Clans prevail in nail-biting semi-final
CTI BUSINESS SOLUTIONS IFC SEMI-FINALS O’Connell’s keep hopes of a quick return to senior alive
Clan Na Gael Mattock Rgrs
THE current Clan Na Gael generation haven’t always been lauded for their resolve or character in the face of adversity, but nobody could dare question their mental toughness in Darver on Friday night.
Mark McCann’s troops made a disastrous, near fatal, start against one of the hot favourites for intermediate glory, but still managed to carve out a victory that was actually more comfortable than the scoreline suggests.
They will face an old foe in a repeat of the 2012 final on October 7th, and while revenge will hardly be the motivating factor, the hotly anticipated showdown with O’Connell’s should reveal just how far the green and gold have come over the last five years.
With two Division 1 sides clashing on the wide open expanses of the main pitch at Darver, a fastpaced battle was always likely, but no-one could have anticipated such a whirlwind opening 10 minutes.
After conceding an early Adrian Reid point, Clans made a dream start when Paul Gore powered through the centre and finished superbly past Mike Englishby.
And so the tone was set for ding-dong open half.
But it was Mattock who seized the early initiative and a stunning nine-point swing saw them open a commanding lead.
Michael McKeown put a point between the sides before the
O’Connell’s Nh Fionnbarra 2-10 2-9 1-13 1-7
O’CONNELLS bid to bounce straight back up to the senior championship is alive and well after they dispatched 14-man Naomh Fionnbarra to book an IFC final showdown with Clan Na Gael.
Conor McGill opened the scoring for the ‘Bellingham outfit after two minutes and a Niall Conlon free made it two points to no score.
However, the Togher men soon found their feet and points from Conor Osbourne and a William Woods free excellent Aaron O’Brien reacted in a flash to fire a rebound past an unlucky Sean Smyth.
Clans had barely taken stock of that setback when Hugh Donnelly slapped home a second.
David Reid added a free and O’Brien followed up with a point from play, sending Rangers seven points clear - and all inside seven minutes.
Points from Mark Newell and Billy Smith for the Clans and another fine effort from O’Brien at the other end made it a nice round 10 points in as a many minutes.
Supporters, never mind the players, needed to catch a breath, and with both sides set up in defensive, counter-attacking systems, the respective managers must have felt exactly the same.
As it happened the next score didn’t arrive for nine minutes - but it was a crucial one from Clans point of view.
Despite trailing by six points, 2-5 to 1-2, they were starting to make their mark on the contest and a fine move involving Stephen Fitzpatrick and Micheal McDonnell saw Conall McKeever race of the latter’s shoulder and plant a fierce drive past Englishby.
It was no coincidence that as Clans grew in stature Billy Smith’s influence on the game increased and he cut the gap to just two points with a fine point on 24 minutes.
Two David Reid frees sandwiched a McKeever point at the other end, but as the curtain fell on pulsating half of football Clans would have been more than happy to adjourn just three points down, 2-7 to 2-4.
But Mattock must have been fairly happy with themselves too, levelled the score, before another Woods free and Nicholas Butterly point saw them charge into a 0-4 to 0-2 lead after 20 minutes.
The Barrs were now dominant and a slick move involving Hugh Osbourne, Woods and Bernard Osbourne finished with Hugh Osbourne firing to the net to increase his side’s lead to five points.
Robert Quigley reduced the margin to four with a free, but disaster struck for Finbarrs soon after when goalkeeper Andy McCann illegally halted a surging Jackie Agnew run prompting the referee to award a penalty.
If that wasn’t bad enough, as that opening salvo would stand them in good stead if they could just keep the scoreboard ticking in the second period.
But the Clans started to dominate after the break and while the Collon men managed to keep their noses in front until the 47th minute there was inevitably about Paul Gore’s majestic equaliser which made it 2-8 apiece.
Before that Smith kicked an audacious free-kick to open the second-half scoring before swiftly cutting the gap to the minimum.
O’Brien got Mattock off the mark after 10 minutes, but a Smith free and Gore’s booming score from over 40 metres put the contest in the melting pot once more.
