Ferns claim first-ever crown
Strong opening half left St. Anne’s with too much to do
FERNS ST. AIDAN’S ST. ANNE’S 2-7 1-5
THE DISTINCTION of being the first-ever Wexford club team to win a Greenstar Under-20 football championship was earned by Ferns St. Aidan’s when a powerful first-half performance guided them to a deserved five-point win over St. Anne’s in the Division 3 decider in St. Patrick’s Park, Enniscorthy, on Friday.
The Gorey District side made full use of wind advantage before the break to race into a commanding 2-6 to 0-2 lead, and their defensive qualities then came to the fore on the re-start as they prevailed with a reasonable degree of comfort even though only a solitary point was added to their tally.
Most of the good football was produced in that opening half, and the stop-start nature of proceedings after the break clearly suited Ferns a lot more than their rivals who were chasing the game at that stage but unable to make any decent inroads.
The victors – who were followed on to the Under-20 honours list by St. Mary’s (Maudlintown) the next day – started on the front foot but took a short time to settle.
Two of their nine first-half wides were followed by a point attempt by Niall Murphy that rebounded off a post before Jason Maguire got them off the mark with a fine long-range kick in the sixth minute.
Strong midfielder Eoin Murphy doubled that advantage following a handpass from Shane Breen, deputising at corner-forward for Conor Jordan who missed the final due to his boxing commitments.
Niall Murphy then found himself in the same on-field position from where he had scored a goal in the semi-final in Cushinstown six nights earlier, but on this occasion he pulled his shot to the left and wide.
St. Anne’s netminder Dylan Kavanagh did well to keep out a Chris Turner shot as the wave of Ferns attacks continued, but the ’45 that followed led to a point for the full-forward from a James
The Ferns St. Aidan’s squad with the spoils of success.
Lawlor assist (0-3 to nil).
The Rathangan side were in need of some respite, and it finally arrived early in the second quarter when their opening point from a Dylan O’Brien free was followed by a neat left-footed effort from play by Kevin Breen.
Ferns were sufficiently warned to up the ante, and a big ten minutes prior to half-time that yielded an unanswered 2-3 gave them that ample cushion to take into the second period.
Their opening goal arrived in the 21st minute after an opposing kickout was won, with centre-forward James Lawlor playing a one-two with Chris Turner before driving the ball to the country end net (1-3 to 0-2).
Shane Breen pointed a free before Jason Maguire kicked another beauty from distance, and their second goal followed from the penalty spot in the 28th minute.
It was a double blow for St. Anne’s as they lost full-back Andrew Walsh to a black card for pulling the jersey of Turner as he prepared to shoot, with Ferns captain Ivan Meegan stepping up to calmly slot the penalty into the left corner with a low finish.
Meegan, the entertaining scoring goalkeeper with the county team earlier this year, had uncharacteristically missed three frees beforehand, but he did convert one as the game moved into added time to leave his side with that commanding 2-6 to 0-2 interval lead.
St. Anne’s clearly needed a strong start to the second-half to boost their comeback hopes, but it didn’t materialise in a scrappy opening.
They kicked five wides before recording a score, while one decent attempt on goal from full-forward Dylan O’Brien produced a good reflex save from Liam Murphy at the expense of a ’45 that was missed.
A glimmer of hope finally appeared in the 43rd minute when a high delivery by Andy Kennedy broke off netminder Murphy into the path of Darragh Furlong who tucked the ball in the net from close range (2-6 to 1-2).
St. Anne’s never looked like getting another goal, though, with the Scallan brothers and Willie Bolger leading a strong collective defensive effort from the pace-setters.
Furlong reduced the gap to six from a Kevin Breen pass, but busy Ferns midfielder Niall Murphy replied in the 50th minute with their sole score of the half, a fine point under heavy pressure after playing a one-two with James Lawlor (2-7 to 1-3).
Andy Kennedy kicked a sweet left-footed point high into the night sky in the 54th minute, and the play grew even more intermittent thereafter due to a series of substitutions and a couple of brief flashpoints.
Indeed, one disagreement close to the sideline resulted in straight red cards for Ferns midfielder Niall Murphy and Conor Ryan, a half-time introduction for St. Anne’s, along with yellows for the winners’ pairing of Lee Quigley and James Lawlor.
Referee James Mullally played ten added minutes and, while the Ferns followers were growing restless with every passing second, they had no undue cause to be worried as all St. Anne’s could muster in that spell was a late Kevin Breen point.
Ferns St. Aidan’s: Liam Murphy; Rory Scallan, Paddy O’Hagan, Willie Bolger; Lee Quigley, Conor Scallan, Patrick O’Toole; Niall Murphy (0-1), Eoin Murphy (0-1); Ivan Meegan (capt., 1-1, 1-0 pen., 0-1 free), James Lawlor (1-0), Jason Maguire (0-2); Shane Stafford, Chris Turner (0-1), Shane Breen (0-1 free). Subs. - Ciarán Murphy for Breen (54), Kevin Stafford for S. Stafford (58), Steve Warren for O’Toole (59), also Brian O’Neill, Adrian Breen, Jeff Tobin, Conor Jordan.
St. Anne’s: Dylan Kavanagh; Vincent Carroll, Andrew Walsh, Michael Carroll; Billy Ryan, Finn O’Driscoll (capt.), Brian Kavanagh; Ben Moore, Páraic Reville; Criostóir Reville, Andy Kennedy (0-1), Barry Roche; Kevin Breen (0-2), Dylan O’Brien (0-1 free), Darragh Furlong (1-1). Subs. - Barry Stone for Walsh, black card (28), Conor Ryan for B. Ryan (HT), Paddy White for C. Reville (56), Peter Cleary for Furlong (60+2), Kevin Redmond for M. Carroll (60+7), also Philip Rawson, Luke Redmond, Erik Molyneux, Kyle Kennedy.
Referee: James Mullally (Gusserane).