Donegal 3-15 Aidan McAnespies 2-17
What a game of football it was for the final game of the
season at the Irish Cultural Center in Canton Mass. There have been some brilliant finals over the
years on the main field, and this will be up there the best of them. Two fantastic teams, some superb scores, and
a finish that nobody could have expected.
It ended up as stunned disbelief for Aidan McAnespies and their
supporters and sheer jubilation for Donegal.
When Barry John Keane’s shot flew inside the post in injury time, there
was a damburst of emotions on the Donegal side of the field and total disbelief
on the side of the Macs. McAnespies
looked like they had done the job after opening a 7 point lead in what had been
a neck and neck tie, and with only 4 minutes to go it looked as good as
over. In an amazing turn of events
Donegal netted three times, 2 from Keane and one a Gary Walsh penalty, to
literally swipe the championship away from their opponents in the last seconds
of the game.
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Declan Hughes and Jason Noctor with match
referee John Hickey.
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Donegal looked to have control for most of the first half
with the midfield and forward line motoring.
Mark Bradley and Barry John were on form, with Keane kicking a couple of
great scores. Gary Walsh was on song
with the frees as the McAnespies defence were forced into fouling on a couple
of occasions. Donegal were humming along. McAnespies tried to get
their forwards going, and on a couple of occasions Steven O’Hanlon got free and
put one great point over the bar. Robbie
Smyth accounted for three, and Tony Brosnan one lovely effort.
With Donegal ahead by a point, McAnespies won a penalty
after Niall Toner entered the game following an injury to Oisin McConvey. Toner was pulled down in the area and Smyth’s
penalty beat Hugh Boyle low to his left.
Donegal responded well, however, finishing the half scoring three points
to one. Keane again, Walsh, and Ciaran
Murtagh all hit the mark as Donegal maintained their stride. At the half time whistle it was a 0-10 to 1-6
Donegal lead with McAnespies still looking to click into gear.
The teams opened the second half with a point each from free
kicks before each side pointed from play, one score as good as the other. Smyth finished a great move at one end for
McAnepies before Ciaran Murthagh answered with a fantastic point. It was end to end stuff and neither side
could pull away from the other. As the
half wore it McAnespies started to get control of the game and ran at their opponents at every opportunity. Three points on the trot opened a gap, with O’Hanlon’s
running and agility causing major problems for the Donegal defenders. Tony Brosnan was kept quiet enough, but he
also managed to find some openings and pointed twice and the lead widened to 4.
Even when Walsh put two points over for Donegal, McAnespies
returned the favor through Brosnan and Niall Toner, who was doing some trojan
work carrying the ball to the heart of the Donegal defence time and again. Then
came a goal for McAnespies with 6 minutes to go. It was finished by Daniel Guinness but
started by Pierce Laverty, who made a 30 yard run and after a couple of
exchanges inside the box, Guinness palmed the ball home. O’Hanlon added a point to make it 7 between
the teams and McAnespies looked like they just needed to play out time.
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| The winning Donegal team celebrate with Canton PD officer, Helena Rafferty. |
Well, it did not exactly end the way anybody in the crowd,
no matter what persuasion, could have expected. Walsh had hit the
foot off the post in the midst of the McAnespies scoring run, and , rather than a harbinger of a bad luck for
Donegal, in hindsight it was a warning for McAnespies as Donegal soon netted. Walsh set up a pass across the face of the
McAnespies goal for a leaping Keane to force into the open net. Within a minute, Donegal had a penalty this
time after Walsh was pulled down in the area.
The Laoisman put the ball into the opposite corner and now there was
just a point in it, and 30 minutes played.
Macs rallied and a point from Niall Toner looked like it could be enough
even after conceding the two late goals. But, like a
boxer who is shaken but still standing after a hard one-two, a third punch put McAnespies
on the canvas.
Donegal had possession and
McAnespies funneled back, goal prevention was the name of the game. The Tir Chonaill men did not panic and held on
until the right opening presented itself, and present itself it did. The right man had the ball too, and from the
14 yard line Keane flashed a shot just inside the post after the gap opened up
and left Robbie Croft rooted to the spot in the McAnespies goal. Donegal up by one and the cheers that carried
across the field were in stark contrast to the silence in the main stand. There had been a few minutes injury time
played and there would not be a chance to force extra time. It was a victory that represented 3
championships for Donegal in 2019 along with the Junior B and Junior A cups. As captain Jason Noctor said in accepting the
cup, it has been a goal of the club for a number of years now, and this year it
was finally achieved. As for all the commentary back in Ireland about the game of gaelic football dying death with defensive tactics and all of that, you'd wonder what they were talking about. Joe Brolly should take a trip for one of these games, his confidence in the game would surely be completely and totally restored. Unreal stuff.
Macs: Robbie Croft, Conor Maunsell, Ronan Murphy, Oisin
McConvey, Pierce Laverty, Daniel Guinness, Declan Hughes, Barry Kerr, Anthony
Cournane, Tony Brosnan, Evan Cronin, Steven O’Hanlon.
Donegal: Hugh Boyle,
Jason Noctor, Aidan O’Sullivan, Aaron Deeney, Jack O’Brien, John Bingham, Ray
Connellan, Shane Carthy, Sean Donnelly, Mark Bradley, Ciaran Murtagh, Gary
Walsh, Barry John Keane.
By Rory O'Donnell
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