Mattock Rangers Clan Na Gael
IT proved to be third time lucky for Mattock Rangers as they advance to the Intermediate Championship final having lost their last two semi-finals in 2017 and 2018. Niall Callan’s side’s ability to get over the line and grind out results must be commended in a match that was played in an overall honest spirit and refereed fairly by Anthony Briscoe who let the play flow when possible.
Considering they lost talisman David Reid after 10 minutes to injury, this victory was even more impressive for Mattock. The Clans will rue missed chances especially at the end, uncharacteristically missing vital frees through Mark McGeown and Billy Smith, while at the other end, Cathal Fleming and Aaron O’Brien nailed frees at the other end to set Rangers on their way to victory.
O’Brien’s was all the more impressive as he hit it with his left foot, reminiscent of what Paddy Keenan did for the Pats down through the years. Hitting frees with both feet is a skill worth admiring.
Aaron O’Brien and David Reid found the range as Collon started the brighter but their cumbersome use of possession over and back and lack of penetration saw 5 of their first 10 attacks turned over by the Clans who were playing a double sweeper system with Paul Gore and Stephen Fitzpatrick which worked to a certain degree as Mark McCann’s side turned Mattock over 18 times in the match including 13 in the first half. When they did win possession back, they tried to move the ball as quickly as possible to dangerous forwards like Smith, McKeever, Newell and McGeown. Collon’s sluggish attacking play was punished as Billy Smith levelled things up for the Clans with two points of his own, one from a free. Mattock rattled off three points in a row through Ryan Leneghan, the lively Shane Hickey and O’Brien. However, the Clans’ ability to score goals was evident and Billy Smith latched onto a Mark McGeown pass which was played over the heads of two Collon defenders before Smith fired passed Mike Englishby to level things again at 0-5 to 1-2 with 20 minutes gone. Mattock nearly engineered a goal of their own moments beforehand through