Relieved O’Donnell praises players for being determined
Kevin O’Hara, having to be withdrawn early because of injury.
Their industry was greater, as was their control, and Adrian McIntyre’s big steal midway through the second-half was an example of the vigilance that was absent in the opening period. Oisin Kennedy, at wing-back, was also becoming more prominent. They were still trailing as matters went into the last 10 minutes of normal time. Liam Gaughan’s pointed free made it a one-point game, 0-6 to 0-5, and in the 55th minute they were finally level. Conan Marren’s surge set up Kenny Gavigan for a point attempt. The effort was falling short but Gary Gaughan turned it into a score with an acrobatic flick over the St Mary’s Kiltoghert crossbar.
Attacker Liam Gaughan’s ice-cool finish from distance – the kind of score that Tourlestrane’s overall improvement merited – put Tourlestrane in front, 0-7 to 0-6, with 56 minutes played. This was their first time to be in front since the first of Liam Gaughan’s four points in the opening minute.
Again, things threatenend to go against the reborn and revived Tourlestrane as a 57th minute black card for Adrian McIntyre removed one of the team’s pillars.
However, their drive to win – with John Francis Carr outstanding – persisted.
The insurance score from substitute Rian Kennedy in the first minute of stoppage time came after several accurate passes and individual work. Liam Gaughan was involved, so too John Francis Carr, with the latter’s pass giving another substitute, Cian Surlis, the chance to shoot a point. The careful shot from Surlis came off the upright but two more substitutes made sure the chance wasn’t lost – Niall Egan seized on the rebound, immediately offloaded to Rian Kennedy, who hoisted a shot between the sticks. Kennedy could have gone for goal but scoring the point was a wise decision.
The pressure was on 14-man Tourlestrane and team captain Gary Gaughan nullified a dangerous attack with a big catch in his own goalmouth. St Mary’s Kiltoghert, hitherto toothless, threatened one last time. Substitute Brian Farrell’s goalbound effort from close-range was kept out by a combination of Tourlestrane goalkeeper Adam Broe and midfielder Conan Marren. Tourlestrane, brimming resolve, had done it again. with
Best for Tourlestrane: John Francis Carr Tourlestrane: Adam Broe, John Paul
Lang, Kevin O’Hara, Barry Walsh, Oisin Kennedy, Adrian McIntyre, Aiden Marren, John Francis Carr (0-1), Conan Marren, Kenny Gavigan (0-1), Cathal Henry, James Leonard, Gary Gaughan (c) (0-1), John Kelly, Liam Gaughan (0-4, 2f)
Subs used: Feidhlim O’Donnell for Kevin O’Hara, 13; Rian Kennedy (0-1) for Aiden Marren, 43; Niall Egan for John Kelly, 54; Cian Surlis for John Paul Lang, 29; Stephen Henry for James Leonard, 60+5
Subs not used: Jack Lundy, Ronan Walsh, Rian Bailey, Colin Neary, Niall Durkin, Darren Leonard, Diarmuid Dunne, Cathal Fleming, Stephen Clarke
St Mary’s Kiltoghert: Sean Reynolds, Conor Farrell (j-c), Mark Diffley (0-1),
Gavin Reynolds, Conor Hackett, Nicholas McWeeney (j-c), Adam Reynolds, Paul Keaney (0-3, 1 ‘45’, 1f), James McGrail,
Daire Farrell, Diarmuid Kelleher (0-1),
David O’Connell, Jack Casey, Oisin Bohan, Cian Singleton (0-1)
Subs used: Jack Barnes for Conor Hackett, 45; Brian Farrell for Jack Casey, 29
Referee: Liam Devenney (Mayo)
TOURLESTRANE manager Fergal O’Donnell looked like someone who lost a winning lottery ticket – and then found it again – as he tried to sift through the emotional rollercoaster that was last Saturday’s AIB Connacht GAA Senior Football Championship semi-final in Carrick-on-Shannon.
The Sligo champions looked beaten and then they were transformed, winning by two points to secure a place in next month’s provincial decider.
“It was great to get over the line, I can’t tell you how happy I am with the result,” said the Roscommon man after the 0-8 to 0-6 victory at Avant Money Páirc Sean MacDiarmada. “I thought we started OK. Then we made a mistake or two – look it, they [St Mary’s Kiltoghert] were the better team in the first-half. They were very well organised. “I still think we played into their hands a bit – we turned over the ball. We didn’t seem to be getting the breaks and we were losing the individual battles. We looked dead.”
He continued: “I just felt we weren’t doing enough to get our fans going. Maybe we had overanalysed things. It was five weeks [since the county final] and we had been prepping to face either St Kiernan’s or St Mary’s Kiltoghert.
“Maybe we had too much information – sometimes you can get lost in detail.”
O’Donnell said that the interval chat, with Tourlestrane facing a four-point deficit going into the second-half, focused on more bite and more courage. “We felt, after watching that first-half, that none of our guys had got the better of their marker. In the second-half, definitely, I think we won 10 out of the 15 battles. “I thought that everyone stepped up – the key to this team is that they have great heart. When we review the game we will see that we could have performed so much better.
“We will have to ask ourselves why were we so slow to get into the game. Even in the second-half, when we started better, we didn’t put enough on the scoreboard.
“I would love to say that we [the management] did something tactically but we didn’t – it was a case of the lads winning their individual battles.”