Connemara Gaels 2-16 Shannon Blues 2-4
It was brother v brother Sunday when the Connemara Gaels and
Shannon Blues met in the junior A football semi-final. Pat and Stephen Murray lined out on opposite
sides, with Stephen earning the household bragging rights as the Gaels came out
on top. With the win the Gaels earned a
crack at the junior A championship where they will face a talented Donegal
side. Signs of a Gaels victory came
early as the Connemara men found their groove the scores seemed came with
frequency. Niall Loughman in midfield,
along with corner forwards Darragh Mulgrew and Phil O’Sullivan, were the axis
that kept the Gaels on top throughout.
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| Connemara Gaels Junior A Team |
The Gaels went into the break with a nine point lead. The westerners dominated the half behind the
midfield play of Niall Loughman and, with Phil O’Sullivan and Darragh Mulgrew,
busy in the full forward line possession was turned into scores. O’Sullivan and Mulgrew accounted for eight of
the Gaels 11 points, and there could have been two goals but O’Sullivan was
twice denied. First a great save from
Mike Moriarty and soon afterwards defender Simon Sinnott stepped in to block
from close range.
The Blues struggled to create chances, points from Maurice
Young and Conor Mullan the sole reward for their efforts. Conor Fitzgerald was in at one stage with a
half chance for a goal, but the ball ended up going just wide of the
posts.
The Blues would need a major turnaround to have a chance as
the Gaels lead stood at 9 points starting the second half. The O’Sullivan – Mulgrew machine continued to
purr along nicely. At the back the Gaels
defenders were alert to everything coming in and stifled most of the Blues
endeavor.
After Conor Fitzgerald was black carded the Gaels were
awarded a penalty that O’Sullivan slotted away to the keeper’s left. The game was pretty much in the bag at that
stage, though the Blues scored a couple of consolation goals in the final
minutes.
The Gaels will face a Donegal team that eased through their
semi-final the night before, in the final next Sunday.
Gaels: P. Sweeney, D.
Black, F. Cassidy, D. Doolan, K. Gavigan, S. Reilly, N. Loughman, J.
Farrragher, T. McDonagh, C. Mulkerrins, S. Murray, D. Mulgrew, P. O’Sullivan.
Blues: M. Moriarty,
D. O’Brien, S. Sinnott, S. Eustace, J. Craig, P. Moriarty, J. Walsh, P. Murray,
P. Duffy, M. Young, C. Mullan, C. Fitzgerald, K. Barry.
Cork 1-6 Donegal 1-18
Donegal strolled into the junior A football final against a
hapless looking Cork side. By half time
the northerners led by 1-11 to 0-2 as Cork did themselves no favours with
turning over possession in their own half and failing to take advantage of what
chances came their way. The rebels
turned the ball over on countless occasions trying to play out of defence and
Donegal punished them. Donegal dominated
the middle of the field and the forwards capitalized. Cian Clinton at wing forward put some well
taken points over the bar, and the goal came from a Christy McLaughlin penalty
following a foot block in the box.
Things got not better in the second half for Cork, any
chances that came their way were fluffed.
It was only in the final 10 minutes that Cork managed to show what they were
capable of during the season and picked off a handful of points and netted a
late goal to make the scoreboard look a bit more respectable. With a sold side fielding, Donegal must fancy
their chances heading into the final.
By Rory O'Donnell
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