Meegans point the way as Inniskeen march on in IFC
McGuigan Builders Intermediate Football Championship
Inniskeen 0-22 Aughnamullen 0-7 19/8/12
Inniskeen kept their IFC hopes well and truly alive with this very comfortable win over Aughnamullen in Clontibret on Sunday. Although Inniskeen were favourites, few would have foreseen the margin of their victory, particularly after Aughnamullen made an assured start. Inniskeen outscored their opponents by 0-20 to 0-3 from the 13th minute on, including 12 unanswered points between the 14th and 41st minutes, to win with plenty to spare. The three Meegans in the Inniskeen forward line – Dónal, Paul and Ronan – contributed 0-16 between them, while Colm came off the bench to add a point. Gerard McArdle, Fergal Duffy, Matthew McKenna, Michael Lennon and Séamus Loftus were also to the fore for Inniskeen.
Seán Sheridan got Aughnamullen off to a positive start after good work by Aidan Flanagan and Pauric Bannigan, but Paul Meegan won and scored a 25-metre free to bring Inniskeen level. A 40-metre free by Pete Dooney, after a foul on Lee Conlan, was cancelled out by a fisted point from Dónal Meegan at the end of a well-worked move involving Paul and Ronan Meegan and Fergal Duffy, but 30-metre frees by Edmond McArdle and Dooney, following fouls on Bannigan and Sheridan, moved Aughnamullen into a two-point lead.
It was all downhill from there for them, however, as Paul Meegan tapped over a brace of 20-metre frees for fouls on Duffy and Dónal Meegan, either side of a 40-metre effort, following another foul on Duffy, to edge Inniskeen ahead for the first time. Aughnamullen did create a couple of goal chances midway through the half, but Dooney was blocked down by Alan Ryan and Chris Keenan had a shot saved by Inniskeen keeper Pauric Dowdall after he had been put through by Bannigan.
Meegan won and scored a 20-metre free for his fifth point of the half, before Matthew McKenna raced through and blasted a shot off the Aughnamullen crossbar, with keeper Keith Sheridan stopping McKenna’s follow-up punched effort. Another foul on Duffy allowed Dónal Meegan to convert a 25-metre free and send Inniskeen in at half-time leading by 0-7 to 0-4.
It took Ronan Meegan less than a minute of the second half to open his account for the afternoon with a well-taken point from play (he would go on to kick five). He soon added number two after he had been well-placed by a Robert Lorenz sideline kick, before Martin Dooley put six between the teams. Lorenz added his name to the list of scorers with a nicely-taken point, before a Dónal Meegan shot bounced over the bar. Dónal Meegan converted a 30-metre free for a foul on Ronan Meegan, who linked up with Michael Lennon to add a stylish point with his left foot.
Dowdall then denied Chris Keenan, with Dooney’s rebound cleared off the line by Lorenz, before Brendan Finnegan kicked Aughnamullen’s first point in almost half an hour. Fergal Duffy sent a spectacular volley just over the bar at the other end and Lennon also got in on the act, albeit injuring himself in the process. Aidan Flanagan sent a goal attempt narrowly over for Aughnamullen, but Inniskeen substitute Colm Meegan became the fourth Meegan to get on the scoresheet after good approach play by Duffy and Lorenz.
A foul on Dooley saw Aughnamullen corner-back Damian Hamilton shown a second yellow card, with Dónal Meegan tapping over the resulting free. TJ Byrne became the second Inniskeen sub to kick a point after strong work by McKenna and the Grattans went close to finding the net when Keith Sheridan blocked Duffy. Dónal Meegan kicked his sixth point of the game before winning a 30-metre free for Ronan Meegan to convert, as Inniskeen passed the 20-point mark.
Ronan Meegan tagged on another point from play and even though Chris Keenan converted a 30-metre free for a foul on Shane Conlon in the final minute, there was still 15 points between the teams at the final whistle. Inniskeen will attempt to book their place in the semi-finals when they take on Cremartin in Aughnamullen next Sunday, while the Sarsfields concentrate on the league.
Inniskeen: P Dowdall; A Keenan, S Loftus, A Ryan; T Hilliard, M Fitzpatrick, M Lennon (0-1); G McArdle (Capt.), M McKenna; R Meegan (0-5, 1f), M Dooley (0-1), R Lorenz (0-1); D Meegan (0-6, 3f), F Duffy (0-1), P Meegan (0-5f).
Subs: T J Byrne (0-1) for Lennon (inj., 45 mins), C Meegan (0-1) for P Meegan (inj., 48), J Butler for Hilliard (52), F McArdle for Ryan (53), D McArdle for G McArdle (56).
Aughnamullen: K Sheridan; T Finnegan, C Flanagan (Capt.), D Hamilton; M Keenan, S Ward, E McArdle (0-1f); P Dooney (0-2f), L Conlan; S Conlon, A Flanagan (0-1), P Bannigan; B Finnegan (0-1), C Keenan (0-1f), S Sheridan (0-1).
Subs: S Dooney for Conlan (H-T), T Hughes for Ward (35), M McArdle for T Finnegan (36), M Meegan for A Flanagan (48), D Shevlin for S Sheridan (56).
Referee: P Caulfield (Blackhill).
