Glen (Derry) 1-14;
Kilmacud Crokes (Dublin) 2-10
Despite the backdrop of controversy surrounding last year’s final between the same two teams, it would be too simplistic to say this was a game where revenge was the overriding vindication of this classic encounter between Glen and Crokes at Newry on Sunday afternoon.
For a start, the game should never have taken place as at least half the field was invisible to the human eye because of the dense fog that lingered all day down from the Mountains of Mourne.
Only the fact that the calendar for ‘24 is already being squeezed, this game would have been postponed, but with the final the weekend after next, the GAA had little option but to play whatever the conditions.
A huge crowd descended from Derry and Dublin to the County Down venue despite the cold snap and driving hazards from the cold snap and they wondered on the evidence of the first half if the contest would end without ever warming into a battle of Titans.
Crokes started the better and had a three point lead before Glen got into their stride and began to totally control the conditions and also the game to the point where they turned that deficit into a five-point advantage by the half-time whistle on 0-9 to 0-4.
Then when they kicked on to a 0-11 to 0-4 advantage with 20 minutes to go, the less hardened souls among the spectators must have thought about an early escape to avoid congestion outside the grounds.
Those who gambled on that course of action were the big losers as just when we thought the game was dead and buried as a contest, Crokes rose like Lazarus from the dead and provided us with a grandstand finish that had neutrals and protagonists of both sides gripped to the edge of their seats.
Paul Mannion cut loose with four points to bring belief to the purple and gold and even when Glen took advantage of Croke’s defense to tap home into an empty net, the drama was still not over.
Shane Walsh, the Galway All-Star, burst forward to shoot a long range goal and then from the kickout with the clock three minutes into the red, had a last chance to level the affair and force extra-time… but his shot from the right drifted across the goal and when the kick out was turned over in favor of the green and yellow brigade, Cork referee Conor Lane’s final blast was greeted with a huge crescendo from the Oak Leaf county followers.
All this happened within the plot of Glen looking for revenge when losing by the narrowest of margins last January when Crokes had 16 players on the pitch for the final 90 seconds or so.
It led to demands for a replay and when Crokes said they would not replay, Glen took the decision on the chin and while feeling a little hard done by, took the medicine and hoped that they could rewrite history with their exploits this year.
There is still a chapter left in that book and St Brigid’s will have their own quills sharpened on how the ending pages should be written, but despite that, there was a sense of redemption that the scoreline this time favored the Ulster men.
And so it is Glen who will contest the All Ireland final v St Brigid’s in Croke Park following this Pairc Esler classic.
However, let’s credit Crokes who died with their boots on despite trailing by seven points early in the second half. It was then their class showed with Mannion leading the fightback before Hugh Kenny’s goal levelled the scoreboard to the bewilderment of all.
The heart-stopping stuff was far from finished as Glen are no slouches either and after. Alex Doherty and Crokes goalkeeper David Higgins had swapped points, Emmet Bradley showed nerves of steel to convert a free to put his side ahead by the minimum.
As Crokes tried to play out of defense to find another point, they were turned over with Higgins closer to midfield than the Kilmacud goal, leaving Ethan Doherty with the simple task of caressing the ball into a empty net.
Surely now the game was over…or so we thought. Glen fans were shocked as they rejoiced in the four point lead to see Walsh’s speculative effort find the back of the net at the other end to once more cut the margin to the minimum. Almost incomprehensibly, the same player won the kick out and motored down the right before shooting for the equalizer but this time he was errant with his direction and Glen, finally, finally, finally got across the line.
The immediate feeling was more of relief and belief and perhaps redemption more than revenge, but it sure was sweet for the squad, the backroom team and their huge Derry number cheering them on to savor coming as it did after the controversy of last year’s final. Who can blame if they think this could be their year, but that could be a double-edged sword if they believe the hard work is now done as the Roscommon outfit showed true grit and determination to get the better of a gallant Castlehaven side in the other semi-final.
Afterwards winning manger Malachy O’Rourke heaped praise on his charges for the way they kept together after last year’s demoralizing loss and proved themselves in the white heat of battle again on Sunday. “With the weather conditions and everything else it was a crazy sort of a day in many ways, you couldn't really see what was going on at the top end. It was tough but that decision was taken out of our hands. We just had to get on with it and try to cope with the conditions as best we could.
“Our overall feeling is we’re just delighted to be through but as I said earlier on, we're in exactly the same position as we were last year. We didn't win the final last year, so now we have to focus really hard and try to get a really good performance in two weeks' time.”
Referring to how the game unfolded, he went on: “We were in a great position at one stage, we were 0-11 to 0-4 up, we were playing well and we were comfortable. I suppose we made a few mistakes, we allowed them to get back into it and then in fairness to them they made a great charge towards the end.
“They have that quality about them that they can kick scores from distance, and they’ve a lot of experience there too. We’re just delighted the boys were able to turn it around and get the victory when it looked as if things were turning against us.
“After last year, losing the final the way we did, you always say, ‘I’d love to be back next year’, but it's a long road back. To be fair to the boys they've done brilliantly but we're just in exactly the same place as we were last year. We're going to have to redouble our efforts and see if we can go one better."
