Connemara Gaels 2-10 Aidan McAnespies 2-14
The senior football championship got off to a blistering
start with the opening game contested between the Gaels and McAnespies. The game had lots of talking points, some
great football, 4 goals, a schmozzle, and a sending off. The Gaels opened strongly, but McAnespies
played a steady game and patiently took advantage of the extra man to come out
4 point winners in the end.
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| Ryan Caffrey headed off on his way to goal. |
The Gaels had the better of the early exchanges and had
plenty of opportunities to have gone into the break with more than their one
goal half time lead. There were a
handful of goal opportunities that went amiss, or a taking point may have been the
better option at such an early in the game.
McAnespies had opened the scoring with back to back points
from Peter O’Connell, one a free. But
within minutes the sides were level.
Keelan Sexton at corner forward was a danger man for the Gaels and the
man from Clare pointed the first 3 for his side. The Gaels had Nathan Donnelly and Paul Donaghy
winning a lot of midfield ball, and while putting the pressure on, a goal came
from Donaghy following a well worked move.
McAnespies looked to Peter O’Connell
for their scoring outlet. The St.
Michael’s clubman from county Meath also accounted for 3 of the Macs first 4
scores.
Things got heated and a fracas broke out in the middle of
the field about 20 minutes into the game.
The end result was a player from each side yellow carded, Kieran Killeen
and Tony Brosnan, and Nathan O’Neill from the Gaels set off with a red. Tony Brosnan, who has lined out in the Green
and White of the Gaels in previous summers, netted for the Macs soon
afterwards. The Gaels, however, managed
to keep up the pressure and restore their lead with another goal, this time a
Sexton pass across the goalmouth was deflected into the net. At the break it was a 2-5 to 1-5 lead for the
Connemara men.
 |
| Conor Maunsel bursts out of defence. |
The second half saw McAnespies make their advantage
count. A string of 8 scores to 2 over
the 15 minutes following the break saw the northerners into a 3 point
lead. O’Connell’s shooting from wing
forward was magnificent, and McAnespies ran at the Gaels defence at every
opportunity. Anthony Cournane and Tony
Brosnan opened the gaps and made the most of their chances. The Gaels now labored to get any traction
going forward, but kept in touch thanks to Sexton points. The Macs had a killer blow left and it came
from Kerryman, Anthony Cournane who finished a move also involving Evan
Cronin. With time almost up that was it
as a contest. A good win to open the
championship for McAnespies while the Gaels will be looking to adjust for the
next game against Galway in two weeks’ time.
Gaels: Sean Fox,
Niall Collins, Cian Murphy, Kieran Killeen, Colm O’Shaughnessy, Nathan O’Neill,
Ryan Caffrey, Nathan Donnelly, Sean Connelly, Paul Donaghy, Pauric McAhenly, Keelan
Sexton, Kevin O’Halloran.
Macs: Robbie Croft,
Conor Maunsel, Ronan Murphy, Mickey Boyle, Oisin McConvey, Liam Laverty, Declan
Hughes, Sean Walsh, Evan Cronin, Robbie Smyth, Peter O’Connell, Anthony
Cournane, Tony Brosnan.
By Rory O'Donnell
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