Cavan A.C.F.L.; Ramor Utd v Castlerahan. (30-04'10)

It was a case of third time unlucky as Ramor Utd lost their third game in a row, with at least three goal chances in the dying minutes of the game being denied. The Castlerahan goalkeeper Shane Cusack surely saved the day as he kept out a series of last ditch goal attempts by the Ramor forwards.
The game, played in Virginia in front of a very large crowd failed to live up to expectations. One could be forgiven for thinking it was a game of handball , not football, as both sides were over-reliant on passing by hand. Many interceptions of these passes occurred and both teams were punished on the scoreboard.
The first score of the game came after five minutes of dogged play in the form of a free from Castlerahan's Brian Coleman 30 metres out. Ramor's first attack resulted in a fine point from half-forward Philip Kermath in the 10th minute. A moment later Anton O'Reilly converted a free from 40 metres out after Adrian Cole was fouled. A bad clearance out of defence by Ramor resulted in David Wright's slick pass on to Oisin O'Connell ,and he crashed the ball to the back of the net in the 13th minute of play.
Punishment again for Ramor 5 minutes later as another hand pass was intercepted and a high ball went in to Cian Mackey, who laid it deftly off to David Wright who split the posts.
Ramor missed a great goal chance when Shane Cole, operating at centre-half forward, gave a great pass to his brother Adrian, but the fisted effort hit the crossbar, and was cleared out. The younger Cole brother made amends a few minutes later when he took a good pass from Ronan Keating for a point from play.
Ramor added another point when Shane Cole was fouled 20 metres out and it was an easy conversion for Anton'O'Reilly. Castlerahan mid-fielder John Clarke linked up well with Ronan Flanagan and the latter shot for a point in the 24th minute. A good run out of defence by Barry Fitzsimons resulted in a Shane Cole point. A Cian Mackey 20m free, a fine point from a tight angle from Ronan Keating and a free from Anton O'Reilly concluded the scoring for the first half to leave the sides all square on 0-7 to 1-4.

The second half started in whirlwind fashion for Ramor as they dominated the first 15 minutes of play, but only managed to score two points in that time, one a free from Anton'O'Reilly and a point from play from Raymond Farrelly. Castlerahan were kept scoreless until Cian Mackey converted a free in the 14th minute. The next few minutes saw a number of missed chances for the visitors as Brian Coleman blasted wide of the post, Pauric Mc Gahern hit the post and Cian Mackeys attempt sailed wide.
In the 17th minute Brian Coleman caught a high ball in from John Clarke,and deftly turned and shot to the net. Game on for Castlerahan as they went on to dominate the remainder of the game. Ronan Flanagan, very influential at centre-back, mopped up any infringement by Ramor. Oisin O'Connell pointed after collecting a good ball from Paul Brady, and Fergal Flanagan gave the perfect pass to Steven Cooney, but he shot wide. John Clarke, roaming at mid-field passed to Mackey in the 25th minute and he curled over another point. Ronan Keating replied for Ramor, just before Castlerahan recorded three consecutive wides.
For the last two or three minutes of play Ramor launched a frantic attack at the Castlerahan goals, but were denied time and time again by keeper Shane Cusack, and the visitors held on to their three point advantage. Final score; Ramor Utd 0-10. Castlerahan 2-7.

Ramor;Matthew Mc Weeney, Joe Hopkins, Micheal O'Reilly, Stefan Connolly, James Mc Enroe, Damien Barkey, Barry Fitzsimons, Shane Gaffney, Anton O'Reilly(0-4 f), Philip Kermath(0-1), Shane Cole(0-1), Colm Murphy, Raymond Farrelly(0-1), Adrian Cole(0-1), Ronan Keating(0-2). Subs; Paddy Brennan, Emmett Daly.

Castlerahan; Shane Cusack, Micheal Smith, Fergal Flanagan, Shane Tolan, Steven Cooney, Ronan Flanagan(0-1), Enda O'Connell, John Clarke, Paul Brady, Brian Coleman(1-1f), Cian Mackey(0-3,2f), David Wright(0-1), Oisin O'Connell(1-1), Alan Cusack, Pauric Mc Gahern. Sub; Darren Smith.
Referee; Gerry Sheridan (Mullahoran).