Just a quick update on tonight's game. Final score was Erin Rovers 4-10 to Doon's 2-6 and although the final scoreline flattered the Pullough men somewhat, it was nonetheless a comfortable enough win.
I'll leave it to the papers for a more detailed analysis but just some observations noted;
Although the game itself was not a classic and played at a slightly subdued level (odd for a championship derby but possibly because of the underage connection), five of the six goals were top class - flowing moves from deep and cool finishes.
Doon are going to really struggle to stay up without Holly and Hunt. They lacked quality and power in the key positions of centre-back, midfield and centreforward. Fox, Kelly, Keith Lynam and Paul Carroll bossed all these areas comfortably.
Erin Rovers bagged four goals in the first fifteen minutes all coming from quick transfers into a fast forward line and good overlapping. Carmine Russo was outstanding here and used all his fitness and cuteness picked up with Athlone Town to torment Doon - (lone shark - was that you asking me about said Russo halfway into the second half ? wasnt sure if it was you or not !)
Declan Kelly had a strong game in midfield and all discipline problems seem behind him.
Doon will certainly get better but will it be enough to avoid a relegation dogfight ? Erin Rovers are an improving team (2 wins and 2 draws from their last 4 championship outings) but strength in depth may be the problem against Shamrocks/Gracefield.
The start of the match was delayed 30 minutes because no ref showed up - Catch Buckley stepped in and did a reasonable job.
Doon V Erin Rovers
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Lone Shark
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Yup, that was me. I'll own up to needing a little bit of assistance when it comes to the Erin Rovers players. 
Still you have to admit that the name does stand out a little .....
Overall - you're dead right, Doon will struggle. They'll need to either get a win over Gracefield and hope for other results to gbo their way, or else win two out of two in a relegation playoff. It's hard to see it happening to be honest. Four teenagers in a backline to me is way too many.
As for Erin Rovers, it was certainly the best I've seen from them in a while - but while they scored freely enough in this game, I'd be worried for them if Alan Lynam was to miss the summer, or if they lost one or two of the forwards. Shamrocks might be a bit of a big ask, but Gracefield are certainly within their sights at least.
Anyway, here's my paper report ......
_____________________________________________________________
With Brendan Lowry and Vinny Claffey at the helm of these two clubs, two of the finest corner forwards our county has ever produced, it was wholly appropriate that on Saturday evening both their sides produced some excellent forward play in this senior championship clash. However while there was scoring potential in both teams, Erin Rovers clearly held the upper hand throughout the game in terms of securing possession around midfield and half back and by the final whistle this was reflected on the score board. While the final ten point margin will have surprised almost everyone, the Rovers were certainly good value for their win, and having kicked fourteen wides along with their fourteen scores, if any team could look back on this game with regret at their economy up front, it was the boys in the lighter shade of blue. They will remain outsiders to progress in this group, but if representatives from Shamrocks or Gracefield were in attendance, the extra attacking impetus provided by Alan Lynam and Athlone Town soccer star Carmine Russo will certainly have made them sit up and take notice – certainly Erin Rovers are no longer a team “waiting in the long grass”.
Due to the lack of a referee, the game was roughly twenty minutes late throwing in, and twenty minutes later again it was all but over as a contest, Erin Rovers having made the ultimate dream start. The first score of the game was a Kieran Gavin point, but by the time Doon had registered their second score, Erin Rovers had hit the net four times and were out of sight.
Doon gambled on an all teenage half back line, a stark contrast to their opponents whose equivalent line of Kevin Lynam, Richie Fox and Paddy Lynam was heavy on both power and experience, in addition to no small amount of ability. While this daring move by Vinny Claffey and his selectors was no doubt largely influenced by the options at their disposal, and these young players did show enough to prove that they have a bright future in the game, Erin Rovers were able to drive through the Doon back line at will and this policy yielded early and rich dividends. The first goal came after David Bracken had got in behind his marker and had his shot saved by Anthony McLoughlin, only for the Doon backs to handle the ball on the ground in an attempt to clear the danger. The resultant penalty came close to being saved, but it still crept under McLoughlin’s body, and Declan Kelly had his first goal. Kelly was integral to each of the first three goals, as he found Alan Lynam for the second, Lynam subsequently playing an intelligent cross field ball to Keith Lynam in the penalty area. He took one side step to evade a defender, and finished well past McLoughlin. Only two minutes had elapsed since the first goal and two minutes later we had a third – Kelly taking the ball on in midfield and charging into the heart of the Doon defence and finishing stylishly for an excellent solo goal. The Doon misery was complete when Alan Lynam and Ian McLoughlin linked up to set up Carmine Russo for the fourth Erin Rovers goal, the crowd by now exhibiting a mixture of delirium, shock, and disbelief.
