Connemara Gaels 1-9 Shannon
Blues 3-7
Shannon Blues advance to the junior A1 semi-final next
weekend after a nail biting finish to an excellent junior A2 final. It was touch and go all game, though at times
the Gaels looked like they were struggling to keep pace with a fitter looking
Blues team. Goalkeeper James O'Donnell
kept the Gaels in it in the first half, but the Blues eventually wore down the
Gaels and in a late-late finish Owen Walsh tallied the winning point, followed
by a goal in injury time to deliver the trophy for the Blues.
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| Shannon Blues Junior A2 Winners play Donegal in the Junior A1 semi-final next week. |
The first half ended with the Blues taking a one goal lead
thanks to a Walsh strike just before the whistle. Conor Fitzgerald opened up the Gaels defence
with a long run and offloaded to Walsh who hit the back of the net. James O'Donnell had been keeping his side in
the game with some fine saves as the quick Blues attack tormented the Gaels
defenders. Several wides also did not
hurt the Gaels cause. The Blues had
netted earlier through Walsh who skipped through the Gaels rearguard. The westerners played some good football in
spurts times. Ciaran Lee netted mid way
through the half from a nice pass by Tom McDonagh, and points from Lee, Kevin
Owens, and McDonagh had the score at 2-3 to 1-3 for the Blues at the break.
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| The Connemara Gaels fell just short in the final minutes of the Junior A2 Final. |
The Gaels showed their mettle and came storming back into
the game in the second half. Ciaran Lee
pointed four times in on the trot as the Gaels found a new burst of
energy. Led by Pat McNicholas, the back
line worked hard to close down the spaces that the Blues had found in the first
half, and possession was converted into scores.
After Walsh pointed from a free for the Blues, the Gaels pulled ahead
with 5 unanswered points. Tom Sally
McDonagh got the ball rolling with a pointed free and then the man from An
Spideál got into a groove and pointed 4 in a row, the last coming off the left
boot. With more than 10 minutes to go it
was anyones game. Pat Murray leveled the
game with a well taken point, but McDonagh pointed another free to put the
Gaels one to the good once more. Down to
the last 3 minutes and Gaels fans biting their nails as they saw their side
hanging on. The Blues had missed a few
chances down the stretch, but finally Conor Mullen leveled the scores, and then
the ever dangerous Walsh put the Blues ahead in injury time. The Waterford
native then put the nail in the coffin with a left footed goal to win the title
for the Blues, who now advance to the Junior A1 semi final next weekend.
Gaels: J. O'Donnell,
J. Purcell, C. Conroy, C. Lafferty, P. McNicholas, S. Murray, T. McDonagh (0-3),
G. O'Malley, K. Lowe, C. Lee (1-5), K. Owens (0-1), J. Geoghegan, PJ Kelly. Subs:
R. Burke, S. Mannion. Blues: G. Henry, S. Sinnott ,
S. Kelly, D. O'Brien, B. Griffen, M. Keegan, C. Mullen (0-2), P. Murray (0-1),
C. Fitzgerald, J. Feeney, C. Sullivan, O. Walsh (3-4), T. Hernon.
By Rory O'Donnell
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