JOY FOR AN TOCHAR
AN TOCHAR BLESSINGTON 2-6 1-6
THERE were beautiful scenes of celebration and joy after the final whistle in the Fitzgerald Kitchens Junior ‘A’ Football Championship final reply between An Tochar and Blessington in Aughrim last Sunday afternoon with the Roundwood men coming out on top after an incredibly cagey but entertaining decider by three points.
The victory is a huge boost for An Tochar GAA Club and is a massive step on the road to recovery after some lean years at the club who were once kingpins of the county at Senior level and, judging by the tremendous work being put in at juvenile level, who may return to that level in the very near future.
Next season when they take their place in the Intermediate championship, the An Tochar side will have five players coming through from underage ranks to compliment the already impressive panel that held off the challenge of one of the teams of the season at Junior ‘A’ level in Blessington over the course of the two games.
This game was all about not making errors and putting huge pressure on the team in possession and the 0-2 to 0-1 half-time tally in favour of An Tochar will tell you all you need to know about the openness, or lack of, as both sides deployed sweepers and attempted to negate the danger men on both sides.
The work of Stephen Connor in this regard has to be applauded and appreciated. Over the two games, the first final in Ashford and the replay in Aughrim, the long-haired defender marked one of the best footballers at this level in the county in Kevin Quinn and starved him of possession. The An Tochar man was relentless and for all of us neutrals who love seeing a class footballer strut his stuff and who might feel disappointed that Quinn didn’t get to show his absolute class in the county grounds, there is also something utterly impressive in the performance of O’Connor over the two games.
But, as An Tochar manager Shay Cullen would contest strongly, this victory for An Tochar was a squad victory more so than a win conjured up by an individual or two. Gavin Fogarty received the Man of the Match award after the game and no arguments there but O’Connor, Oisin Cullen, Brendan Kennedy, substitute Stefan Collier and goal scorer Liam Kenna who replaced the busy Conor Davis as well as every other member of the panel contributed to what was a memorable victory for the Roundwood club.
Blessington will be savagely disappointed at this defeat and rightfully so. Peter Behan and his management team produced an excellent football team that possessed a fine mixture of youth and experience with many of the panel dead certs to feature at Senior level in the very near future.
However, a penalty decision given and then changed to a throw ball in the second half will be viewed as incredibly costly.
Added to that, the loss of fullback Conall O Gallchobhair to illness ahead of the replay was a terrible blow for Blessington as the young Naas CBS defender is a wonderfully composed and mature footballer.
What makes this victory for An Tochar all the sweeter for the players and management team is that just a few short months ago things looked in complete disarray with some membersof management stepping away and Shay Cullen and David Brady joining Chris Brady to try and rescue what looked to be a difficult situation for the team.
The reaction to that by the An Tochar players and their commitment from there on in is the main reason why captain Brendan Kennedy lifted the cup to the cheers and applause of their supporters on the turf of the county grounds last Sunday afternoon.
That 0-2 to 0-1 score after the first half was never going to be repeated in the second half given that games have a tendency to open up in the second half.
An Tochar took the game by the scruff of the neck early on through a Gavin Fogarty burst up the field that resulted in a free being awarded and then moved forward for lip and Conor Davis dropped over the simple free.
Blessington struck back through a wonder score from Sean Byrne but An Tochar were looking more settled and Cian McHugh’s sweeping role produced a timely interception and burst forward where Liam Gaffney fired wide.
A superb burst down the stand side by Ger Byrne saw the ball worked to Brendan Kennedy and the county man dropped over a bomb to make it 0-4 to 0-2 for An Tochar.
Blessington were attacking for all they were worth and Kevin John Rogers showed massive physical strength and experience to fire over at the Rednagh Hill end to close to within one.
But Blessington’s attack was running into massive trouble in the shape of Cian McHugh who was sitting back deep for An Tochar in front of his full back line.
Peter Behan’s side levelled matters through a Kevin Quinn free at the end of the third quarter but Cian McHugh returned An Tochar to the lead after a stunning run from the young Roundwood man.
A searing attack from Gavin Fogarty resulted in a free to An Tochar and Fogarty dropped it over to give Shay Cullen’s men a two-point lead after 22.
And then drama descended on Aughrim when Sean Byrne was almost certainly pulled down in the square, but no penalty was given by referee Darragh Byrne. Seconds later the play was stopped, and a penalty was awarded but following further consultation with his umpires, Darragh Byrne decided to throw up the ball much to the disgust of the Blessington supporters.
It was abundantly clear that a goal in this game would be huge and it was the An Tochar men who would land two majors, the first through Oisin Cullen after great work by Stefan Collier, and the second through Liam Kenna to knock Blessington back on their heels.
Credit to the Blues, they rallied and and grabbed a goal through a penalty for a footblock from Brian Bohan, but despite coming in search of a match-saving major An Tochar withstood the onslaught and the final whistle sounded to herald a magical victory for the Roundwood men over a talented and brave Blessington side.
Scorers – An Tochar: Oisin
Cullen 1-0, Liam Kenna 0-1, Gavin Fogarty 0-2, Eamon Wolohan 0-1, Conor Davis 0-1 (f), Brendan Kennedy 0-1, Cian McHugh 0-1.
Blessington: Brian Bohan 1-0 (p), Kevin Quinn 0-2, Sean Byrne 0-1, Kevin John Rogers 0-1, Eoin