WHAT IT MIGHT have lacked in quality, it made up for in drama.
From early in the second half of this heavyweight Connacht semi-final, it felt inevitable that St. Brigid’s would struggle to defend what was briefly an eight-point lead early in the first half, and yet Salthill-Knocknacarra made heavy weather of reeling in the Connacht champions.
Two wides over the course of the hour would hint at an accurate display of shooting from the Galway champions, but that was far from the case, as they dropped several shots short of the crossbar, mostly gathered by either Conor Carroll or Ruaidhrí Fallon.
Brian Conlon looked like he was about to fire them into the lead when Aaron Mannion’s sublime pass allowed him to take possession on the run and to beat Conor Carroll in one fluid movement, but he fired the ball over the crossbar instead of under it from five metres out, and so it was still the South Roscommon side who led the game going into overtime.
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Enter an unexpected hero in wing-back Mark Mannion, who took on the type of shot from the terrace side of the pitch that would send statistical analysts into a panic attack, and still he split the posts with a minute remaining.
That was time enough for St. Brigid’s to be awarded a contentious two-point free from almost 55 metres out, when the angle was taken into account. Conor Carroll had a poor day off the tee when it came to his restarts, but his strike here was clean and true, except it was six inches too far right.
The ball crashed down off the post into the arms of Paul McGrath, whose instinctive shot on the turn flew into the legs of Ruairí Lavelle. On such tiny margins are championships won and lost.
Salthill-Knockcarra haven’t won the provincial title yet – they face a trip to MacHale Park to take on Castlebar Mitchels in a fortnight – and for 25 minutes of this game, they were miles off the pace, with St. Brigid’s dominant.
Ben O’Carroll hit two excellent scores, one from outside the arc, and Conor Hand ruthlessly punished a sloppy goal kick with a goal.
All across the full-back line – the sector that was supposedly decimated by the injuries to Pearse Frost and Seán Trundle – the unheralded trio of Robbie Dolan, Micheál Sugrue and Ruairí Smith were winning their collisions, and there was no sign of John Maher, Rob Finnerty or Matthew Thompson imposing themselves on the game like they can.
Then in the lead up to the turnaround, Finnerty and Thompson hit points, and those were the branches that the drowning Galwegians clung onto.
St. Brigid’s made more handling and passing errors in the first four minutes of the second half than they had throughout the entirety of the first half, and with their forward line starved of ball, Salthill-Knockcarra started to work their way back into the tie.
Brian Conlon, Cillian O’Toole and Daniel Hoare were all guilty of misses after coming off the bench, but they added energy, while Cathal Sweeney and John Maher were now dictating matters. Ruaidhrí Fallon and Brian Stack tried to stem the tide, but their attack was lost at sea, and it was just a case of battling the clock.
Finnerty hit the equalizer on 57 minutes, Mark Daly won a free that Ben O’Carroll pointed to restore the lead, and after an hour of tense football, the fireworks were about to begin.
Scorers for Salthill-Knocknacarra: Robert Finnerty 0-4 (0-1f), Aaron Mannion 0-2, Cathal Sweeney 0-2, Mark Mannion 0-2 (tp), Matthew Thompson 0-1, Daniel O’Flaherty 0-1, Cillian O’Toole 0-1, Brian Conlon 0-1.
Scorers for St Brigid’s: Ben O’Carroll 0-4 (1tp, 0-1f), Conor Hand 1-0, Brian Derwin 0-3, Shane Cunnane 0-2 (tpf), Ronan Stack 0-1.
Salthill-Knocknacarra: Ruairí Lavelle; Evan Wynne, Damien Kiely, Dara Conneely; Cathal Sweeney, Aaron Mannion, Mark Mannion; John Maher, Michael Kitt; Mikey Mullery, Matthew Thompson, Paddy Kitt; Robert Finnerty, Colm Finnerty, Tomo Culhane.
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Subs: Daniel O’Flaherty for P Kitt (23), Brian Conlon for C Finnerty (half-time), Cillian O’Toole for Mullery (half-time), Daniel Hoare for M Kitt (51), Robert Walzer for Conlon (60+2).
St Brigid’s: Conor Carroll; Robbie Dolan, Micheál Sugrue, Ruairí Smith; Ruaidhrí Fallon, Brian Stack, Ronan Stack; Shane Cunnane, Mark Daly; Brian O’Hara Duggan, Conor Hand, Bobby Nugent; Ben O’Carroll, Brian Derwin, Ciarán Sugrue.
Subs: Eddie Nolan for C Sugrue (37), Paul McGrath for Cunnane (41), Charlie O’Carroll for Nugent (54).