A brief scoring burst from James Coughlan with five minutes to go to the break saw Doon put a little respectability on the scoreboard – he registered 1-2 in a three minute spell – and when they went in at half time at 4-2 to 1-4 Doon were not without hope, even if the incline of the mountain they had to climb was somewhat intimidating. They needed a good early start to the second half, but once again the Erin Rovers dominance from numbers 5-9 meant there was an invisible wall they found very difficult to pass. Instead of Doon retrieving the situation, ten minutes into the second half Rovers had outscored their parish rivals 0-5 to 0-1 and were pulling away. In order to stem the Rovers tide, Doon had deployed a lot of their stronger players around the middle of the field – David Larkin and Trevor Phelan both having been pulled into that area – and Phelan was extremely impressive in the way he continued to take the fight to the Rovers. He was running at the defence directly and regularly, and one such run saw him take several defenders out of the game before setting up Fintan Ryan for a goal that brought the deficit back to single figures. A free from Donie Ryan left seven points between the sides with a quarter of the game to go and those familiar with Doon’s penchant for late comebacks were wondering if we were about to witness the mother and father of them all. It was not to be though, as two long range placed balls from Kevin Lynam and a close range score from Alan Lynam re-emphasised the gulf between the sides and rounded off the scoring in what was one of the least competitive local derbies ever played between these parish rivals.
Erin Rovers: Neville Dunne; Ger Lynam, Dean Bracken, Barry Buckley; Kevin Lynam (0-2, 0-1 free, 0-1 ’45), Richard Fox, Paddy Lynam; Keith Lynam (1-0), Declan Kelly (2-0, 1-0 pen); David Bracken (0-2), Carmine Russo (1-1), Padraig Carroll; Alan Lynam (0-1), Paul Carroll (0-1), Ian McLoughlin (0-3, all frees).
Subs: Sonny Lynam for David Bracken, Ollie Buckley for Barry Buckley, David Poland for Ian McLoughlin.
Doon: Anthony McLoughlin; Ciarán Heavin, David Larkin, Declan Rohan; Anthony Phelan, Paul Heavin, Adrian Egan; Fintan Ryan (1-0), Dessie Egan; Trevor Phelan, Niall Kelly, Kieran Gavin (0-1); James Coughlan (1-3), Donie Ryan (0-2, 0-1 free), John Egan.
Subs: Seán Óg Henry for Anthony Phelan, Matthew Boland for Niall Kelly.
Referee: Carthage Buckley
Still you have to admit that the name does stand out a little ..... Overall - you're dead right, Doon will struggle. They'll need to either get a win over Gracefield and hope for other results to gbo their way, or else win two out of two in a relegation playoff. It's hard to see it happening to be honest. Four teenagers in a backline to me is way too many.
As for Erin Rovers, it was certainly the best I've seen from them in a while - but while they scored freely enough in this game, I'd be worried for them if Alan Lynam was to miss the summer, or if they lost one or two of the forwards. Shamrocks might be a bit of a big ask, but Gracefield are certainly within their sights at least.
Anyway, here's my paper report ......
_____________________________________________________________
With Brendan Lowry and Vinny Claffey at the helm of these two clubs, two of the finest corner forwards our county has ever produced, it was wholly appropriate that on Saturday evening both their sides produced some excellent forward play in this senior championship clash. However while there was scoring potential in both teams, Erin Rovers clearly held the upper hand throughout the game in terms of securing possession around midfield and half back and by the final whistle this was reflected on the score board. While the final ten point margin will have surprised almost everyone, the Rovers were certainly good value for their win, and having kicked fourteen wides along with their fourteen scores, if any team could look back on this game with regret at their economy up front, it was the boys in the lighter shade of blue. They will remain outsiders to progress in this group, but if representatives from Shamrocks or Gracefield were in attendance, the extra attacking impetus provided by Alan Lynam and Athlone Town soccer star Carmine Russo will certainly have made them sit up and take notice – certainly Erin Rovers are no longer a team “waiting in the long grass”.
