Shine's goal and Carlow red card turns tide for AIT

Shine's goal and Carlow red card turns tide for AIT Athlone IT 1-13 IT Carlow 0-6 By Kevin Egan For 20 minutes of this Sigerson Cup first round tie it looked as if IT Carlow were on course for a comfortable victory. The visitors looked much more polished in the middle third of the field, their full-back line were completely on top of the AIT inside players and at the other end of the field, Athlone's full-back line were struggling to deal with the string of good deliveries that were sent in towards Ben Brosnan and Brian Hurley. However, thirty chaotic seconds of play featuring a goal and a red card turned the tide decisively in favour of the home side and kept them on course to play a part in the 'finals weekend', which they will host in just over three weeks' time. The final score suggests that AIT were the dominant side in this tie, but it could all have been very different for the local college and Martin McCabe will be keen to remind his players that they still have a lot of work to do if they are to overcome the winners of the GMIT v Cork IT fixture, which was postponed until next Tuesday due to wet weather in Galway. Despite winning the toss and taking the opportunity to play with the help of the diagonal wind in the first half, Athlone had little or no answer to the visitors in the early stages of the game and they conceded four points in a row - all from Ben Brosnan frees - to trail by three after the first quarter. AIT midfielders Cathal Shine and Ciarán Duggan each made a fine catch to prove that they were an able match for Laois player of the year Conor Boyle under the kick-out. But once the ball hit the deck, ITC dominated the battle for breaking ball. Aided by some strong running play from their halfback line, they sent a string of good deliveries into Hurley and Brosnan. A remarkable point from Alan Coffey cut the deficit in the 19th minute but even that score illustrated AIT's problems. The Tubberclair wing-forward received the ball in the corner of the attack and faced by two defenders and with almost no support, he had no option but to attempt a point with the outside of his right boot while standing just inside the end line. The subsequent white flag and roar from the home support didn't alter the fact that any defender would have been right to let Coffey take such a low percentage shot. Coffey's point was followed by Cathal Shine's goal in the 21st minute, a score that was both fortunate and hugely consequential. The midfielder shares his Clann na nGael club-mate and namesake Donie Shine's ability to shoot from long range, but his 50-metre free dropped short and should have been fielded by Tom Hughes in the ITC goal. Instead, Hughes allowed the ball to bounce off his chest and into the net, handing a lifeline to the home side. In the resultant celebrations, an altercation developed between ITC corner-back Joe Kinahan and AIT full-forward James Dolan. On the advice of the umpire, Michael Duffy issued a straight red card to Kinahan, seemingly for a strike on Dolan, and the game changed utterly from that point on. Ger Egan of Tyrrellspass started the match at centre-forward but he began to control matters in a more withdrawn role and four consecutive points from James McGivney, Cathal Shine and Egan (twice) gave AIT a five point lead at half-time. Though Ben Brosnan and Brian Hurley looked dangerous when on the ball, AIT's numerical advantage allowed them the luxury of double marking the two ITC danger men and scoring chances for the away side were few and far between in the second half. Kieran Martin, Shine and Egan were all prominent around the middle and they each carried and distributed a lot of possession, despite the best efforts of Conor Boyle for ITC. Gary Connaughton was untested in the AIT goal and when Seán Gannon did get a sight on goal for AIT, his effort was blocked down by Killian Clarke before it reached the Tubberclair custodian. Meanwhile up front Leitrim's John Mulligan kicked a wonderful score and Coffey went on to add four more points to his tally, no doubt giving Pat Flanagan a nice selection headache in advance of this weekend's NFL division two opener against Louth at Cusack Park. An utterly needless straight red card for Mulligan in the closing minutes was the only black mark for the home side. But when the management team sit down to review this fixture, there is no doubt they'll look back on the first 20 minutes and wonder how different it all could have been if Shine's long free had been fielded and they were forced to retrieve that deficit without the help of an extra man. Their prospects of playing a part in the 'finals weekend' on February 22 and 23 are alive and well, but they're not nearly as strong as the final score here suggests. Scorers  - AIT: C Shine 1-2 (1-1fs); A Coffey 0-5; G Egan 0-3 (2f); J McGivney, F Burke, J Mulligan 0-1 each. IT Carlow: B Brosnan 0-4 (4fs); B Hurley 0-1; E Walsh 0-1   Athlone IT: Gary Connaughton (Westmeath); Eoin Kerins (Galway), Killian Clarke (Cavan), Colm O'Brien (Galway); Tomás Rahill (Meath), Kieran Martin (Westmeath), Levi Murphy (Cavan); Ciaran Duggan (Galway), Cathal Shine (Roscommon); John Mulligan (Leitrim), Ger Egan (Westmeath), Alan Coffey (Westmeath); James McGivney (Longford), James Dolan (Westmeath), Frank Burke (Galway). Subs: Diarmuid Maleady (Offaly) for Murphy; Peter Masterson (Longford) for Burke; Alan Stone (Westmeath) for McGivney.   Carlow IT: Tom Hughes (Wexford); Joe Kinahan (Kildare), Conor Lawlor (Carlow), Alan Nolan (Wexford); Anthony Forde (Meath), Brian Kinahan (Kildare), Eoin Walsh (Galway); Richie Downey (Dublin), Conor Boyle (Laois); Darren Hayden (Wicklow), Cian Reynolds (Kildare), Marcus Mangan (Kerry); Sean Gannon (Carlow), Brian Hurley (Cork), Ben Brosnan (Wexford). Subs: Fergal Conway (Kildare) for Reynolds; Paddy Brogan (Roscommon) for Gannon; Darroch Mulhall (Kildare) for Mangan; Fiach O'Bearra (Galway) for Hurley. Referee: Michael Duffy (Sligo).