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Late drama as Salthill-Knocknacarra overcome Connacht champions St Brigid's
Salthill-Knocknacarra 0-14 (0-1-12)
St. Brigid’s 1-10 (1-2-6)
Kevin Egan reports from ECC Pearse Stadium
WHAT IT MIGHT have lacked in quality, it made up for in drama.
From early in the second half of this heavyweight Connacht semi-final, it felt inevitable that St. Brigid’s would struggle to defend what was briefly an eight-point lead early in the first half, and yet Salthill-Knocknacarra made heavy weather of reeling in the Connacht champions.
Two wides over the course of the hour would hint at an accurate display of shooting from the Galway champions, but that was far from the case, as they dropped several shots short of the crossbar, mostly gathered by either Conor Carroll or Ruaidhrí Fallon.
Brian Conlon looked like he was about to fire them into the lead when Aaron Mannion’s sublime pass allowed him to take possession on the run and to beat Conor Carroll in one fluid movement, but he fired the ball over the crossbar instead of under it from five metres out, and so it was still the South Roscommon side who led the game going into overtime.
Enter an unexpected hero in wing-back Mark Mannion, who took on the type of shot from the terrace side of the pitch that would send statistical analysts into a panic attack, and still he split the posts with a minute remaining.
That was time enough for St. Brigid’s to be awarded a contentious two-point free from almost 55 metres out, when the angle was taken into account. Conor Carroll had a poor day off the tee when it came to his restarts, but his strike here was clean and true, except it was six inches too far right.
The ball crashed down off the post into the arms of Paul McGrath, whose instinctive shot on the turn flew into the legs of Ruairí Lavelle. On such tiny margins are championships won and lost.
Salthill-Knockcarra haven’t won the provincial title yet – they face a trip to MacHale Park to take on Castlebar Mitchels in a fortnight – and for 25 minutes of this game, they were miles off the pace, with St. Brigid’s dominant.
Ben O’Carroll hit two excellent scores, one from outside the arc, and Conor Hand ruthlessly punished a sloppy goal kick with a goal.
All across the full-back line – the sector that was supposedly decimated by the injuries to Pearse Frost and Seán Trundle – the unheralded trio of Robbie Dolan, Micheál Sugrue and Ruairí Smith were winning their collisions, and there was no sign of John Maher, Rob Finnerty or Matthew Thompson imposing themselves on the game like they can.
Then in the lead up to the turnaround, Finnerty and Thompson hit points, and those were the branches that the drowning Galwegians clung onto.
St. Brigid’s made more handling and passing errors in the first four minutes of the second half than they had throughout the entirety of the first half, and with their forward line starved of ball, Salthill-Knockcarra started to work their way back into the tie.
Brian Conlon, Cillian O’Toole and Daniel Hoare were all guilty of misses after coming off the bench, but they added energy, while Cathal Sweeney and John Maher were now dictating matters. Ruaidhrí Fallon and Brian Stack tried to stem the tide, but their attack was lost at sea, and it was just a case of battling the clock.
Finnerty hit the equalizer on 57 minutes, Mark Daly won a free that Ben O’Carroll pointed to restore the lead, and after an hour of tense football, the fireworks were about to begin.
Scorers for Salthill-Knocknacarra: Robert Finnerty 0-4 (0-1f), Aaron Mannion 0-2, Cathal Sweeney 0-2, Mark Mannion 0-2 (tp), Matthew Thompson 0-1, Daniel O’Flaherty 0-1, Cillian O’Toole 0-1, Brian Conlon 0-1.
Scorers for St Brigid’s: Ben O’Carroll 0-4 (1tp, 0-1f), Conor Hand 1-0, Brian Derwin 0-3, Shane Cunnane 0-2 (tpf), Ronan Stack 0-1.
Salthill-Knocknacarra: Ruairí Lavelle; Evan Wynne, Damien Kiely, Dara Conneely; Cathal Sweeney, Aaron Mannion, Mark Mannion; John Maher, Michael Kitt; Mikey Mullery, Matthew Thompson, Paddy Kitt; Robert Finnerty, Colm Finnerty, Tomo Culhane.
Subs: Daniel O’Flaherty for P Kitt (23), Brian Conlon for C Finnerty (half-time), Cillian O’Toole for Mullery (half-time), Daniel Hoare for M Kitt (51), Robert Walzer for Conlon (60+2).
St Brigid’s: Conor Carroll; Robbie Dolan, Micheál Sugrue, Ruairí Smith; Ruaidhrí Fallon, Brian Stack, Ronan Stack; Shane Cunnane, Mark Daly; Brian O’Hara Duggan, Conor Hand, Bobby Nugent; Ben O’Carroll, Brian Derwin, Ciarán Sugrue.
Subs: Eddie Nolan for C Sugrue (37), Paul McGrath for Cunnane (41), Charlie O’Carroll for Nugent (54).
Referee: Paul Lydon (Kiltimagh, Mayo)
****
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