Laffey is glad that a dream came true
TURNING POINT: score by Ross Doherty.
In splendid October sunshine, the game was barely a minute old when Coolera-Strandhill’s Mark McDaniel, who would later be selected as the Sligo GAA Player of the Match, blazed in off the right flank to shoot the game’s opening point – from a Niall Murphy pass.
We weren’t to know that this would be only one of two scores from CooleraStrandhill in the first-half, with their second point not coming until the 20th minute when Niall Murphy landed a majestic score.
In between these two CooleraStrandhill points it was The Magnificent St Molaise Gaels Show.
Murphy and Keelan Cawley, was the starting point of this revival. St Molaise Gaels were a threat but their fizzle was fast fading.
Still, one wonders if Michael Langan ought to have opted for a goal shot instead of a fisted point in the 39th minute – this came after the busy Jack Davitt, Aaron Currid and Luke Towey had opened the door.
Re-energised Coolera-Strandhill, aware that it was time to get to work, reeled off three points without reply to go in front for the first time, 0-7 to 0-6, with 47 minutes played. The score that gave them the lead was a very good point by Niall Murphy from a Sean Taylor pass.
St Molaise Gaels were level again with five minutes of normal time left when Alan McLoughlin pointed a free. McLoughlin had earlier dropped a monster point attempt short into the arms of Keelan Harte, Luke Towey was shut down by Sean Taylor’s work and Joseph Keaney found himself bottled up by a Coolera-Strandhill defence that was no longer showing flaws.
Another big point from Niall Murphy as well as tasty points by Mark McDaniel and Ross Doherty gave Coolera-Strandhill a three-point cushion, 0-10 to 0-7, with matters now into added time. In such a tight contest, a three-point lead was vast. St Molaise Gaels tried once more and got what was only their third point of the second-half to make it a twopoint game. But Coolera-Strandhill would hold on, defiantly, and when referee Barry Judge signalled fulltime the roar from their fans shook Knocknarea Mountain itself.
Mark
PETER Laffey, Coolera-Strandhill’s midfield reliable and diligent team captain, has seen the good and the bad.
The 32-year-old, who made his Sligo GAA Senior Football Championship debut for Coolera-Strandhill in 2009, has come through serious injuries and county final losses.
But this tough road, with obstacles aplenty, led to last Sunday’s achievement – a personal triumph for the likeable and resolute Laffey who captained Coolera-Strandhill to their first Owen B Hunt Cup success since 2005. “I don’t think I have cried as much as I did when the final whistle blew – there was just pure relief. We felt that was a long time coming as we had been in several finals. I’m just so thankful that we got over the line,” the county player stated.
“You dream of days like this to get you through long spells or when you are training on your own or recovering [from injury] on your own.” It took a much-improved second-half from Coolera-Strandhill to turn things around, however.
“We felt we were very wasteful in the first-half, in terms of our skills and our passing,” the captained admitted. “But it a great attitude to have to be able to go until the final whistle.”
When asked what this win means for Coolera-Strandhill, Laffey replied: “I think the only way you came sum that up is seeing the amount of men crying after the final whistle.
“We will celebrate, regroup during the week and we’ll look at that [Connacht] fixture but for the time being we are going to enjoy this one.” With Coolera-Strandhill having won two Sligo LGFA titles (Junior ‘B’ and Minor ‘A’) this year and now this re-emergence in Sligo GAA’s top tier, Laffey maintained that this success will give the club “a massive lift. Meanwhile, Peter Laffey’s sister, Laura-Ann, was a title-winning captain recently – she captained CooleraStrandhill to victory over St Farnan’s in the Sligo LGFA Connacht Gold Junior ‘B’ Championship decider.