Towers too strong to be denied passage

Leinster Club SFC semi-finals: Round Towers 2-6 Arles-Kilcruise 0-8 A flying start gave Kildare champions Round Towers early passage to next month's AIB Leinster club football final, where they will face Dublin champions St Brigid's.

Four points rather misrepresents the balance of play as the winners looked unassailable from the moment the second goal went in after 22 minutes. The Laois champions - playing their third match in eight days - fought back in the second half but never got inside the reach of their opponents' early lead.

They had every chance in that the Kildare side virtually downed tools at half-time, adding only two points to their first-half total and surrendering possession for most of the second half-hour. But Arles' lightweight attack were out-muscled and, apart from the outstanding Ross Munnelly, couldn't muster sufficient penetration.

The wides' total was a telling commentary on the match with the winners running up 14 and their opponents only three - so it wasn't as if the Laois club threw away the chance of victory. They just couldn't turn the possession into opportunities.

Afterwards Munnelly, acting captain in the absence of injured full back Paudge Conway, was magnanimous and declined to launch a fusillade at the provincial council for not granting them a week's postponement.

"We've no complaints," he said. "Round Towers are a great side and were very hard to break down. I'd like to wish them the best of luck in the Leinster final. We had our day although we would have liked to go forward. That's the way it goes.

"Goals are crucial in games and we got one last week but not this time although we hit the post before half-time. They got the goals; we didn't. I believe we did play well but didn't get the bounce of the ball. Some days you get it; others you don't."

Round Towers manager John Crofton was fairly severe on his team although ultimately relieved to have overcome the hurdle. "My view is that we struggled but we came through and reached the Leinster final and now have a chance of winning. I was very happy with the first half, less so with the second.

"I thought we adopted a siege mentality in the second half and our finishing was poor. We lost our shape and failed in the half forwards to win ball. It wasn't great and definitely not enough to trouble St Brigid's."

Yesterday's semi-final was played in brilliant sunshine with no wind but attracted only a tiny crowd, about 1,000, to Dr Cullen Park in Carlow.

Paudge Conway's withdrawal appeared to disrupt Arles because they brought in full forward Eoin Mooney as replacement and had to make consequent adjustments to every line on the field.

It certainly seemed to weaken their challenge around the middle where Pádraig Mullarkey and Damien Broughall took control for Round Towers, whose only change was the introduction of former All Star Karl O'Dwyer - only an occasional presence this year - for Seán Drea.

Arles were conceding a great deal physically and the big opposition forwards were able to cause havoc in the air as well as put together some slick approach work.

Within 10 minutes the Kildare side were five ahead, 1-2 to nil. The goal was a carbon copy of the one that beat 2001 champions Rathnew in the last round. A dropping ball was rammed into the net by the flying fist of Lennie Donlon and already Arles were chasing the match.

When on the offensive, the Laois team looked sprightly and both Kevin Kealy and Mooney answered the goal with neatly taken points but, after Round Towers had wiped out this brief revival with two points of their own, the match suddenly freewheeled out of sight.

An exquisite pass by Liam Ryan sent the hovering Pádraig Donnelly in on goal. He was pulled down and awarded a penalty.Glenn Ryan tucked the ball to Colm Munnelly's left without getting full power into the kick.

Ryan was having a great match, even if the sponsors' man-of-the-match citation was an injustice to Ross Munnelly. The veteran centre back's mobility isn't what it was but his reading of the game was flawless and resulted in a couple of crucial blocks.

The seven-point margin at half-time, 2-4 to 0-3, looked unshakeable but Arles gave it a go and stepped up their ball-winning around the centre.

Munnelly moved from the wing to full forward and had Brian Kennedy sufficiently alarmed to pick up a yellow card just minutes after the restart.

Round Towers wrapped up their scoring with nearly 25 minutes left (they had a goal disallowed for a square ball in the 49th minute) but, apart from some high-quality score-taking by Munnelly, Arles couldn't get close enough to stir up genuine panic in their opponents' defence.

Munnelly afterwards paid tribute to the team management. "They've instilled a belief in the team. We never say 'never'. We met one target this year, which was to win the county final, but we set ourselves another - to reach the Leinster final - and we failed in not making that second target."

Between club and county he acknowledged that it had been a memorable season. "The whole of Laois was behind us since we won the county. It makes a big difference when you hear a big roar out there on the field. It's been a brilliant year."

ROUND TOWERS: J Kindregan; D Holohan, B Kennedy, D Maher; B Lacey, G Ryan (1-0, a penalty), M Scanlon; P Mullarkey, D Broughall; TJ Walters (0-1), P Golden (0-1), L Donlon (1-0); K O'Dwyer (0-1), P Donnelly (0-1), L Ryan (0-2, one free). Subs: S Daly for Golden (58 mins).

ARLES-KILCRUISE: C Munnelly; M O'Shea, E Mulhall, M Mooney; JP Conway, J Wall, A McElroy; J Conway, C Conway; R Munnelly (0-5, two frees), S Carroll, L Wall (0-1); JM McDonald, E Mooney (0-1), K Kealy (0-1). Subs: F Tully for O'Shea (half-time), D Conway for Kealy (41 mins), B Conway for Carroll (50 mins).

Referee: J Bannon (Longford).