Published: Wednesday, 28th July, 2010 12:00pm

Castlerahan goals sink Lacken

Cian Mackey and Sean Brady celebrate.

Castlerahan proved once again that goals most certainly win championship matches when they struck twice to sink a disappointing Lacken side last Thurday evening in the opening match of the 2010 SFC.

The Ballyjamesduff men, with the exception of Man of the Match Ronan Flanagan, won't be overly enamoured with their performance but they did enough to defeat the Celtics, whose cause wasn't helped by the positioning of former Cavan attacker Finbar O'Reilly in the half-back line.

O'Reilly, still among the best forwards in the county, had his hands full with Castlerahan centre-forward Sean Brady and while he worked hard and did very well going forward (even kicking a fine point in the second half), the move was an odd one and certainly didn't help Lacken's chances.

For all of that, the Celtics could well have won this match. Raymond Galligan had the beating of the Castlerahan full-back line, as he showed when kicking a sweet point as early as the sixth minute, but Lacken were ponderous out the field and starved their key man of possession. They also kicked six first half wides and a handful more at crucial stages of the second half.

Flanagan had opened the scoring with a free before that point from Galligan but Lacken reclaimed the lead in the seventh minute with an excellent point from 19-year-old midfielder Niall McKiernan, who had a fine match.

Back came Castlerahan with a good score from Enda Mulvey, again after good work from Flanagan, before Cian Mackey set up Oisin O'Connelll for a fisted point to make it 3-2.

Lacken cancelled this out with a Galligan free but O'Connell caused lots of problems for the Lacken defence throughout and he added his second point in the 17th minute.

McKiernan responded with a free but it was becoming increasingly obvious that although Lacken were more than holding their own at midfield, they were vulnerable at the back where O'Connell, Flanagan and Brady were causing problems and, of the defenders, only Kevin Shanaghy and, to a lesser extent, Martin Brady stood out.

Castlerahan broke through for their first goal in the 22nd minute after excellent work from the classy Flanagan. He patiently held possession before picking out a clever pass to O'Connell, who tucked away brilliantly to make it 1-4 to 0-4.

Lacken replied with a good score from veteran Joe Crowe but Mackey, who was quiet over the hour, slotted over a point in reply moments later.

Declan Rowley took action at this stage, replacing corner-back Shane O'Reilly with county minor panellist Declan Brady in an attempt to shore up his backline. The move didn't have the desired effect as five of Castlerahan's six forwards would score from play before the end of the match.

Good link play between Joe Crowe and McKiernan set up Galligan for a super curling left-footed point three minutes before the break but a Flanagan free - after a foul on O'Connell - and a soft looking free for Mackey made it 1-7 to 0-6 at the break.

Lacken, who it must be noted were on the wrong side of a few harsh calls from ref Mickey Lee, got off to a good start in the second half with a free for Galligan (after a foul on the lively Stephen Brady) and a close-range point from Colm Sheridan, who blasted over when a goal appeared on.

O'Connell set up Flanagan for a tidy point at the other end to restore the three-point gap but Lacken weren't done yet and they registered the next three points to draw level by the 43rd minute.

A well-struck free from McKiernan was followed by a great point from long range by Sheridan before Finbar O'Reilly kicked his side's best score of the evening, starting a move in his own half-back line and getting on the end of it to drive over under pressure to make it 0-11 to 1-8.

With a quarter of an hour to go, this was anyone's game. A break from John Clarke released Sean Brady for the lead point in the 17th minute and a point from play by Flanagan, after yet another soft free, made it a two-point game.

Lacken, now finding their curiously lined-out side exposed in several positions, needed to make a change to rescue the match but none were forthcoming.

The crucial score of the match duly arrived in the 48th minute. Castlerahan came storming through the heart of the Lacken defence and Mackey unselfishly squared for Brady to poke to the net from close range to make it 2-10 to 0-12.

McKiernan responded with a free for Lacken but Brady, who was doing very well by now, fired over his side's 11th point to restore the five-point gap.

Finbar O'Reilly, by now operating in attack, did well to win a free which McKiernan converted and he set up James Moynagh for another seconds later to cut the gap to three.

There was a late scare for Castlerahan when Ray Galligan saw a fisted effort rebound to safety off the crossbar but it was too little, too late from the sky blues, who will need to beat both Crosserlough and Killygarry now to go through.

Castlerahan, for their part, march on with two points in the bag; the feeling is that they have, or at least they will need to have, plenty more in the tank.

CASTLERAHAN: J Leahy, P Cunningham, F Flanagan, B Coleman, E Hill, A Mulvey, E O'Connell, J Clarke, P Cusack, S Brady (1-1), P Brady, C Mackey (0-2, 1f), E Mulvey (0-2), R Flanagan (0-5, 3f), O O'Connell (1-1)

LACKEN: B Gaffney, T Hyland, J Sheridan, S O'Reilly, K Shanaghy, F O'Reilly (0-1), M Brady, N McKiernan (0-5, 4f), T Crowe, P Moynagh, J Crowe (0-1), J Moynagh (0-1), C Sheridan (0-2), R Galligan (0-4, 2f), S Brady

SUB: D Brady for S O'Reilly (22)

REF: M Lee (Drumalee)