U21 ‘A’ Football County Final

It turned out to be a great day for all our supporters last Saturday, 2^nd July in Fraher Field, when we secured the county title against Dungarvan, the team that beat us comprehensively in last years final. This was only our 3^rd U21 ‘A’ success with the last 2 coming back in 1989 & 1991. In the 20 years since our last victory, we have lost 7 finals, so this was a p

ticularly sweet victory not only for the team, but also for all involved in the club. For some reason, the throw in time which was published for 3:30, was switched to 2:30 P.M during the week, which meant a number of our supporters who were not aware of the change missed a large portion of the match, something which the county board should bear in mind when making such changes in the future. The opening minutes were all Dungarvan & they opened their account in the 3^rd minute with a point. However, shortly after that, we responded with a Gavin Nugent pointed free, which he followed up with a point from play a minute later. In the 7^th minute, Sean Lacey gathered a ball in the square & as he went to round the keeper he was taken down & we were awarded a penalty, which Gavin finished low, to the keeper’s right corner to give us a 4-point lead. We were dominant at this stage with Gavin Nugent causing huge problems for the Dungarvan defence, & he added another pointed free in the 9^th minute before Paul Drohan completed the scoring in the first quarter with a good point from play, giving us a 1-4 to 0-2 lead. The second quarter was entirely different, & Dungarvan added 5 unanswered points by the 22^nd minute to tie up the match. Then in the 26^th minute a high ball into our square was not dealt with by any of our defenders, & when it fell to a Dungarvan forward, he lashed it to the net to give them a 3-point lead. We added a pointed free from Gavin Nugent before half time & Dungarvan also added a point in first half injury time to leave the half time score Rathgormack 1-5, Dungarvan 1-8. We had it all to do in the second half & the Dungarvan forwards in the second quarter had shown that given time & space they would severely punish us. We started the second half very determined & Gavin added 3 more points, 1 from play, before the 37^th minute to level it up, & it was clear that this match was going to go right to the death. A lot of mistakes started to creep in to both sides play as the half advanced as the tension increased. Dungarvan nudged back in front with a point in the 39^th minute, before a good point from Paul Drohan in the 43^rd minute levelled it again. The 49^th minute provide a passage of play that was pivotal in determining the outcome. A long ball was played into our full back line, which our keeper, Eamonn Cahill came off his line to collect. As he did so, the Dungarvan full forward heavily challenged him, & the referee very harshly decided to award a 13 metre free in for charging. However, the Dungarvan free taker, total miskicked the free from his hands & kicked it straight into the hands of one of our defenders, before we worked it up the pitch, & won a free that Gavin Nugent slotted over. Again, Dungarvan equalised in the 51^st minute, & play was swinging from end to end at this stage. In the final 10 minutes, our boys appeared to want the win that bit more & they defended very tenaciously & won some great breaks around midfield, with Jamie Kirwan putting is body on the line on 2 occasions to pick up breaks he had no right to win. Gavin Nugent capped a Man of the Match performance in the 56^th minute when he kicked yet another point to put us back in front again. Both sides missed a few half chances in the next few minutes & in the 60^th minute Michael Curry gather a high cross-field ball on the half forward line before soloing through the defence to kick the insurance point. A few minutes later the full time whistle blew & there was great scenes of celebration as joint captains Nigel Skehan & Richie Lacey collected the cup. Final score Rathgormack 1-12, Dungarvan 1-10.

This was a very dogged performance from Rathgormack, & when the hard challenges had to be made in the 2^nd half, no one was found wanting, with everyone showing a great determination to win to make up for last years defeat. All 6 backs & goalkeeper had good outings & showed great work rate throughout. Jamie Kirwan & Ronan Cahill put in a tremendous hour at midfield, with some very good ball played into the forwards, & a huge amount of ball won in the all-important second half. Gavin Nugent had an exceptional game at corner forward contributing 0-3 from play from his total of 1-9, with Paul Drohan & Michael Curry also providing points from play. The other 3 forwards also made a big contribution to the final result as did the 3 subs that came on. It must be said that this was definitely an 18-man performance, with everyone contributing handsomely to the outcome. The club would like to congratulate all the players on a great performance & on achieving a historic victory & also the management of Mervyn Cummins, Michael Cummins, Steven Flynn & Brendan Crotty who have worked with these players for the last few years.

Team:  Eamonn Cahill, Billy Power, Gerard Kirwan, Connor Walsh, Johnny Quinlan, Nigel Skehan, Sean Cullen, Jamie Kirwan, Ronan Cahill, Michael Curry (0-1), Paul Drohan (0-2), Richie Lacey, Steven Kirwan, Sean Lacey, Gavin Nugent (1-9), Subs: Liam Walsh (Ballinafina) for Sean Lacey, Peter Foran for Billy Power, Connor Hennebry for Richie Lacey.

Senior Football

We played St. Saviours in the semi-final of the Phelan cup last Tuesday night, 28^th June, in Walsh Park. Without our U21 players & with a few other regulars missing, we fielded an under strength side, but despite conceding an early point in the first minute, we were on top in the first quarter, & led by 1-3 to 0-4 after 17 minutes, with the goal coming from Paudie Whelan following good work from Darragh Kelly & Franny Halpin. However we fell behind coming towards half time when a long ball in from midfield deceived our defence, & went straight to the net, leaving the half time score Rathgormack 1-4, St. Saviours 1-7. We got the first 2 points of the second half & by the 36^th minute we were only 1 behind. But we were having trouble winning possession around the middle third & our forwards were starved of ball for long periods, & when we conceded a penalty which was converted in the 52^nd minute which put us 6 points behind the match was over as a contest. Final score Rathgormack 1-8, St. Saviours 2-12. Team: Brendan Crotty, Kieran Fogarty, Michael Sexton, Mikey Crotty, Anthony Power, Mervyn Cummins (0-1), Martin Whelan, Paul Power (0-1), Brian Fogarty, Paudie Whelan (1-3), Donal Larkin (0-1), Franny Halpin, Darragh Kelly, Kenny Hassett, Ronan Crotty (0-2).

Subs: Muiris Quinlan for Anthony Power, Steven Power for Franny Halpin.

We play our final league match at home to Gaultier on Tuesday 5^th July at 7:30 PM.

Junior Football

Our juniors completed the league section of their championship on Monday 4^th July at 7:30 PM away to De La Salle.