated Malachy's team had little to play for, so perhaps their second half capitulation was slightly understandable, but Castledaly won't worry at all about that, as they now progress to take on Mullingar Shamrocks in the quarter-finals. Shamrocks will provide an extremely stern test of Castledaly's mettle, and most observers will have the 2008 champions as underdogs going into the last-six match. Mullingar Shamrocks won four of five group games, losing only to Garrycastle (hardly something to be embarrassed about given Garrycastle's current form and huge aspirations to retain the championship), and the green and whites (last winners at senior level in 2000), will harbour serious ambitions of reaching at least the semi-finals this time around. That's for another day for Castledaly though, and here they were just far too strong for St Malachy's. The Kellys, Brendan and Paul, contributed 1-4 to Castledaly's success, while other key performers included Liam Fitzpatrick, Niall O'Neill, Niall and Gordon Duffy at midfield, and full-forward Alan Stone. The hugely reliable MJ McLoughlin also chipped in with four points, and the truth is Castledaly could've racked up several more scores had they been more accurate in front of goal. They kicked six wides by the 20th minute, and at times showed a worrying carelessness when shooting, and they'll certainly have to eradicate such sloppiness when they meet Shamrocks. Alan Stone's calm finish to the net, after involvement from MJ McLoughlin and Paul Kelly, gave Castledaly a three-point cushion in the eleventh minute. Prior to the goal, Malachy's had opened the scoring during the game's first notable attack, with Sean Whelan pointing well. Castledaly quickly hit back and were in front by a point in the third minute thanks to scores from Brendan and Paul Kelly. A neat move involving Sean Whelan and Tommy Carey set up former Westmeath star Alan Mangan to equalise matters on five minutes, before Stone placed the ball into the back of the net to put Castledaly ahead by three. Four minutes later, that lead was stretched by MJ McLoughlin's free, but Ronan Whelan's fisted point reduced arrears. Castledaly then went through a turbulent ten-minute period in front of goal, missing chance after chance, but they were still controlling much of the game, and eventually got four points clear thanks to the trusted boot of MJ McLoughlin. That became a five-point advantage following the best team move of the half. Started in defence by the excellent Liam Fitzpatrick, Castledaly raced upfield. Three more players, including the hard-working Gordon Duffy, were involved as the ball was worked to MJ to score again. It was proof, if needed, of the potential within this Castledaly side. Malachy's rallied before the break and points by Tommy Carey and Alan Mangan, the latter a superb catch and shot on the turn, reduced the deficit to three points (1-5 to 0-5) at the short whistle. However, the contest more or less ended there, as Castledaly steamrolled Malachy's during a one-sided second half.Within two minutes of the restart, Brendan Kelly and Niall Duffy worked a lovely interchange of passes, with the former finding range. David Lynch then fouled Brendan Kelly, and Castledaly netted their second goal from the resulting free. Stone's free dropped short of the posts, but Brendan Kelly reacted quickest and punched the ball into the roof of the net. Malachy's defence was asleep for this goal, and Castledaly were even points to the good. There was no way back for the black and reds, as Brendan Kelly, Alan Stone and MJ McLoughlin all pointed by the midway point in the second half. A raft of substitutions (six in as many minutes) brought about a disjointed feel to the game, before John Warburton scored a fine point for Castledaly with five minutes remaining. A minute later, Paddy Corcoran grabbed a consolation point for Malachy's (a brilliant individual effort close to the right touchline), but the final word aptly went to Castledaly, when substitute Eoin Fleming pointed a free after a foul by Eamon "g Clarke on Paul Kelly. As it turned out, a draw for Castledaly would've been enough to qualify, with Killucan drawing with Tyrrellspass on Sunday. However, nobody was to know that last Friday and Castledaly went about their job in a largely thorough and orderly fashion. As stated previously, they need to fine-tune their shooting ahead of the game against Mullingar Shamrocks, but qualification for the knockout stages would've been Castledaly's goal at the outset of the competition, and they deserve credit for achieving it. Three wins from five group games is now a bad return for Graham Geraghty's men, but one suspects things will get far tougher from here on in. SCORERS - Castledaly: B Kelly 1-3, A Stone 1-1, MJ McLoughlin 0-4 (1f), P Kelly 0-1, J Warburton 0-1, E Fleming 0-1 (f). St Malachy's: A Mangan 0-2, S Whelan 0-1, R Whelan 0-1, T Carey 0-1, P Corcoran 0-1. TEAMS - Castledaly: Justin Coughlan; Adrian Kelly, Liam Fiztpatrick, Niall O'Neill; Michael Gavin, Enda Kelly, John Warburton; Gordon Duffy, Niall Duffy; Patrick Holloway, MJ McLoughlin, Brendan Kelly; Lorcan Dolan, Alan Stone, Paul Kelly. Subs: Russell Casey for Stone (50 mins), MJ Kelly for G Duffy (50), Eoin Fleming for Dolan (54), Eamon Fleming for Holloway (54), Paul Henson for Warburton (56). St Malachy's: Gary Jackson; Paul Newman, Johnny Tuite, Michael Dever; Shane Carey, David Lynch, Eamon "g Clarke; Aonghus Clarke, Paddy Corcoran; Ciaran Favier, Alan Mangan, Jordy Cassidy; Ronan Whelan, Tommy Carey, Sean Whelan. Subs: Dean McDermott for Favier (48 mins), Adam Kerroum for Cassidy (48), Michael Cunningham for A Clarke (55), Mark McDermott for R Whelan (55). Referee: Shane Farrell.