The classy midfielder, who must surely be in the next Louth manager’s sights, converted another free to edge Clans for the first time since the opening minutes and from that point the Clans did look the more likely winners.
But a replay certainly couldn’t be ruled out either and with just over four minutes of normal-time remaining David Reid tied it up again at 2-9 apiece.
But a relentless Clans attack continued to press and probe and, while Mattock were celarly aggrieved at some of the frees that went against them in those anxious closing minutes, Smith showed no mercy, sending over his seventh point of the match in the 58th minute.
Clans dropped everyone bar Stephen Coleman into their own half and deeper, and while it was an a nerve-racking few minutes, they defended superbly to keep Mattock out.
David Reid did have one late chance to send to force a replay, the Barrs lost McCann to a straight red card following an incident after he had conceded the penalty.
Michael McArdle replaced Nicholas Butterly to take over between the posts, but he was soon ducking to pull Niall Conlon’s ensuing penalty out of the net.
An excellent 45 from Quigley levelled the game at
1-4 and they adjourned all-square as a Conlon point was cancelled out by a Woods .
14-man Barrs hung in game- Pictures: Paul Connor
but his late free from distance drifted left and wide.
CLAN NA GAEL: Sean Smyth; Ian Carr, Paul Crewe, Donal Boyle; Kevin Carroll, Stephen Fitzpatrick, Mich 0-1eal McDonnell; Billy Smith 0-7 (4f), Conor Noonan; JJ Quigley, Conall McKeever 1-1, Mark Newell 0-1; Ray McCabe, Mark McGeown, Paul Gore 1-1. Subs: Stephen Coleman for R McCabe (ht), Mark McGeown for JJ Quigley (56).
MATTOCK RANGERS: Michael Englishby; Alan Caraher, Seán Gilsenan, Shane Maguire; Brendan Leacy, Dáire Englishby, Michael McKeown 0-1; Hugh Donnelly 1-0, Conor Lenehan; Ryan Lenehan, Adrian Reid 0-1, David Reid 0-4 (3f); Terry Donegan, Aaron O’Brien 1-3, JP Watters. Subs: James Caraher for C Lenehan, Brian Corcoran for R Lenehan, Daniel Bannon for H Donnelly, Greg Monaghan for JP Watters
REFEREE: Stephen Murphy. ly after the break as Quigley and Woods traded points. Despite hitting the woodwork three times, it wasn’t until the final 10 minutes that O’Connell’s began to pull away.
Conlon again edged his team into the lead but Hugh Osbourne replied for Barrs. But the strain of playing with 14 men began to take its toll on the Togher men and points from Quigley and Dean Corrigan put O’Connel’s two up, 1-9 to 1-7 with five minutes left on the clock. O’Connells could almost reach out and touch the finish, and three points in a row from Jackie Agnew (pictured) put the issue beyond all doubt.
Corrigan added another in injury time to put the seal on a hard-fought victory. O’CONNELLS: Stuart Reynolds; James Clerkin, Jason Carroll, John McLoughlin; Jackie Agnew 0-3, Salem Rifaie, Keith Woods; Conor McGill 0-1, Sean Cairns; Emmet Byrne, Paul McKeever, Stuart Osbourne; Robert Quigley 0-4(1f,45), Niall Conlon 1-3(1f), Dean Corrigan 0-2. Subs Sean Connolly for D. Corrigan, Dean Stanfield for J. McLoughlin, Conor Kiernan for C. McGill(BC), Dean Corrigan for P. McKeever.
NAOMH FIONNBARRA: Andy McCann; High McGrane, Kieran Lenehan, Patrick McGrane; Bryan Sharkey, Oisin McGee, Padraig Butterly; Hugh Osbourne 1-1, Darren McConnon; Mairtin Murphy, Conor Osbourne 0-1, Nicholas Butterly 0-1; Jack Butterly, Bernard Osbourne, Willian Woods 0-4(2f). Subs Michael McArdle for N. Butterly, Gary Matthews for M. Murphy.