An Cheathrú Rua come out on top in local derby

An Cheathrú Rua 3-9

Carna/Caiseal 0-9

THREE second-half goals helped An Cheathrú Rua put neighbours Carna/Caiseal to the sword at Pearse Stadium on Sunday in the third round of the Galway senior football championship.

An Cheathrú Rua were always in the driving seat but it took a good while for Seán Ó Domhnaill’s men to shake off their Connemara rivals, who showed resilience in the second half.

Their second goal from substitute Paudie McCormaic with five minutes of normal time remaining sealed the win, and erased any hopes of a Carna/Caiseal comeback.

This nine point victory puts An Cheathrú Rua through to the preliminary quarter-finals and Carna/Caiseal are now in a relegation battle.

It could have been oh so different. The major turning point in the game that ultimately swung it in favour of An Cheathrú Rua came with about seven minutes remaining.

Seósamh Seoighe with a sweet left-footed strike landed Carna/Caiseal’s eighth point, and that left just a goal between them. From the restart, Mícheál Ó Cathasaigh went on a solo-run, skipped two challenges and had a decent goal chance but it bounce off the back of a defender and back into play.

An Cheathrú Rua cleared the danger and moments later had a goal of their own down the other end after a move involving Micheál Ó Tuathaill and Cillín de Paor, that was finished by McCormaic. A six-points turnaround.

Ó Tuathaill, in injury time, found himself unmarked in space inside the opposition’s danger area, and in a one-on-one with ‘keeper Seán Ó Cathasaigh, he bagged An Cheathrú Rua’s third goal.

It put a gloss on the scoreboard but it probably better reflected An Cheathrú Rua’s overall dominance – they were by far the better team, particularly up front where they had a sharper edge.

In the first-half, Carna/Caiseal’s limitations were exposed. They enjoyed a fair amount of possession but were incapable of doing anything with it.

They managed to score just one point in the opening half hour – a free from Albert Ó Conaire – and they never penetrated An Cheathrú Rua’s defence.

Carna/Caiseal needed someone to hit a few long-range points because An Cheathrú Rua’s defence was water-tight close in but they struggled to make any headway, and recorded a couple of awful wides.

Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.