posted Jul 3, 2011, 4:15 PM by Unknown user
U21 ‘A’ Football County FinalIt turned out to be a great day for all our supporters last
Saturday, 2nd 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 3rd 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 pticularly 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 3rd 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 7th 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 9th 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 22nd minute to tie up the match. Then in
the 26th 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 37th 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 39th minute, before a good
point from Paul Drohan in the 43rd minute levelled it again. The 49th
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 51st 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 56th 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 60th 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 2nd 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 FootballWe played St. Saviours in the semi-final of the Phelan
cup last Tuesday night, 28th 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 36th 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 52nd 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 5th July at 7:30 PM.
Junior Football
Our juniors completed the league section of their
championship on Monday 4th July at 7:30 PM away to De La Salle. |
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