Na Gaeil dominate Emmets from start to finish

COUNTY PREMIER JFC SEMI-FINAL

Na Gaeil 3-14 Listowel Emmets 1-13

NA Gaeil proved too strong for Listowel Emmets in the first semi-final of the double header of the Castleisland Co-Op Mart Junior Premier Football Championship played in Austin Stacks Park, Tralee last Sunday.

The Tralee side dominated the encounter from start to finish and but for brief spells throughout the game, the Listowel lads offered very little resistance or spirit to the encounter.

Na Gaeil started in whirlwind fashion and were 0-6 to 0-0 up with just 15 minutes gone in the first period. Points from Eoin Walsh and Darragh Carmody (free), along with four points from the brilliant full forward Mike Griffin put them in pole position as Emmets had no answer to the power and pace of the Na Gaeil attack. In fact they were fortunate that it wasn’t more as following a strong run from Diarmuid Herlihy, his goalbound shot flashed just wide of Emmets goalkeeper Keith Hughes’ post when a goal looked certain.

Emmets did offer some sort of resistance and two points from frees by Conor Cox and one from play by Tom Melvin brought the score back to 0-6 to 0-3 with 22 minutes gone in the first half.

Listowel’s Tom McCarthy and Cormac Mulvihill were finally starting to get a bit of breaking ball around the middle of the field having played second fiddle to the dominant Jack Barry and Dan O’Connor up to this point. Their revival was short lived however and two points from Darragh Carmody (one free), Eoin O’Neill, Mike Griffin and a super goal from Seamus O’Neill pushed them 1-10 to 0-3 ahead.

Listowel did reply with 2 pointed frees from Conor Cox to give them some glimmer of hope as the half time whistle sounded, Na Gaeil 1-10 Listowel Emmets 0-5.

There was no doubt that Listowel needed a good start to the second half to get back into the game and in fairness to them they came out all guns blazing. An early point from a ‘45’ by Cox was followed by one from play by Cormac Mulvihill to bring the contest back to a six-point game. Emmets were now dominating the exchanges, with centre half back Niall Collins and Cox especially prominent, however they were finding it extremely difficult to penetrate the teak tough Na Gaeil defence.

In the 41st minute a Listowel attack was turned over by Eoghan Sheehy in the Na Gaeil backline, his pass found Ian McCarthy who subsequently found the livewire Mike Griffin and he made no mistake to rattle the Listowel net from close range.

Griffin struck for his second goal in the 44th minute after an exchange of passes with Carmody, and with Na Gaeil now leading by 3-10 to 0-7 it was very difficult to see a way back for Listowel. Tom Melvin, David Sheehy (2) and Cox (4 ) added points for Listowel, as they continued to battle but points from Carmody (2) , Andrew Barry, and Griffin sealed a very impressive, if inevitable, Na Gaeil win.

Emmets substitute Cathal Keane did score a goal in the final minute but it was too little too late as Na Gaeil sealed their place in the Junior Premier Football Championship final.

NA GAEIL: Timmy Culloty, Eoghan Sheehy, Kieran Dineen, Eoin Walsh (0-1), Eoin O’Neill (0-1), Andrew Barry, David Culloty, Jack Barry, Dan O’Connor, Seamus O’Neill (1-0), Shane Carey, Ian McCarthy, Darragh Carmody (0-6, 3f), Mike Griffin (2-6), Diarmuid Griffin. Subs: Stefan Okunbor for Carey, 38th min, Jamie Lowham for O’Neill, 46), Colm Lyons for O’Neill, 56, Dylan Seymour for Eoghan Sheehy, 56.

LISTOWEL EMMETS: Keith Hughes, Jake Moriarty, Jack McGuire, Brendan Guiney, Tom Melvin (0-2), Niall Collins, Darragh Leahy, Tom McCarthy, Cormac Mulvihill (0-1), Brian Murphy, Denis Walsh, David Sheehy (0-2), Conor Cox (0-8, 7f), Sam Tarrant, Bryan Sweeney. Subs: Aidan Quinn for Walsh, h/t, Cathal Keane (1-0) for Tarrant, 37, Sean Gilbert for Melvin, inj, 53.

REFEREE: Donal Casey (Scartaglin)

MAINMAN Na Gaeil full forward Mike Griffin was a thorn in the Listowel side all afternoon. Griffin was simply un-markable and his haul of 2 goals and 6 points, all from play, crowned a fantastic display from the Na Gaeil man.

KEY MOMENT While Na Gaeil were the much better team all through, Mike Griffin’s first goal in the 11th minute of the second half which pushed his team 9 points ahead effectively finished the game as a contest.

TALKING POINT Were Na Gaeil really this good or were Listowel Emmets really this bad? The truth probably lies somewhere in between, but the fact was that Na Gaeil were the much hungrier and sharper team on the day.