St Kevin’s beaten by last gasp point

WICKLOW side St Kevin’s of Dunlavin were knocked out of the South Leinster Senior football 'B' championship semi-finals following their narrow defeat to a visiting Gorey Community School on Wednesday last.

Dunlavin dominated the opening half with two points from Patrick O'Connor and Eoin Kelly before Darragh Figgis stormed through to tap the ball to the net past netminder James Flood.

Gorey, trained by Conor Wickham and Rory McCarthy, kicked some poor wides in the breezy and wet weather conditions.

And the visitors looked to be in trouble when St Kevin’s Ciarán Spellman pointed and added another goal around the 20-minute mark to create an elevenpoint scoring difference.

However, the diligence and dynamism of Gorey never faded as Gearóid Cullen, Conor Devitt and Gavin Stamp pointed to end their scoring drought. Stamp's two further points sandwiched one from Figgis as the half closed with the Dunlavin school leading by seven points.

Gorey were rejuvenated on the resumption. Their persistence in attack yielded a flurry of points from Gavin Stamp, Eoin Conroy and Yusuf Frih. Despite a point from Dunlavin's Darragh Figgis, Cathal Dunbar managed to break through to slot the ball to the net.

The Gorey defence kept St Kevins at bay with Ben Egan, Marc Halpin and Liam Condren standing tall.

The home team reacted well as Eoin Kelly managed to kick over two much-needed points. However, Gorey's attacks continued to pay dividends as Conor Devitt in particular controlled possession.

Yusuf Frih showed true grit when he kicked with confidence to raise the white flag twice. The visiting followers erupted with delight when a miraculous victory was secured by Fionn Doyle's point. The elated Gorey students now progress to the semi-final stages where they will meet Naas C.B.S. while a heartbroken St Kevin’s will wonder where it all went wrong.