Woods goal sends Gorey into Leinster Shield final
GOREY RANGERS’ second string qualified for the O’Neill’s Leinster Junior shield final after a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Cushinstown in Sunday’s semi-final played at a sunny Ramstown.
A mundane first-half made way for an end-to-end second period as the hosts demonstrated an admirable battling quality to overturn a 1-0 deficit and eventually emulate their first team in reaching a cup final.
There was no settled pattern to a first-half that saw more throwins and offside calls than any significant shots at goal, with Gorey dominating the possession stakes without truly troubling the opposition goalkeeper. The hosts did create the best chances all the same, with David Christie punting over from out the field and Ross Moore doing similar after being set up by Killian Cushe on 17 minutes.
It was much the same when play resumed as Rangers dominated territory without landing any serious blows to Cushinstown’s rock-solid defence.
And the New Ross district men, runners-up in Division 3 this year, really sprung to life on 53 minutes when they took the lead after surviving a mini Gorey onslaught.
A corner from the right was cleared into space for Mark Lee to gather and play a perfectly-weighted pass into Jason Dunne, who swept confidently to the net against the run of play.
Adam Dunbar was twice called into evasive action as Cushinstown’s tails were up, and the erstwhile leaders even had a goal from Nicky Sinnott ruled out for offside.
The locals soon restored parity though when a corner-kick from Killian Cushe was met amid the scramble of heads in the box by a salmon-like leap from David Christie, who guided a perfect header to the roof of the net.
What followed was an essay in containment as Rangers’ defence, led by captain Kevin Kavanagh and James Lynch, stood tall to everything thrown at them.
That defiance needed to be supplemented by some creativity up front, and that duly arrived on 73 minutes when a promising run down the right wing from full-back Conor Nolan saw his intended cross beat the first man but fall right at the feet of Derrick Woods, who gleefully accepted the gift to find the top corner and send the home supporters into raptures.
Every ball was cleared with interest thereafter as Rangers held on to what they had. That said, there were a couple of brief hairy moments during the eight minutes of injury-time when Cushinstown won free-kicks at the edge of the box, but neither of them amounted to anything as Gorey Rangers advanced to the provincial final. GOREY RANGERS: Adam Dunbar; Conor Nolan, Kevin Kavanagh (capt.), James Lynch, Marc Flanagan; Killian Cushe, Ross Moore, David Christie, Columb Sheridan; Ethan Vickers, Derrick Woods. Subs. - Dillon Dixon for Sheridan (65), Damien Truchan for Woods (82).
CUSHINSTOWN: Brendan O’Neill; Ryan Gaffney, Aaron Gaffney, Ian Greeney (capt.), Colin Whelan; James Whelan, Mark Lee, Seán McGrath, Jason Dunne; Robert Kehoe, Nicky Sinnott. Subs. - Paudie O’Connor for J. Whelan (65), Ian Kennedy for Dunne, inj. (79), Jonathan Murphy for McGrath (86).