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| You Are Here: HOME > displaynews> | Saturday, September 04th 2010. |
Championship Final: Wild Geese just had that little bit extra
Six weeks after their respective semi-final wins, St Brendan’s and Wild Geese finally got down to battle in the Dublin Junior E Championship Final, under the floodlights of Balgriffin Park. Both teams had to change colours with Wild Geese wearing red while St. Brendan’s settle for a fetching purple outfit.
One minute into the match and The Dark Force had an opening 45, which was played short to Feehan but his shot was blocked for a sideline ball. The Boyle man played the resultant sideline ball to Peter Burke who drew the foul. And so, up stepped Feehan for the game’s opening score.
Minutes later, Gavin Hanley was penalised for over-carrying, but Garvin was on hand to save the resultant free, Robbie Caulfield cleared and Willie McLoughlin pointed. Then, a Wild Geese 45 was cleared by Tom Heery and a bursting solo run by Timmy Ryan set up Feehan and point number 3.
That lead went up to four following a point by John Moore following a Heery pass, despite bunching on the far side. A fifth white flag was raised thanks to McLoughlin, who delayed his holiday for this occasion, after an off-load from Mick McGinty.
The Oldtown outfit, which had 300 attending the game, the last one of which switched off the lights in the village, eventually got going and despite a couple of wides, had a goal effort saved by John Ryan for a 45.
This 45 was dropped in and after much consternation, the ball was connected with by a Wild Geese boot and into the net to the delight of their massive following. This galvanised the team big time and indeed they could have got a second goal but for an excellent one-on-one point blank save by Garvin and excellent defensive pressure from Rob Stack and Brendan Sharkey.
As the Dark Force rallied, the Valiant McGinty showed his strength to draw a foul. Feehan played a one-two to Moore and point number six was on the board. McGinty was still hungry for goals and after an excellent shuffle, his shot was saved for a 45, but that was cleared and after a good run up field the Geese got their first point of the game.
Two Brendan’s wides closed out the first half, first from Shane Foley after a Geese attacked was snuffed out by Purtill, and Feehan saw his effort missed narrowly after another McGinty Goal effort was saved. Half Time 0-6 to 1-1.
The big turning point in the second half was when Wild Geese won two frees after the referee penalised the Purple Dark Force for over carrying. On both occasions points were scored and the sides were level.
By that stage, the indomitable Peter Burke had picked up an injury but wanted to continue on. Foley put Brendan’s back into the lead with his only point of the evening and the gap was back to two points with a Willie McLoughlin point after good work from Burke. Unfortunately, the Mayo schoolteacher was unable to continue and he had to be replaced by Derek Henry.
The 300 strong crowd kept the Geese going and soon they equalised, but not before more excellent defensive work from St. Brendan’s and a highly alert Garvin. Then in another well worked move, Robbie Caulfield found an unmarked Mick McGinty and with the possibility of a one-on-one with the goalie looming, McGinty settled for the point.
Ten minutes to go and still very tense, another dubious free was awarded for Wild Geese. The shot was going wide but was brilliantly kept in before being connected with and into the back of the net to set fireworks going amongst the big crowd.
It was then that the Geese found their second wind and went to push on with three more points without reply. At that stage the game was up for the Gormanites, who could not match the men from Oldtown for points.
A late red card for Sharkey summed things up as St. Brendan’s bid for a first county championship since 1993 sailed out the window. In all fairness, we will not begrudge Wild Geese their moment in the sun (or should it be under the lights), considering they lost last year’s final in similarly heartbreaking fashion.
And after all, there is always the Sheridan Cup, and the possibility of vengeance. Final Score from Balgriffin: St. Brendan’s 0-9 Wild geese 2-8. The Team: 1. Colin Garvin, 2. Tom Heery, 3. John Ryan, 4. Rob Stack, 5. Peter Burke, 6. Brendan Sharkey, 7. Trevor Purtill, 8. Shane Foley (0-1), 9. Timmy Ryan, 10. John Moore (0-1), 11. Willie McLoughlin (0-3), 12. Robbie Caulfield, 13. Karl Feehan (0-3), 14. Mick McGinty (0-1), 15. Gavin Hanley. Subs: David Henry for McLoughlin, Derek Henry for Burke, Greg Foxe for McGinty. Not Used: John Michael McLoughlin, David Ryan, Will McCarthy, Justin McCormack, Eugene Cunningham. |
