Too close for comfort!

By Noel Horgan Saturday March 13th, 2010

Cork .........................................1-19

Galway .....................................1-17



It was shaping up into a convincing Cork victory after they led by nine points three minutes into the second half, but gutsy Galway refused to accept their fate, going agonisingly close to salvaging a draw in a remarkable National Football League clash at Páirc Uí Rinn last Saturday night.

Viewed overall, the Rebels deserved to come away with a third win from three outings in the league, especially since, leading by seven points, they appeared to have derailed Galway’s second half recovery before the visitors grabbed a fortuitous goal with under ten minutes remaining.

That was claimed by substitute Gary Sice, after a fisted effort for a point by Michael Meehan had rebounded off the upright, and it threw Galway a lifeline.

They got back within striking range through corner forward Cillian De Paor, but Cork responded with scores from Donncha O’Connor and Paddy Kelly, from a free, and again it seemed as if the Leesiders were destined to finish the match in the comfort-zone.

Galway never dropped their heads, however, and their sheer stubbornness was almost rewarded at the death when, after the ever-menacing Meehan and wing back David Reilly shared a brace of points, substitute Danny Cummins blasted a clear-cut goal chance over the bar in stoppage time.

Considering that Cork lined out without six players who started in last year’s All-Ireland final, they would have been happy to settle for a two-point win under normal circumstances. But it was with a greater sense of relief than satisfaction that they greeted the final whistle, and their failure to keep the momentum going after building up a seemingly unassailable advantage shortly after half-time was disappointing, to say the least.

They were clearly the better team in the first half, although Galway remained well in touch during a tentative opening 20 minutes. The Tribesmen led for the only time when Sean Armstrong converted a 45 to make it 0-2 to 0-1 after eight minutes, but Armstrong, who made a promising start on the 40, was forced off injured a minute later.

Cork looked a little more focused from the outset, and Galway were caught napping by a couple of quickly taken frees by Ger Spillane and Paudie Kissane which yielded points from Paul O’Flynn and Donncha O’Connor respectively.

Sandwiching scores by Paddy Kelly, from a free, and O’Connor, it meant that Cork led by 0-5 to 0-2 after 16 minutes, but Galway bagged the next two points through Michael Meehan before the game took a firm swing in favour of the home side.

They were 1-7 to 0-4 to the good after Colm O’Neill collected an Alan O’Connor delivery before smartly laying the ball off to Pearse O’Neill, who raced through to unleash an unstoppable shot to the roof of the Galway net.

Paddy Kelly quickly added a splendid point, following a typically slick build-up involving Pearse O’Neill, Donncha O’Connor and Daniel Goulding, to push Cork seven ahead in the 29th minute, and the writing appeared to be on the wall for Galway at that juncture.

They were making little headway in the half forward line, which meant their inside line was forced to exist on scraps during the second quarter. That was particularly disturbing from a Galway point of view, because Michael Meehan and Nicky Joyce carried an obvious threat in the full forward line where Cillian De Paor got little change from excellent Cork corner back Ray Carey.

Michael Shields was entrusted with the task of keeping tabs on Michael Meehan, and he enjoyed some success without ever completely containing Galway’s ace attacker.

Newcomer Eoin Cotter clearly had his hands at full back against Nicky Joyce, but Cork held most of the aces elsewhere, with Paudie Kissane, Ger Spillane – although he didn’t have things all his own way against Joe Bergin, who was switched from full forward to the ’40 following Sean Armstrong’s departure – and Noel O’Leary largely in control in the half back line.

At the other end, Donncha O’Connor capped an industrious first half display at centre forward with three good points, while Paddy Kelly was constantly in the picture as well on the left flank.

Paul Kerrigan and, to a lesser extent, Colm O’Neill also had their moments in the full forward line where Daniel Goulding was fairly subdued by Galway corner back Damien Burke before the break.

Cork’s leading light in the first half, however, was Pearse O’Neill, whose forceful running from midfield caused major problems for a Galway defence which never inspired complete confidence.

Full value for a 1-10 to 0-6 lead at the interval, Cork burst from the traps on the resumption, and they could have killed off the game had not wing forward Paul O’Flynn, who had a quiet outing overall, blazed the ball over the bar after the hard-working Alan O’Connor, whose distribution was suspect at times, and Pearse O’Neill combined to put the Ballyclough man clean through.

O’Neill immediately tacked on a point, but Cork notched just two more, both of which came from Daniel Goulding who was more involved after the break, over the next 20 minutes when Galway, with Paul Conroy making his presence felt at midfield, and Meehan and Joyce to the fore in attack, put seven on the board to throw the issue back into the melting-pot.

To what extent Cork’s fade-out could be attributed to complacency is hard to say, but certainly the work-rate of their half forwards left a bit to be desired in the second half.

Paul Kerrigan’s switch to the right wing helped to improve matters in this sector, and the fact that Cork responded with three points on the trot, including two from play by Colm O’Neill and Pearse O’Neill, when danger threatened suggests they were always capable of stepping up a gear.

They would probably have cruised home but for the lucky goal notched by Galway’s Gary Sice in the 61st minute, and, while it was much too close for comfort on the run-in, it has to be acknowledged that the laurels rested where they belonged at the finish.

Scorers – Cork: P. O’Neill 1-2, D. O’Connor 0-4, C. O’Neill 0-4, 0-3 frees, P. Kelly 0-3, 0-2 frees, P. O’Flynn and D. Goulding 0-2 each, P. Kissane 0-1 and P. Kerrigan 0-1 each. Galway: N. Joyce 0-7, 0-5 frees, M. Meehan 0-6, 0-3 frees, G. Sice 1-0, S. Armstrong, free, C. De Paor, D. Reilly and D. Cummins 0-1 each.

Cork: K. O’Halloran, R. Carey, E. Cotter, M. Shields, P. Kissane, G. Spillane, N. O’Leary, A. O’Connor, P. O’Neill, P. O’Flynn, D. O’Connor, P. Kelly, D. Goulding, C. O’Neill, P. Kerrigan. Subs: J. Hayes for O’Flynn, C. O’Driscoll for O’Leary, F. Gould for A. O’Connor, J. Masters for C. O’Neill.

Galway: E. Ó Conghaile, D. O’Neill, F. Hanley, D. Burke, G. O’Donnell, D. Blake, D. Reilly, B. Cullinane, P. Conroy, C. Healy, S. Armstrong, D. Dunleavy, M. Meehan, J. Bergin, N. Joyce. Subs: C. De Paor for Armstrong (injured), M. Clancy for Healy, D. Cummins for Joyce (injured), G. Sice for Dunleavy.

Referee: M. Condon (Waterford).