Shevlin secures replay
A THRILLING 2-15 apiece draw between teams clad in black and blue - and you didn’t have to trek all the way to Croke Park to witness it in the flesh!
Just like Mayo, it was the men in black - aka Dreadnots - who forced a replay, but unbelievably the finale in Dunleer was even more dramatic than HQ, as the evergreen Derek Shevlin popped up with a stunning injury-time goal.
Even more remarkably, the Clogherhead men were down to 13 men at that stage as Cian McEvoy and Paraic Smith were dismissed in the dying minutes, the latter on a red card that looks set to rule him out of the replay.
Colm Donnelly had also lost James Califf to an ankle injury at that stage, but when a hero was required, Shevlin donned the cape once more.
What the corner back was doing that far forward was anybody’s guess! And just where the Naomh Mairtin defence drifted to so deep into injury-time was an even bigger conundrum.
But when he found himself clear of the Jocks’ last man with only Craig Lynch to beat, the former Louth defender didn’t hesitate for an instant, drilling home a fierce finish that pinged the near post en route to the net.
It was a familiar feeling for Naomh Mairtin and a cruel lesson that there’s no ‘right way’ in this beautiful game.
Last year when they opened an eight-point lead on 14-man St Mary’s, the Jocks looked home and hosed.
They tried to shut up shop, funnelling 13 men back into their own half, but were somehow reeled back in by the eventual finalists.
They didn’t spurn that kind of lead on this occasion, but the Monasterboice men always seemed to be in control and led by five points with six minutes of normal time remaining,
But this time there was no retreat and even when Dreadnots were reduced to 13 men the Jocks kept attacking.
Their gung-ho approach is refreshing in an age of defensive strategy, but in hindsight Jim Farrell and Christy Grimes must be wishing that a few more bodies stayed ‘home’ in the dying seconds of almost seven added minutes.
But both sides live to fight another day and if the replay is anything like this, it’ll be a must-see.
From the moment David Fedigan threw the ball in, they went at it hammer and tongs.
The Mairtins live on the edge defensively, but they attack like a team confident they can outscore any opponent and so the pattern was set.
The Jocks opened a 0-4 to 0-1 lead after 10 minutes with Stephen Campbell, Sam Mulroy and Eoghan Callaghan all on traget from play and Conor Whelan Pictures: Jimmy Weldon converting a free.
Almost inevitably there were gaps at the back and Liam Shevlin should have exploited one, but blazed high and wide with only Lynch to beat.
But Dreadnots didn’t have to wait long for a breakthrough, even it if was served up with a large slice of fortune.
Barry Faulkner’s ball up to Peter Kirwan didn’t look overly dangerous, but when Paul Berrill slipped, Kirwan found himself one-on-one with Lynch and he made no mis- take to level the contest, 1-1 to 0-4.
Pat Lynch edged Dreadnots in front soon after, but the Jocks twice came from behind to level before swiping the lead back with an emphatic strike from the lightning quick Paudie McDonagh.
Dreadnots had only just repaired the damage with points from Califf and Carl Monaghan when Callaghan and Mulroy combined to tee up Brian Berill for another Mairtins goal.
Mulroy added a free to put five between the sides, but Smith replied to make it 2-7 to 1-6 at the interval.
If that first-half was frantic, the opening exchanges of the second period were off the charts as the sides exchanged eight points in five minutes.
Dreadnots kicked five of those and coupled with Liam Shevlin’s opener in the first minute, they had whittled the deficit to the minimum, 2-10 to 1-12.
Four minutes without a score represented something of a ‘lull’ in the scoring, but a Smith free drew Dreadnots level at the mid-point of the half.
However, the Jocks weathered the storm impressively as points from Callaghan, John Clutterbuck and Conor Healy established a two-point cushion.
And they looked to be in control when McEvoy and Smith were dismissed in the space of a minute.
They were both booked at the same time, triggering a red for McEvoy following an earlier yellow.
But the warning didn’t seem to register for a fired-up Smith who received a straight red seconds later.
Peter Kirwan pulled a point back for Dreadnots to put the minimum between the sides once more, but as injury-time ticked away, Stephen Campbell and Francis McCullough - on for the black-carded Mick Fanning - made it 2-15 to 1-15.
Only a goal would suffice for Dreadnots at that stage and Shevlin obliged in style - an unlikely strike, from a likely hero.
NAOMH MAIRTIN: Craig Lynch; Paul Berrill, Mick Fanning, Thomas Sullivan; Paudie McDonagh 1-0, Brendan Reilly, John Clutterbuck 0-1; Wayne Campbell 0-1, Sam Mulroy 0-4 (3f); Stephen Campbell 0-3, Eoghan Callaghan 0-2, Conor Healy; Bryan McQuillan 0-1, Brian Berrill 1-0, Conor Whelan 0-2 (1f). Subs: Conor Morgan for Brian Berrill (45), Francis McCullough 0-1 for M Fanning (BC 57).
DREADNOTS: Kenneth Shevlin; Brian Gargan, Pádraig Rath, Derek Shevlin 1-0; Anthony Williams, Cian McEvoy, Barry Faulkner; Fergal McGuigan, James Califf 0-3f; David O’Brien 0-1, Liam Shevlin 0-2, Pat Lynch 0-2; Peter Kirwan 1-1, Páraic Smith 0-5 (3f), Carl Monaghan 0-1. Subs: Anthony Lynch for McGuigan (22), Dermot Campbell for Faulkner (47), Aaron Scullion for Califf (53)
REFEREE: David Fedigan.