Starlights await final opponents in football
Shels reeled in after building four-point half-time lead
SHELMALIERS CAME as close as they have ever done to cracking the Tom Doyle Supplies Senior football championship semi-final code in Innovate Wexford Park on Sunday, but underperforming pre-match favourites St. Martin’s somehow found a way to recover from a four-point interval deficit to force a replay and give the fixtures-makers an additional headache in the process.
The black and ambers had got to this stage on five previous occasions without success since winning the Intermediate title in 2007, but for long spells they were the more productive of the Wexford District rivals and seemed set to erase the bitter memories from those losses to Gusserane, St. Anne’s (twice), St. Martin’s and St. James’ (after a replay in 2015).
St. Martin’s must have been particularly concerned when the deficit remained at four points eleven minutes into the second-half, but they outscored their rivals by 0-5 to 0-1 thereafter and almost snatched a victory they wouldn’t have deserved at the death.
That sole Shels point, their first in 18 minutes, arrived from a Craig McCabe free after a push on substitute Colin Cleary, and it nudged the underdogs back into a 1-10 to 0-12 lead.
Simon Donohoe claimed a mark from the subsequent kick-out but St. Martin’s managed to win back possession, and their equaliser arrived in added time when Joe O’Connor was fouled bursting towards the ‘D’ and Ciarán Lyng kicked it high and just inside the left-hand post.
A Paudie Kelly mark from Aodhán Foley’s re-start handed the initiative to St. Martin’s, and he made ground on the left before picking out Joe Coleman with an astute crossfield pass. However, the substitute’s kick veered to the right and wide, meaning that the teams will have to do it all over again on Sunday week.
The men in maroon have reached this stage every year bar one since claiming the Intermediate crown in 2011, but this was a considerably more difficult encounter than the corresponding clash four seasons ago when a 0-17 to 2-6 win was followed by that first-ever county crown.
Shelmaliers won the toss and played into the Clonard goal first, but the opening score arrived at the other end after Jake Firman exchanged passes with team captain Willie Devereux and pointed in the third minute.
Eoghan Nolan levelled from a free when Simon Donohoe was fouled, and he gave his side the lead from another placed ball after Aidan Cash was impeded.
A long ball into space by Aaron Maddock gave Ciarán Lyng the room to equalise in the tenth minute, but it was noticeable that a big part of the Shels strategy was to place an additional body in front of the opposition’s ace attacker at all times.
The big score of the opening half arrived in the 14th minute when St. Martin’s were ultimately punished for a rather half-hearted attempt to clear the ball as it bobbled around on their own 20-metre line.
An initial shot by Páraic O’Leary was blocked, but he had far better luck at the second time of asking after Brian Malone won the ball and popped it to his right, directing it low into the left corner of Tomás Hayes’ net (1-2 to 0-2).
A third pointed free from Nolan widened the gap, with Rory O’Connor joining Jamie Carty and O’Leary in the notebook after Aidan Cash went down.
St. Martin’s needed to act fast to stay in the reckoning, and they did respond with three precious points in less than three minutes.
Carty split the posts from a free on the 45-metre line before Daithí Waters claimed a mark from the kick-out, with Paudie Kelly going on to place Rory O’Connor for a well-worked point.
O’Connor followed that with another peach from distance after the ball was gradually worked out of a cul-de-sac in the left corner, leaving one between them after 25 minutes (1-3 to 0-5).
A Ciarán Lyng free came back into play off the post before the Shels really should have added a second goal.
Brian Malone and Eoghan Nolan combined to pick out Craig McCabe and, with a gaping right side of the net practically begging to be hit, he blazed over rather than under the bar.
It was a big let-off for St. Martin’s, but they conceded another two points without reply before half-time as the pressure mounted.
Aaron Maddock was booked for a challenge on Brian Malone and, after one of his colleagues refused to retreat, the ball was moved forward into a scoreable position and Eoghan Nolan duly obliged.
Patient defending led to the sixth Shels point in added time, with Aidan Cash eventually winning the ball back after a long Martin’s move. Glen Malone drove past a tackle on the right flank and found Eoin Doyle who made it 1-6 to 0-5 at the change of ends.
St. Martin’s took one point off that lead within 30 seconds when Rory O’Connor kicked his third via the left post after good work by his cousin, Joe, and the provider also featured prominently before another cousin, Barry, made it 1-6 to 0-7 inside two minutes.
Eoghan Nolan and Barry O’Connor went on to exchange points from frees, with the latter going over via the crossbar, but the Shels hit the next two scores to restore that gap of four.
A very harsh overcarrying call against Rory O’Connor led to a breakaway and a Glen Malone point from a Simon Donohoe pass, with the temperatures starting to rise as referee Barry Redmond made some strange decisions.
I felt that St. Martin’s came out on the wrong side of the more contentious ones, and certainly his interpretation of what constitutes a legitimate tackle differs considerably from mine.
Jack O’Connor and Ciarán Lyng collected yellow cards in quick succession, and when Eoin Doyle pointed from a Páraic O’Leary pass it left the Shels in the driving seat entering the last quarter.
Jamie Carty pulled back a neat left-footed point before Simon Donohoe was booked, with Daithí Waters’ name also joining the list amid a spell when the sides introduced two substitutes apiece.
Jake Firman’s industry was a key aspect of the Martin’s revival, and he earned a free for Lyng to convert in the 50th minute (1-9 to 0-10).
The next yellow card went to Aidan Cash before Lyng pointed again, this time from play after a Firman handpass.
And although he hooked a free wide (the seventh of eight from St. Martin’s whereas the Shels only had two), the subsequent weak kick-out was gobbled up by the 2013 champions and Firman duly equalised (0-12 to 1-9).
The re-start went to a grateful Daithí Waters as St. Martin’s pushed up and closed down the options, and seconds later Jack O’Connor’s pressure led to an overcarrying call in the right corner but Lyng’s free came back into play off the post.
The pendulum swung back towards the Shels when Craig McCabe pointed that free in the 59th minute, but the sides must do it all over again after Lyng stood up to the pressure and made it a lucky 13th point for the saints in the first added minute.
St. Martin’s: Tomás Hayes; Conor Firman, Mikey Coleman, Willie Devereux (capt.); Joe O’Connor, Aaron Maddock, Jack O’Connor; Daithí Waters, Rory O’Connor (0-3); Jake Firman (0-2), Jamie Carty (0-2, 1 free), Paudie Kelly; Barry O’Connor (0-2, 1 free), Ciarán Lyng (0-4, 2 frees), Ryan Murphy. Subs. - Darren Codd for Murphy (HT), Ben Maddock for Joe O’Connor, temp. (33-35), Joe Coleman for B. O’Connor (46), Harry O’Connor for M. Coleman (46), Ed O’Byrne for Carty (60+2).
Shelmaliers: Aodhán Foley; Cian Manley, James Cash, Graham Staples; Brian Malone, Ciarán O’Shaughnessy, Andre O’Brien; Aidan Cash (capt.), Brian Murphy; Simon Donohoe, Eoin Doyle (0-2), Eoghan Nolan (0-5 frees); Páraic O’Leary (1-0), Craig McCabe (0-2, 1 free), Glen Malone (0-1). Subs. - Tommy Barron for O’Brien, inj. (22), Barry O’Connor for Murphy (45), Conor Hearne for O’Leary (46), Colin Cleary for Doyle (55), Conor Walsh for Nolan (58).
Referee: Barry Redmond (Clonard).