Sarsfields 3-12
Athy 0-13
Joe Mallon SFC quarter-final
In a meeting of last year's championship finalists it was Sarsfields who again came out on top as they eased to a comprehensive eight-point victory over the team they defeated in a thrilling final last year. The scoreline tells only half the story as the second half of this game was littered with off the ball incidents, late hits and a full blown scuffle once the full-time whistle was blown.
Athy were well short of their best, and Sarsfields only really performed near their peak for the opening 35 minutes of this game as they got the job done early and then sat back to ease through to the semi-final stage.
It was the reigning county champions who stamped their authority on the game in the early stages, and they looked back to their best as they attacked with pace, precision and a sprinkle of panache inside the opening five minutes. Nobody exemplifies their attacking style as well as Ben McCormack, and the wing-forward opened the scoring with an excellent point from 35 metres with less than a minute gone.
Last year's top scorer, Ray Cahill, quickly followed up with a point from a simple free to open his account, before Sarsfields struck the game's opening goal in the fourth minute. It was a wonderful effort from Dan Nea as the livewire attacker sold a brilliant dummy to Conor Ronan before rifling a powerful shot across Athy goalkeeper Stephen Davis and into the far corner.
Already five points down, Athy's chances of getting something out of the game looked bleak. They managed to steady the ship however, and a pointed free from Liam McGovern settled the nerves somewhat, before a couple of scores from Kevin Feely closed the gap to one score.
That was as close as the south Kildare side would ever come to reigning in their opponents however, and once Ben McCormack slammed home the second goal for the Sash, it was always going to be an uphill battle for them. McCormack's goal was a fabulous bit of team play that saw Gary White pick out his teammate with a long ball, and the Kildare U21 star breezed by the challenge of Mark Hyland before powering a shot to the roof of the net. Further points from McCormack and Nea helped to open up a seven-point lead for Sarsfields with 20 minutes gone, and they looked full of confidence by that stage.
The final 10 minutes of the half were fairly even as both sides garnered a couple of scores each, with substitute Barry Kelly and Paddy Dunne hitting the target for Athy, while Ray Cahill floated over an exquisite long range point off his left boot before adding a free on the brink of half-time for Sarsfields.
At the turnaround Sarsfields held a healthy 2-6 to 0-5 lead, and it was obvious that Athy would need to start quickly if they were to have any chance of changing the course of the game, but it was the leaders who hit the ground running once again upon the restart.
Less than 50 seconds had elapsed when Dan Nea had the ball in the Athy net once again, and it was another fine individual effort from him. Taking the ball on the endline, he managed to hold off the challenge of Tomás Foley and drive a terrific shot into the roof of Davis' net from a tight angle.
That more or less killed the competitive nature of the game, and the energy seemed to be sapped right out of it. Mick Foley was still carrying the fight to Sarsfields though, and he was causing some problems to their full-back line when he got into that area. He and James Eaton both raised white flags, but Athy needed goals to stand any chance of stirring up a comeback.
They were denied twice; once when Ronan Fitzgibbon brilliantly blocked a Niall Kelly shot, before Andy O'Brien pulled off a fine save to deny James Eaton later on.
There was a predictable conclusion to the game as Sarsfields more or less went through the motions, though there were a few fine scores that drew the crowd's appreciation. Alan Smith curled over two trademark points as the game drew to a close.
Athy lost two players to red cards in the second half as tempers flared, with Hughie Mahon receiving his marching orders for an off the ball incident, while goalkeeper Stephen Davis received a straight red for appearing to strike Alan Smith after he had been hauled down by Killian Mulhall near goal. Ray Cahill and Mark Hyland both received black cards for an off the ball clash in the latter stages too.
There was a mass scuffle involving more than 20 players and officials from either side after the full-time whistle as punches flew in either direction, though there was no action taken by referee Fergal Barry for any of the incidents after the full-time whistle.
Scorers for Sarsfields: D Nea 2-2, B McCormack 1-3, A Smith(1f) and R Cahill 0-3 each, B Coffey 0-1.
Scorers for Athy: J Eaton 0-3(2f), K Feely, M Foley, L McGovern(1f) and B Kelly 0-2 each, N Kelly and D Mulhall(1f) 0-1 each
Sarsfields
A O'Brien; C Duffy, S Ryan, D McDonnell; C McConnell(J Healy 36mins), G White, C McInerney Aspell; C McDonnell(R Connor 49mins), C Kavanagh(B Coffey 42mins); B McCormack, R Cahill(D McKenna bc 54mins), C Hartley; D Nea, R Fitzgibbon, A Smith.
Athy
S Davis; K Mulhall, C Ronan(T Foley 22mins), M Hyland(P Connell bc 54mins); T Gibbons(E Delahunt 40mins), D Hyland, R Bell; M Foley, P Connell(B Kelly 24mins); N Kelly, J Eaton, K Feely; H Mahon, P Dunne(D Mulhall 43mins), L McGovern.
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