Watty Graham's Glen: C Bradley; M Warnock (0-1), R Dougan, C Carville; E Mulholland, C McFaul (0-1), Cl Mulholland; C Glass (0-2), E Bradley (0-3f); E Doherty (1-0), J McDermott (0-1), T Flanagan; D Tallon (0-5f), C McGuckian, T McDermott Subs: C Covery for J Doherty (22’), A Doherty (0-01) for R Dougan (40’).
Kilmacud Crokes: D Higgins(0-1); J Murphy, T Clancy, D O'Brien; M O'Leary (0-1), R O'Carroll, A McGowan; B Sheehy, C Dias; S Horan, S Cunningham, D Mullin; P Mannion (0-4, 0-2f), L Ward (0-1), S Walsh, (1-2, 0-1 45’. Subs: C O'Connor for Ward (h-t), H Kenny (1-0) for Sheehy (h-t), D Dempsey for Cunningham (43), P Purcell for Mullin (61).
Ref:: C Lane (Cork).
St Brigid's (Roscommon) 1-11; Castlehaven (Cork) 0-10
St Brigid's were the unfashionable side that everyone cast as underdogs but the Connacht final win over Corofin of Galway and Sunday’s opponents Castlehaven means you will write them off in the final against Glen at your peril.
The Rossies are in their third ever final and will be hoping to emulate the exploits of the 2013 team of Frankie Dolan et al by shocking Conor Glass and Co in Croke Park the weekend after this one.
The term “true grit” could have been coined for this outfit because every time the Cork boys looked like they might turn the game around, Brigid’s were able to find something extra.
All-Star nominee Ben O'Carroll, who kicked 0-3 and two other members of the Rossies U-20 team that lost to Offaly in the ‘21 All Ireland final, Ruaidhrí Fallon and Robbie Dolan, were very much the inspirations as the Connacht champions led by 1-5 to 0-2 in the opening quarter.
Bobby Nugent's brace of points got his side off on the right foot while Brian Derwin’s goal gave the big Western support in Thurles a real belief that their favorites could on to win the game.
Not for the first time the losers were over-dependant on Brian Hurley, who ended up scoring seven of his side’s 10 points in the course of the hour. His brother Michael rowed in with another point but his threat wasn’t as consistent as was required to actually puncture holes in the winners’ defense.
It was a piercing run by Dolan which undid the Munster rearguard after 13 minutes which allowed Derwin to finish off the move with aplomb and give his side a five point lead.
Cathal Maguire and Brian Hurley rose to the challenge and had helped to reduced the leeway to 1-7 to 0-6 at the interval.
When Brian Hurley reeled off a brace of early second half points to make it a two-point game, it looked as if the blue and white hoops might go on and take the laurels.
That may have happened when full-back Rory Maguire joined the attack and feeding off Brian Hurley’s pass shot an unstoppable shot which unfortunately for him and his teammates hit the crossbar and rebounded to safety when a goal would have put Castlehaven ahead at a vital time of the game.
Castlehaven waved that disappointment aside and continued to press with Brian Hurley converting back-to-back frees to leave a simple white flag dividing the two sides.
Then their substitutions worked a treat as John Cunningham kicked a brilliant point from distance and Mark Daly had a hand in the move which saw Dolan bundled over for a late penalty which talisman O’Carroll was happy to point to give his side an unassailable four point lead at the death of the game.
St Brigid's: C Sheehy; L Griselain, B Stack, P Frost; R Fallon, R Stack, Paul McGrath (0-1); E Nolan, S Cunnane; C Hand, C Sugrue (0-1), R Dolan (0-1); B O’Carroll (0-3, 0-1 pen), B Derwin (1-1), B Nugent (0-3) Subs: J Cunningham (0-1) for Derwin (44); M Daly for Cunnane (53), C Gleeson for Nugent (60).
Castlehaven: D Cahalane; J O’Regan, R Maguire, R Walsh; T O’Mahony, D Cahalane, M Collins; C Cahalane, A Whelton; C O’Sullivan, B Hurley (0-7, 0-5f), S Browne; C Maguire (0-2), J Cahalane, M Hurley (0-1) Subs: C O’Driscoll for Browne (HT); J O’Driscoll for O’Sullivan (58), M Maguire for Cr Cahalane (60).
Ref: D Coldrick (Meath).
London shock Mayo
London shocked Mayo at the University of Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome to advance to the semi-final this weekend of the FBD Connacht league where they will face Roscommon on Saturday night.
Mayo supremo Kevin McStay gave debuts to seven players in his starting 15, with just three of the championship team from last year, Eoghan McLaughlin, Jordan Flynn and Tommy Conroy, lining-out.
Mayo led by a point at the interval but London, spurred on by the man of the match Shay Rafter finished the stronger to record a major 0-12 to 1-8 win.
GAA Results
Connacht Hurling League final
New York 2-25; Mayo 2-12
Dr McKenna Cup
Donegal 0-15; Tyrone 1-10
Derry 0-13; Down 0-10
O'Byrne Cup
Meath 2-13; Louth 1-7
Wexford 3-9; Kildare 0-14
Dublin 0-11; Offaly 0-10
Longford 0-9; Westmeath 0-7
McGrath Cup
Kerry 6-18; Limerick 0-11
Connacht FBD League
Roscommon 1-21; Sligo 0-15
London 0-12; Mayo 1-8
Walsh Cup
Dublin 2-31; Westmeath 1-12
Laois 2-18; Offaly 0-18