Due to the lack of a referee, the game was roughly twenty minutes late throwing in, and twenty minutes later again it was all but over as a contest, Erin Rovers having made the ultimate dream start. The first score of the game was a Kieran Gavin point, but by the time Doon had registered their second score, Erin Rovers had hit the net four times and were out of sight.
Doon gambled on an all teenage half back line, a stark contrast to their opponents whose equivalent line of Kevin Lynam, Richie Fox and Paddy Lynam was heavy on both power and experience, in addition to no small amount of ability. While this daring move by Vinny Claffey and his selectors was no doubt largely influenced by the options at their disposal, and these young players did show enough to prove that they have a bright future in the game, Erin Rovers were able to drive through the Doon back line at will and this policy yielded early and rich dividends. The first goal came after David Bracken had got in behind his marker and had his shot saved by Anthony McLoughlin, only for the Doon backs to handle the ball on the ground in an attempt to clear the danger. The resultant penalty came close to being saved, but it still crept under McLoughlin’s body, and Declan Kelly had his first goal. Kelly was integral to each of the first three goals, as he found Alan Lynam for the second, Lynam subsequently playing an intelligent cross field ball to Keith Lynam in the penalty area. He took one side step to evade a defender, and finished well past McLoughlin. Only two minutes had elapsed since the first goal and two minutes later we had a third – Kelly taking the ball on in midfield and charging into the heart of the Doon defence and finishing stylishly for an excellent solo goal. The Doon misery was complete when Alan Lynam and Ian McLoughlin linked up to set up Carmine Russo for the fourth Erin Rovers goal, the crowd by now exhibiting a mixture of delirium, shock, and disbelief.
A brief scoring burst from James Coughlan with five minutes to go to the break saw Doon put a little respectability on the scoreboard – he registered 1-2 in a three minute spell – and when they went in at half time at 4-2 to 1-4 Doon were not without hope, even if the incline of the mountain they had to climb was somewhat intimidating. They needed a good early start to the second half, but once again the Erin Rovers dominance from numbers 5-9 meant there was an invisible wall they found very difficult to pass. Instead of Doon retrieving the situation, ten minutes into the second half Rovers had outscored their parish rivals 0-5 to 0-1 and were pulling away. In order to stem the Rovers tide, Doon had deployed a lot of their stronger players around the middle of the field – David Larkin and Trevor Phelan both having been pulled into that area – and Phelan was extremely impressive in the way he continued to take the fight to the Rovers. He was running at the defence directly and regularly, and one such run saw him take several defenders out of the game before setting up Fintan Ryan for a goal that brought the deficit back to single figures. A free from Donie Ryan left seven points between the sides with a quarter of the game to go and those familiar with Doon’s penchant for late comebacks were wondering if we were about to witness the mother and father of them all. It was not to be though, as two long range placed balls from Kevin Lynam and a close range score from Alan Lynam re-emphasised the gulf between the sides and rounded off the scoring in what was one of the least competitive local derbies ever played between these parish rivals.
Erin Rovers: Neville Dunne; Ger Lynam, Dean Bracken, Barry Buckley; Kevin Lynam (0-2, 0-1 free, 0-1 ’45), Richard Fox, Paddy Lynam; Keith Lynam (1-0), Declan Kelly (2-0, 1-0 pen); David Bracken (0-2), Carmine Russo (1-1), Padraig Carroll; Alan Lynam (0-1), Paul Carroll (0-1), Ian McLoughlin (0-3, all frees).
Subs: Sonny Lynam for David Bracken, Ollie Buckley for Barry Buckley, David Poland for Ian McLoughlin.
Doon: Anthony McLoughlin; Ciarán Heavin, David Larkin, Declan Rohan; Anthony Phelan, Paul Heavin, Adrian Egan; Fintan Ryan (1-0), Dessie Egan; Trevor Phelan, Niall Kelly, Kieran Gavin (0-1); James Coughlan (1-3), Donie Ryan (0-2, 0-1 free), John Egan.
Subs: Seán Óg Henry for Anthony Phelan, Matthew Boland for Niall Kelly.
Referee: Carthage Buckley