St Mary’s narrow one point win sees them claim U21 A title
ST MARY’S SHAMROCK GAELS
U-21 A Championship final
1-15 1-14
ON a night of football that was hindered at times by the conditions it was played in, St. Mary’s battled back from a 4-point deficit in the second half to win by the bare minimum, courtesy of a last-minute Nathan Rooney free kick, deep into injury time.
The opening exchanges can be described as cagey, as both teams were trying to get to grips, both figuratively and literally, with the slippery conditions, as the deluge of matches played on Tourlestrane took its toll on the playing surface.
Corner forwards Darragh Hailstones and Kyle Cawley swapped points to open the scoring, before the first major point of the game came 12 minutes into the first half, when wing forward Daire Kearns pounced on a rebounded shot to but the ball into the net.
This was the unofficial opening of the game, as the patterns that would decide the winning and losing of this game, as, while Shamrock Gaels were on top for much of the first half, they had to work exceptionally hard for their scores, while St. Mary’s were able to win scoreable frees, which were duly converted by former Sligo Minor tandem Nathan Rooney and Kyle Cawley.
It was clear that Shamrock Gaels were the superior team in the first half, yet for all their tireless running, particularly from livewire wing-forward Sean Carroll, they only extended their lead by a single point after the goal.
And so, it was as referee Padraig Golden blew the whistle for halftime, as the Gaels went into the dressing room 4 points to the good, and despite their excellent performance, they showed a propensity to allow goal chances, which St. Mary’s were unable to convert.
St. Mary’s came out in the second with a fresh impetus, and this bore fruit when corner forward Cawley smartly finished in front of goal at the end of a devilishly clever ball across the square.
Sandwiched between two St. Mary’s Points, in the blink of an eye Shamrock Gaels, who looked to be control save for some lapses in concentration at the back, had their backs up against the wall. St. Mary’s then proceeded to repay their deficit with interest, and pressed up on the Gaels kickouts, to the extent where the otherwise excellent Daniel Lyons was forced into uncharacteristic errors.
Not a group to give up easily, Shamrock gamely fought back to bring the game to within one, before replacement Mark Kearns scored the equaliser in the last vestiges of normal time.
As the considerable length of injury time replicated the nervy nature of the first minutes of the match, it became clear that the next score would be the decider.
Both sides, it must be said, squandered chances to win the game, with Nathan Rooney missing from the left flank or the industrious Sean Carroll’s hand pass going awry in front of goal, the winner came in the form that served St. Mary’s so well throughout the contest, as Nathan Rooney scored the deciding free from a similar area where he missed in open play minutes earlier.
And so, it ended, with the score at 1-14 to 1-15, with St. Mary’s claiming their 7th Under 21 Championship, and perhaps these players will meet again in next year’s Senior Championship.
ST MARY’S: Niall Cawley, Darragh Feehily, Niall Feehily, Conor Darcy, Darragh Cawley (Ryan Feehily), Kevin Connell, Hubert Gilvarry, Paul Kilcoyne (0-01), Tony ‘O’ Kelly Lynch (002), Adam Lynch, Nathan Rooney (0-07), Niall McDonnell, Kyle Cawley (1-3), Scott Lynch, 5. Michael Munnelly (0-01).
SHAMROCK GAELS: Daniel Lyons, Alan Kelly, Evan Lyons, Ben Tuohy, Patrick Benson, Karl McKenna (Mark Kearns 0-02), Enda O’Connell, James Carroll (0-03), Dillon McDermott, Daire Kearns (1-1), Shane Deignan (0-1), Sean Carroll, Darragh Hailstones (0-05), Dylan Willis (0-01), Seamus Hailstones (0-01).