St. Mary’s 0-13

Goleen 2-6

TOM LYONS REPORTS

It was heartbreak for gallant Goleen and delight for the St Mary's at the end of this hard-fought Bandon Co-op Junior A Football Championship quarter-final, played in perfect conditions in Rossa Park, Skibbereen on Saturday.

Time was when goals won games in Gaelic football, but now they have been supplanted by two-pointers. In this game, Goleen, with the breeze in the first half, didn’t manage any and in the second half, Mary’s kicked two, the second in the 60th minute by sub Niall Kelleher, which proved to be the winning score. Goleen had led from the very start to that 60th minute score, and it was the first time in the whole game that Mary’s had actually led.

There was no score in three minutes of injury time and, for the second year in a row, St Mary’s win through to the semi-final while Goleen bow out unluckily at the quarterfinal stage.

Goleen lost this game because they didn’t make full use of the breeze and ample possession in the first half. After a bright start that produced three points, they failed to raise another white flag in the half. They did pick off two opportunist goals that were enough to keep them in front until the 60th minute, leading by four at half-time and producing a very controlled performance in the second half.

St. Mary’s, last year’s beaten finalists, won because they never panicked, despite trailing for the whole game and kept picking off points at regular intervals. They also produced the only two-pointers in the game and made full use of their bench to very good effect in the second half.

While the standard didn’t hit the top echelons, this was as tough and as hard a game of championship football as one could hope to witness. Tackling in numbers and ferocious hits, fair and foul, were the order of the day and were the main reasons for the lack of scores as players found it very difficult to find space, with both defences showing total commitment all through.

‘The lads kept their cool there. Maybe everybody else was losing their heads but in fairness the lads kept cool,’ said a very relieved St. Mary's manager Tiernan O’Driscoll.

‘They never lost patience and that’s a hallmark of this team, pulling games out of the fire. Obviously, we have some young lads coming through but this team has been through thick and thin together in recent years. A lot of semi-finals and finals played. They’re very focused and nothing seems to rattle them.

‘I thought Goleen were amazing, really put it up to us. I expected a real tough, hard challenge and that is exactly what we got. We knew it would be a physical game but we stood up to it and gave as good as we got. Coming down the stretch we kept our cool and pulled it off.

‘We had a few fellas hobbling there towards the end but they kept going, a huge testament to their character. It’s a privilege to be part of it.’

St Mary's Paul McMenamin is dispossessed by Goleen's Eden Healy. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

The story of the scoring is very easily told. Goleen, with Matthew and Adam Sheehan dominating midfield, got on top from the start with the breeze and had three points on the board within seven minutes from Daniel O’Driscoll, Matthew Sheehan and Michael O’Reilly (free) as Mary’s struggled to come to grips with the physicality of the game.

But then the scores dried up as the Mary's defence began to turn over a lot of ball, led by William Hennigan, David Curtin and Brian Everard.

St Mary’s had the next two scores from Jack Eady and the hard-working Darren O’Donovan. It was 0-3 to 0-2 at the end of the first quarter, advantage Mary’s against the breeze.

The game turned Goleen’s way again in the 18th minute when Matthew Sheehan burst through the centre and parted to wing-back Patrick Sheehan, who first-timed a shot to the roof of the net.

Enter Eoin Cullinane, wing-forward for Mary’s, who kicked two fine points, but back came Goleen. Despite missing several attempts at two-pointers, in the 30th minute, Sheehan set up Daniel O’Driscoll for their second goal. The last score of the half fell to Cullinane, his third point in a row, and it was 2-3 to 0-5 at the break.

Would a four-point lead suffice Goleen in the second half? Four wides from Mary’s and a Goleen point from Michael O’Reilly had the western supporters believing it could be their night in the third quarter, with the Goleen men now playing good keep football.

St Mary's Olan Corcoran cuts inside Goleen's Eoghan Sheehan. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

Olan Corcoran, very quiet in the first half but much more involved in the second, had a Mary's point but Goleen goalkeeper Ronan Kennedy answered from a free. The excitement was mounting now and, with a number of subs being introduced, St Mary’s kicked the next two scores, Darren O’Donovan with the first two-pointer of the game, and Rory O’Connor, a point from play.

Goleen, still two points to the good entering the last quarter, 2-5 to 0-9, stretched it to three with a pointed free from Michael O’Reilly, but that was to prove their last score of the game. Mary’s, with their subs prominent, especially Niall Kelleher and Brian McCarthy, got a firm grip on the game and closed the gap to one with two scores from Olan Corcoran, amid great excitement, but were finding it hard to penetrate a hard-hitting Goleen defence, well marshalled by Padraig Reidy, Eden Healy and Patrick Sheehan.

It was nail-biting time for the Mary's supporters as the final whistle approached, but enter Kelleher with a superb two-point winning kick that broke all Goleen hearts and ushered St Mary’s into the semi-final.

‘We caught them with a two-pointer last year as well, delighted for Niall today,' said O’Driscoll.

‘It’s a busy schedule now, next week hurling semi-final, then a football semi-final, and hopefully it won’t end there. We don’t know who we’re meeting in the football semi-final, but each game as it comes with the same squad of players.’

OUR STAR: A fine team performance by the winners but the stand-out figure was Goleen midfielder Matthew Sheehan, who set up the two goals and gave a powerful performance all through.

Scorers

St. Mary’s: Eoin Cullinane, Olan Corcoran, Darren O’Donovan (1 2pt) 0-3 each, Niall Kelleher (2pt) 0-2, Jack Eady, Rory O’Connor 0-1 each.

Goleen: Daniel O’Driscoll 1-1, Patrick Sheehan 1-0, Michael O’Reilly 0-3 (2f), Matthew Sheehan, Ronan Kennedy (1f) 0-1 each.

St. Mary’s: Peter Daly; William Hennigan, Ryan Scannell, Finghin O’Driscoll; Brian Everard, David Curtin, Paul McManamin; Rory O’Connor, Cillian McGillicuddy; Eoin Cullinane, Darren O’Donovan, Eoin Keohane; Olan Corcoran, Jack Eady, Mícheál O’Driscoll.

Subs: Jason Collins for C. McGillicuddy (38), Niall Kelleher for J. Eady (40), Brian McCarthy for E. Keohane (40), Jack Hurley for B. Everard (46), Mark O’Driscoll for D. Curtin (48).

Goleen: Ronan Kennedy; Paul Collins, Eden Healy, Mícheál Sheehan; Patrick Sheehan, Eoghan Sheehan Padraig Reidy; Adam Sheehan, Matthew Sheehan; Jake Coughlan, Tadhg Cullinane, Aaron Barry; Páidí O’Regan, Daniel O’Driscoll, Michael O’Reilly.

Sub: Mícheál O’Donovan for P. O’Regan (46).

Referee: Jimmy O’Sullivan (St. Colum’s).