Never-say-die Curraha give Cille’s a scare
ST COLMCILLE’S 1-17 CURRAHA 1-11
THE scoreline would suggest a comfortable enough IFC quarter-final victory for championship favourites St Colmcille’s at Duleek on Sunday evening.
However it was anything but, as Curraha gave the seasiders quite a fright and were well in contention to cause a shock when just two points in arrears with a little over five minutes of normal time remaining.
There was six points separating the sides entering the final quarter, but Curraha then produced a great rally that saw them hit over four successive scores in a seven-minute spell to whittle the deficit down to two points.
Curraha were dominant at that stage and looked well capable of turning over that two-point deficit as most of the play was directed towards the St Colmcille’s goal.
Cille’s boss Colm Nally was forced into changes in an effort to break the Curraha stranglehold, and both David Sheeran and John McKenna were brought into the action. Less than a minute later Sheeran got on the end of a fine move involving two earlier subs, Ciaran Kelly and Ruairi O’Grady, to blast to the net. Kelly in particular played a pivotal role in the goal, winning possession under pressure before racing clear of his marker and then off-loading to O’Grady.
James Conlon then added a quick point to extend the lead back to six, 1-16 to 1-10, and those scores eventually broke Curraha’s brave resistance. However, despite the defeat Curraha deserve credit for their effort to topple their much more fancied opponents.
The early stages of the game belonged to Graham Reilly, who was in unstoppable form, and the county player had already tallied all six of his side’s points by the ninth minute of the game.
Reilly opened the scoring after just two minutes from a free and then added a point from long range. Three more pointed frees followed, plus another from play.
In between that scoring spree Curraha grabbed a goal, with Conor Moriarty finishing to the net from close range after the Cille’s defence failed to clear their lines. Moriarty, who enjoyed mixed luck from placed balls, accounted for all of his side’s opening-half tally, but at the break it was Cille’s who deservedly led 0-12 to 1-3.
Reilly accounted for seven points in the half, with Robert McCloskey and Ben Brennan (two apiece) and James Conlon also on target.
Curraha hit three wides and just a single point, from Moriarty, in the opening four minutes of the second half. Eoin Woods from play and Reilly, with two frees, added to the Cille’s tally in the third quarter.
James McEntee became the first Curraha player, apart from Moriarty, to find the target in the 40th minute and he then added another point to leave it 0-15 to 1-6 entering the final quarter.
The Curraha men seemed to up the tempo at that stage, with McEntee, David Toner, Neil Shortall and Brian Murphy much more influential than they were earlier. Shortall was denied a goal by a fine block from Joe Sweeney at the expense of a ‘45, but Curraha hit back with a brace of points each from Toner and McEntee to reduce the deficit to a mere two points.
Cille’s seemed helpless to stop the Curraha revival, but that Sheeran goal got them out of a hole. The roving Niall Ronan also played a central role in halting the slide as he won precious possession around midfield and indeed his own defence at times.
Curraha pressed hard in added time for a consolation goal and very nearly got it from Moriarty, but Cille’s held out to keep their title aspirations very much intact, with a semi-final clash with Walterstown coming up next Sunday.