It’s eighth time lucky for edgy Pearses
THE scenes of maddened joy at the final whistle reminded all that we were witnessing a moment of history as Padraig Pearses clinched their first Roscommon title, but it could just as easily have been sourced in relief.
It was as hard-earned as it was merited coming on the back of seven previous final defeats, including three on the bounce in this decade, but this time they would not be denied.
They stayed true to the theory that history should never come easy, and perhaps it was the seismic nature of what they were about to achieve that saw them reduced to a state of paralysis as they were about to breach the winning tape.
With three minutes of regular time left, they led by seven points against a team that had been reduced to 13 men, after Gaels’ scorer-in-chief Cian Connolly and substitute Bryan O’Gara both saw straight red for their part in an all-in late brawl which was sourced in the losers’ frustration.
And yet from there, Pearses supporters were reduced to peering through their fingers in the eighth and final minute of injury time as the Gaels dropped a final ball into the square in search of what would have been the most unlikely of equalising goals. A smartly-finished goal from Richard Hughes in the 59th minute ensured that this thing went to the line, but that late comeback was facilitated by the nerves which enveloped the winners. ‘When you are trying to get across the line for the first time, the demons tend to resurface in the last 10 minutes and that was always going to happen. ‘We have struggled in every game this year when we have had players sent off against us. ‘As soon as the two players were sent off today we started to struggle again but thankfully we had enough done over the course of the game to get it done,’ admitted Pearses manager Pat Flanagan.
It was a neat summation of a contest in which his team dominated for long periods.
In truth, the heavy lifting had been done by half-time when Pearses retired on the strength of a seven-point (2-7 to 0-6) lead.
It was not just the size of the lead, but the manner in which it was constructed which suggested that there was simply no way back for the Roscommon town side.
They struggled pitifully in attack to find any cutting edge and were reliant on the Dubai-based Connolly, who slipped over four of their first-half points from placed.
That there was such a gaping chasm between the teams should hardly come as a surprise given that Pearses had no less than five – the Daly trio of Ronan, Conor, Niall, David Murray and Hubert Darcy on their starting team – while Gaels had only John McManus from this year’s county panel.
And he had the difficult task of anchoring an over-powered Gaels defence while also keeping tabs on Darcy.
It was Darcy who initiated the move that saw Paul Carey, release Conor Payne to flick home Pearses opening goal in the 13th minute which would give them a lead, 1-2 to 0-3, they would not lose.
But Darcy was not without help in a high-octane attack in which Payne, Carey and Emmet Kelly impressed.
It was Kelly who started the move in the 23rd minute, which slammed the door shut on the Gaels, linking up with Carey, who in turn released Darcy to fire in
“The demons resurfaced in last 10 minutes”
“It is a dream
come true for this club ”
their second goal. As impressive as their forward line was, it was their sold defending with Murray as ever leading in the full-back line that forced the losers into an ill-fated slow-build up which played into the winners hands.
But no player did more to deliver the Fahy Cup to Pearses than Conor Daly.
He was a key reason why they squeezed James Fetherstone’s restarts to the degree they were returned for three points, while he kicked two booming efforts from distance and effectively pulled the strings.
When his brother, Lorcan, and Kelly added points within eight minutes of the restart, their lead sat at nine points, but from there all that had been so easy morphed into a struggle.
But then making history should never be easy.
‘There is something very special to see a club win it for the first time and that was a big draw for me coming here. It is unbelievable. It is a dream come true for this club.
‘It is great to see them get across the line for the first time,’ gushed Flanagan, who vowed his team would have their feet back on the ground when they meet the Sligo champions next month.
‘The players will celebrate this and they will they will celebrate hard because they deserve to.
‘But they also know that they are representing Roscommon now and they will take a lot of pride in that.’ PADRAIG PEARSES: P Whelan; S Carty,
M Richardson, D Murray; A Butler, R Daly, G Downey (S Fahy, 60&5); N Daly, C Daly; L Daly (N Finneran, 60&7), N Carty, P Carey (A Duffy, 54); E Kelly (T Butler, 48), H Darcy, C Payne (S Ryan, 60&4)
Scorers: C Payne 1-1, H Darcy 1-1 (0-1 free), E Kelly 0-3 (0-1 free), C Daly and P Carey 0-2 each, L Daly 0-1. Wides: (3) 5. Frees: (5) 9 Yellow cards: C Payne (60).
ROSCOMMON GAELS: J Fetherstone; T Lambe, J McManus, M McNeill (R Gleeson, 44) ; K O’Gara (J O’Gara, 60&2), R Hughes, P Gleeson; K Kilcline (R Walsh 60&5), M Healy (B O’Gara, 41); S Oates, D O’Gara, B Kelly (C Dineen, 54); R Carolan, C Connolly, P Gilhooly (M Nally, 38) Scorers: C Connolly 0-5 (0-4 frees), R Hughes 1-0, R Carolan 0-2 (0-1 free), P Gilhooly, T Lambe and J McManus 0-1 each). Wides: (4) 8. Frees: (7) 14 Yellow cards: D O’Gara (9), M McNeill (42), R Gleeson (60) Red cards: B ‘O’Gara (57), C Connolly (57) Referee: M Parker (St Faithleach’s)