Sarsfields 1-10, St. Mary's (Rosslare) 1-9:

Strong-finishing Sarsfields hit 1-4 without reply in the last 20 minutes to revive their WFC Oil Senior football championship qualification hopes with a crucial Group 2 win over St. Mary's (Rosslare) in Kilmore on Saturday last.

Centre-back Colin Bent was the last-gasp match-winner when he ventured forward in the first minute of added time and popped a Barry Goff pass over the bar, setting the town team up for what will probably be a winner-takes-all clash with Duffry Rovers.
St. Mary¹s must have fancied their chances when they were gifted a goal five minutes into the second-half to stretch their lead to 1-8 to 0-5, but they kicked a lot of costly late wides with Darren Foran the main culprit.

It was a close affair throughout the opening half after Foran struck the crossbar in the early stages, with wing-back Gearóid Byrne and place-kicker Alan Stafford kicking the first two St. Mary¹s points before Ciarán O¹Leary responded from a free in the 15th minute. A Noel Walsh goal chance had been turned on to the post by Robbie Byrne beforehand, and John O¹Flynn stretched the Rosslare lead before Kevin Gore and Barry Goff brought Sarsfields level by the 22nd minute. Darren Foran and Conor Murphy twice restored the seasiders¹ advantage, only for Goff and Philip Cullen to respond, but a late effort from a Foran free left Rosslare ahead at the break by 0-6 to 0-5.

They put some daylight between the sides on the re-start when Foran fired another one over the bar after 49 seconds, before John O'Flynn split the posts after his move from defence to attack.
And it looked like luck was on the side of the Mary's in this clash for the second year running when James Roice allowed a speculative kick from Alan Stafford to squirm under his body and into the net in the 35th minute (1-8 to 0-5). Rosslare should have been able to close out the game, but some of their more seasoned players didn't provide the leadership that one would have expected.

Andrew Moore was offered the freedom of the right flank to trot forward, collect a crossfield Ciarán O¹Leary free, and tap over an easy point, although Alan Stafford did cancel this out from a 39th-minute placed ball. However, St. Mary's didn¹t score again, with the Sarsfields take-over prompted by some inspired play from veteran Paul Harrington around midfield coupled with the introduction of Cian Hore to spice up their attack. Team captain Ciarán O¹Leary pulled back two points from frees before a Harrington delivery in the 44th minute was won by Philip Cullen who fired a superb shot into the far corner of the net off his weaker right foot (1-9 to 1-8). It was a struggle to the end, with O'Leary equalising from another free in the 51st minute before a lengthy scoreless spell when both sides kicked three wides apiece. The breakthrough was finally provided by Colin Bent, with Rosslare left to rue another late miss by Darren Foran as victory went to their District rivals.

Sarsfields: James Roice; Brendan Mulligan, Paul Harrington, Enda Whelan; Shane Barnes, Colin Bent (0-1), Fran Cleary; Ciarán O'Leary (capt., 0-4 frees), Barry Goff (0-2); Lee Walker, Emmet Keeling, Andrew Moore (0-1); Philip Cullen (1-1), Noel Walsh, Kevin Gore (0-1). Subs. - Cian Hore for Cleary, John Harrington for Gore.
St. Mary's: Robbie Byrne; Johnny McDonald, Shane Donohoe, Ned Power; John O'Flynn (0-2), Conor Murphy (0-1), Gearóid Byrne (0-1); David Murphy, Paul Hayes; Robert Butler, Alan Stafford (1-2, 0-2 frees), Larry Morrissey (capt.); Andrew Murphy, Darren Foran (0-3, 1 free), Emmet Byrne. Subs. - Mark Boyce for A. Murphy, Andy Cummins for Morrissey, Oisín Lennon for G. Byrne.
Referee: Seamus Whelan (Oylegate-Glenbrien).

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Kevin Carty