Roche Emmets reserved their best championship 
performance of the year to end any relegation treat and
 consign Oliver Plunketts to the Intermediate do or die
 relegation play-off.

Roche Emmets and Oliver Plunketts met in the Intermediate relegation play-off at
Haggartstown on Friday 2nd September at 8:30pm under lights.

After a fine day the bad 
weather that was forecast arrived and the rain began to fall as the teams were warming up.
The Plunketts entered this game as favourites after plying their trade in division one of the
leagues while Roche’s league and championship form did not add up to what was needed
for success in this contest. However, this is far from what the match served up.
Roche Emmets 2-6 (HT 2-4) Oliver Plunketts 0-7 (HT 0-3)

With the rain into their faces the Plunketts went at the heart of the Roche defence straight
from the start and fed the ball directly to their inside line from the through-in, the ball found a
free attacker all alone but instead of shooting to the net past the defenceless Aidan McCoy
he fluffed an attempt at a point! Within a minute Gavin Sullivan had send another great
chance wide. The Plunketts were all over Roche and in the third minute things could not
have got much worse for Roche when Aaron Callan received a red card following an off-the-
ball incident in front of the referee. The Plunketts continued to create good chances but their
wide count stood at five by the tenth minute. On Roche’s first successful raid forward
beyond the 45 metre line resulted in the opening score of the match; a delightful point from
Kevin Callaghan from a good long accurate pass by Duane Callan on the 12 minute. Roche
registered two wides before Frank Taaffe brought the sides level mid-way through the half.
Barry O’Hare was fed the ball after good passing play from the Roche rear-guard, he send a
high centre into the danger area in front of the Plunketts goals where Dan O’Connel tried to
collect it but the defence prevented him from getting it cleanly into his hands but he
managed to poke it to the net to put Roche 1-1 to 0-1 in front. Two points in a minute from
Frank Taaffe and Gavin Sullivan for the Plunketts gave the scoreline a more realistic
representation of the state of play.. Both teams were using modern defensive formations;
the Plunketts were using corner-forward Sean Brasil as a sweeper in front of their full back
line and the two-man full forward line of Barry O’Hare and Kevin Callaghan. Roche sucked
both of their wing forwards; Darren McConnon and Martin Carroll and corner forward Dermot
Craven into the middle of the field. These tactics made it difficult for the spectators to figure
out who was playing where and what players were marking each other. The play was very
open in the Roche attack but very congested and frantic in the middle sector. Kevin
Callaghan sent a high ball over to Barry O’Hare who scored a fine point to take the score to
1-2 to 0-2 in the 26th minute. O’Hare scored from a 30 metre free a minute later and
immediately following this score Roche added their third and fourth wide. Duane Callan
again found Kevin Callaghan on the left flank; he rounded his two markers and fired to the
net for a massive lift for Roche but a massive blow to the Plunketts in the 29th minute. Roche
sent another shot wide before O’Hare sailed a high shot over the bar from wide on the left in
injury time, a score waved wide by the umpire but the linesman signalled to the referee that
it was a point, leaving the half time score 2-4 to 0-3 for Roche. After such a strong start the
 Plunketts did not convert it into scores and amazingly they continued with the sweeper
system when Roche were a man down and playing so many of their men across the middle
of the field. More and more of their passes from the cluttered midfield area went to Roche
defenders. Roche took some time to begin playing the ball quickly up field to their two
danger men, when they did they built a sizeable lead. The Roche full back line grew in
confidence as the half wore on and became very solid. Their half back line took some time
to get with the quick ball plan and the mid-field did not suffer from the missing man. The two
danger men up front had the beating of the double marking in the wide open spaces.

The second half started with an early converted free kick from Frank Taaffe. Roche
responded with an effort put wide before O’Hare shot a good point. The rain became very
heavy as Roche shot another wide. Five minutes in Taaffe converted another free. Plunketts
got through the improving Roche back line but Aidan McCoy came to the rescue and the
second shooting attempt of the loose ball came off the post and back to McCoy who won a
free out from the following scramble in the small square. The Plunketts marked up another
wide before Taaffe converted one more free kick. Roche fluffed a certain point and their
attack were showing signs of tiring. Then, following a collision going for the ball Johnny
Kermath was grounded but following his comments to the referee the teams were restored
to parity on the 19th minute. David Quigley scored a good point which was Roche’s second
score of the half to put them on 2-6 to 0-6. Taaffe reduce the lead by one with another free
kick on the 24th minute. Less and less ball was reaching the Roche forward line but the
Roche defence held out as the Plunketts watched two more of their efforts slip wide of the
posts. The Plunketts failure to collect scores from play off their position of the ball during
lengthy periods in both halves was their down fall. Roche were more forceful and purposeful
in their play than any of their previous championship matches and the fast movement of
the ball up field suited their cause. Other factors could have been the inclusion of the two
 US holidaying students Joseph Bishop and Dan O’Connell to the starting line-up, plus the
addition of Colm Kirk and other repositioning of others from the previous championship
games.
Roche were served well by the full back line of Kirk, O’Connell and Bishop with McCoy very
sharp behind them. Duane Callan delivered many valuable deliveries from defence to the
danger men up front. Liam Carthy tidied up a lot of loose ball in the heart of the defence
and David Quigley arrived with some fine catches and telling runs as the game wore on.
Darren McConnon was very active in the first period with winning ball around the middle
and retrieving lost ball, especially in the first half. Martin Carroll and Dan O’Connell won vita
ball at different periods in the game, Dan’s goal gave Roche a great lift after a dull opening
quarter. However, forwards that can win their own ball and score win games over teams
not taking their chances, Kevin Callaghan and Barry O’Hare produced the goods for Roche
when they were needed.

Roche: Aidan McCoy, Colm Kirk, Harry O’Connell, Joseph Bishop, Duane Callan, Liam
Carthy, Tom Quigley, David Quigley (1pt), Aaron Callan, Darren McConnon, Dan O’Connell
(1gl), Martin Carroll (Captain), Kevin Callaghan (1-1), Dermot Craven, Barry O’Hare (4pts).

[Report: Eamonn Reilly]