Kevin Murphy starred for Rathvilly in the Carlow SFC Final replay at Netwatch Cullen Park. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
Carlow SFC Replay
Rathvilly 2-10 Palatine 0-11
By Kieran Murphy at Netwatch Cullen Park
A goal in each half gave Rathvilly their tenth Carlow senior football title in Netwatch Cullen Park on Saturday.
Kevin Murphy was their hero scoring 2-6 over the hour and picking up the man of the match award.
The first half of this replay was close. In the early stages the two protagonists shared six points each. Murphy led with two points from frees while Palatine’s Shane O’Neill was playing deep but the centre forward still scored three points in the half.
Rathvilly landed their first three-pointer midway through the half when Palatine lost possession and Murphy was on hand to hammer the ball home for a great goal.
Palatine, who had played cautiously, seemed to relax after the concession and points from Craig Kearney (free), O’Neill and Conor Crowley had the sides level at 1-4 to 0-7 at the interval.
While a Jamie Kenny point gave Palatine the lead early in the second half, they were hit when Murphy added two points. In reply, Bryan McMahon levelled once more for Palatine and Brandon Cassidy put them ahead. It was hard to call on this stage but four wides in ten minutes damaged Palatine confidence.
When Rathvilly turned over the ball in defence, Conor Doyle latched onto it and surged forward. He spotted Murphy on the move out on his left. The pass was perfect and the finish matched his first half strike. A second goal in a game where nothing was given away lightly was crucial.
There was only going to be one winner from there. Ed Finnegan got among the Rathvilly scorers and while McMahon brought his match total to three points for Palatine, Murphy finished the game picking off two on the trot to cement Rathvilly’s first senior football championship victory since 2021.
Scorers for Rathvilly: K Murphy 2-6 (3fs), C Doyle, B Murphy, E Finnegan, E Molloy 0-1 each.
Scorers for Palatine: S O’Neill (2fs), B McMahon (1f) 0-3 each, C Kearney 0-2 (f 45), C Crowley, J Kenny, B Cassidy 0-1 each
Rathvilly: Robbie Molloy; Colin Byrne, Dara Curran, Paraic Deering; Padhraig Bolger, Josh Moore, Eric Molloy; Brendan Murphy, Barry John Molloy; Brandon Kelly, Conor Doyle, Ed Finnegan; Brian Smith, Kevin Murphy, Liam Gavin.
Subs: Darragh Murphy for Bolger (h/t), Adam Burgess for Smith (39), Jake Eliott for Gavin (50), Robbie Ryan for Deering (53), Ryan Sibbald for Finnegan (57).
Palatine: Craig Kearney; Conor O’Doherty, Cian Cashman, Jack Deacy; Stephen Reilly, Ciaran Moran, Cillian Duff; Finbarr Kavanagh, Jason Kane; Josh Egan, Shane O’Neill, Bryan McMahon; Jamie Kenny, Conor Crowley, Brandon Cassidy.
Subs: Gavin Healy for Duff (h/t), Andrew Kehoe for Cassidy (39), Conor Lawlor for Kane (44), Tomas Sheehan for O’Neill (53), James Cranny for O’Doherty (57).
Referee: James Foley (Kilbride).
