Coralstown-Kinnegad deny Caulry to secure last four spot

Coralstown/Kinnegad 1-17, Caulry 0-15

In a battle between two former Westmeath managers, Jack Cooney came out on top against Pat Flanagan as Coralstown-Kinnegad booked their place in the semi-finals of the senior championship with a deserved victory over Caulry.

Their next step will be considerably tougher. St Loman’s, the reigning champions and the team who defeated them in the 2023 decider, await in the semi-final amid increasing evidence they are peaking at the right time.

You could say the same about Coralstown-Kinnegad, though. They may have taken their time to book their place in the quarter-finals but momentum is on their side, Sunday’s five-point victory coming on the back of their three-point win over Athlone, eight days earlier.

They have plenty of things in their favour. Fit, organised, disciplined, they are able to switch their gameplan from a counter attacking strategy to a more direct form of play depending on the circumstances.

The pace and height of their inside line facilitates this variation and the benefit of a strong bench ensures they have the options as well as the conditioning to play at full-pelt for 60 minutes. In other words, St Loman’s need to be on their guard. This won’t be easy.

It certainly wasn’t a comfortable afternoon for Caulry as Coralstown-Kinnegad immediately asserted their authority. Brían Cooney got the opening point of the game after just two minutes, Eoghan Bracken adding his name to the scoresheet just a couple of minutes later.

By the time Ger Leech got his first free of the day, things were looking ominous for Caulry, but a recurring theme was Caulry’s ability to get a score when they desperately needed one. That’s precisely what happened when Conor McCormack nailed a 50-yard free to cut the gap to a point; Kinnegad 0-3, Caulry 0-2, with seven minutes on the clock.

This minor setback didn’t disrupt Kinnegad’s flow, however, as they rigidly stuck to their gameplan, regularly dropping 12 men into their own half to smother Caulry’s attack before counter attacking in droves whenever they reclaimed possession. The scores kept coming. Dan Leech got his first point of the day on eight minutes, Darren Giles a two-point free shortly afterwards.

An even bigger break came a minute later when Eoin O’Brien’s attempted point rebounded off the post; Cooney on hand to collect the rebound from where he fired his shot across Jack Connaughton and into the net, putting them 1-6 to 0-2 ahead after 11 minutes.

Again, questions were asked of Caulry, and again, they came up with an answer, Damien Dolan scoring a superb two-pointer from play, a reminder to Coralstown-Kinnegad that they wouldn’t get everything on their terms.

They were efficient with their shooting, though. Dan Leech scored a couple of points, the first on 13 minutes, the second five minutes later, before the pattern of the game switched, Caulry enjoying a five-minute period where everything they tried came off.

They got scores via Shane Lawless, a point from play; then through Senan Baker, whose 23rd-minute free was followed by a clinical score from play. Suddenly there were four points between them and when Damien Dolan cleaned up a messy situation inside his own square, when pressured by Ciaran Daly Junior, there was a suspicion this game was about to turn.

But not so. Having taken a four-point lead into the break, Kinnegad began the second half at full pelt, Giles’ free extending their lead to five points, the post denying Cooney a second goal. From the rebound, Connor Callaghan slotted the ball into the net but ref Mick Murtagh penalised him for picking the ball off the ground.

A 40th-minute free from Senan Baker didn’t interrupt their momentum as Giles got his fourth point of the day from play prior to a brace of points from Eoin O’Brien, the first courtesy of a superb piece of creativity by Ger Leech, the second via a lofted shot.

Seven points separated the teams at this stage, Caulry left with 15 minutes to save their summer. And, to their credit, they made a decent attempt to do so, Baker, inevitably to the fore, as he scored five unanswered points to reduce the gap to two points with nine minutes remaining.

This was the game’s key stage, a question of Coralstown-Kinnegad’s character, as much as their tactical system. It turned out that each element was robust, Jack Cooney’s side outscoring Caulry 0-5 to 0-2 over the remainder of the game, before they closed the deal by smothering the Caulry attack as they attempted to force their way through to the Kinnegad goal.

With the barriers up, Caulry were forced to rely on shots from distance, Connolly and Sean Murphy getting late points for them, yet only after Daly Junior, Giles, Jack Cole (two-point free) and Dan Leech had scored for the victors. This, make no mistake, was a warning shot aimed at the three-in–a-row chasing St Loman's.  That upcoming semi-final will be worth watching.

Talking point: Caulry's run of defeats in big games against Coralstown-Kinnegad continues. Coralstown-Kinnegad knocked Caulry out in the final round of the group stages last year, and the Kinnegad side beat the Mount Temple men twice in the 2023 championship, with the second meeting coming at the semi-final stage.

Scorers - Coralstown-Kinnegad: D Giles 0-5 (1tpf, 2f); B Cooney 1-1; D Leech 0-4; E O’Brien and J Cole (tpf) 0-2 each; C Daly Jnr, G Leech and E Bracken 0-1 each. Caulry: S Baker 0-8 (2tpf, 2f); D Dolan (tp) and C McCormack (tpf) 0-2 each; S Lawless, S Connolly and S Murphy 0-1 each.

Coralstown-Kinnegad - Jason Macken; James Maxwell, Danny Woods, Eoghan Bracken; Ciaran Daly Snr, David Giles, Josh Gahan; Ciaran Daly Jnr, Brían Cooney; Eoin O’Brien, Ger Leech, Darren Giles; Dan Leech, Shane Fleming, Callum Cruise. Subs: Jack Cole for C Cruise, HT; Connor Callaghan for S Foley HT; Jack Torpey for J Maxwell, 41, Podge Quinn for G Leech, 50, Brian McGrath for B Cooney, 55.

Caulry - Jack Connaughton; Glenn Carolan, Kevin Maguire, Sean Clinton; Damien Dolan, Sean Murphy, Neil Clinton; Stephen Connolly, Tadhg Baker; Shane Lawless, Tiarnán O’Donovan, Oisin Shortall; Conor McCormack, Senan Baker, Luke Buckley. Subs: Colin Murphy for L Buckley, 41; Harry Stuart Trainor for N Clinton, 44; Alan Malynn for T O’Donovan; Olan Healy for S Lawless, 59

Referee - Mick Murtagh (The Downs).