Goal-hungry Glynn on song
Dynamic play from forwards unlocks Gorey defence
GLYNN
ST. JOSEPH’S
THE DYNAMIC forward play drove Glynn to a hugely impressive 15-point victory over St. Joseph’s in this hugely entertaining Allianz Rackard League boys’ football Roinn B final in St. Patrick’s Park, Enniscorthy, on Monday of last week.
However, the final scoreline did not do justice to the efforts of the Gorey boys, who trailed by just six points entering the closing four minutes.
Their inability to turn their possession into scores came back to haunt them though, as they were hit by three goals in the closing minutes to give Glynn a rather flattering victory margin in the end.
The real difference between the teams was the ability of the Glynn attack to turn their chances into goals, with both Colin Carley and Craig Laffan being particularly prominent in that late scoring flourish that secured the title. Carley struck for two late goals while Laffan got a fine individual major in between.
Glynn started with a fourth-minute goal from Cathal Sinnott, having dominated the opening exchanges, while St. Joseph’s in their first real attack one minute later saw a fine Keith Steadmond effort saved by ’keeper Jarlath Kelly, with the ball eventually cleared to safety.
Glynn looked the more dangerous outfit during this opening spell, and claimed their second goal after just six minutes when Colin Carley created space before finishing to the net from an acute angle, leaving his side leading by 2-0 to nil.
St. Joseph’s had to wait until the eighth minute for their opening score, a Darragh O’Toole point, but Glynn refused to relinquish the initiative as they responded almost immediately with a Jack Conneely free finding its way to the corner of the net.
When St. Joseph’s responded with a Tom Funge point followed by a Steve Donohue-Kavanagh goal, they were right back in contention, but the eventual winners finished the half strongest and added a goal through Oisín McDonagh to lead by 4-0 to 1-3 at the interval.
On the resumption, Glynn pushed on through the opening exchanges as Jack Conneely pointed a 30-metre free after 29 minutes, while two minutes later Rory Goff got on the end of a sweeping move to finish with a superb shot to the net, giving his side a 5-1 to 1-3 lead.
Two Darragh O’Toole pointed frees lifted St. Joseph’s who went on to build a series of attacks, but inaccurate finishing saw a number of chances go abegging, while they were also unlucky to have two attempts blocked to safety as they sought out much-needed goals.
Glynn were still leading by 5-2 to 1-6 with seven minutes remaining, but St. Joseph’s were now doing most of the pressing.
This resulted in a fine individual goal from Darragh O’Toole, one of their more impressive players, but as they began to push forward in search of further scores they left gaps at the back that were fully exploited by the Glynn attack.
Two minutes from the end, Jack Conneely floated a t30-meter free to the edge of the square that was superbly finished to the net by the lurking Carley, while two minutes later, Craig Laffan finished a fine individual run with a goal.
The ever-dangerous Carley added the final goal, as he gathered possession inside the defence to shoot low to the net, giving his side a deserved victory with an albeit rather flattering final scoreline.
Glynn: Jarlath Kelly; Niall Taaffe, Fionn Nolan, James Walsh; Oscar Ramsey, Jack Conneely (1-1 frees), Rory Goff (1-0); Tom Deavy, Craig Laffan (1-0); Tristan Cuddihy (0-1), Cathal Sinnott (1-0), Oisín McDonagh (1-0); Kevin Whelan, Colin Carley (3-1), Cian Donovan. Subs. - Seán Barron, Callum McGuire, Conor Riordan, Rúairí Carley, Billy Walsh, Jack Browne, Oisín Harte, Callum Kennedy, Shane Kennedy, Oisín McCarthy.
St. Joseph’s: Scott Doran; Kian Keogh, Lee Doyle, Joseph Swords; Jack Chambers, Tiernan Meyler (0-1), Caleb Watters; Ben Mordaunt, Luke Christie; Conor Redmond, Darragh O’Toole (1-4, 0-2 frees), Tom Funge (0-1); Kian Steadmond, Steve Donohue-Kavanagh (1-0), Jamie Kennedy. Subs. - Conor Moore, Conor Flynn, Stephen Murphy, Jack Steadmond, Ted Sheehan, Adam Bell, Casey Kennedy, Rian Byrne, Rory Dineen, Ciarán O’Brien, Thierry Travers, Seán O’Farrell, Nathan Byrne, Brian O’Toole.
Referee: Brendan Holohan (Rathgarogue-Cushinstown).