Éire Óg make hard work of victory

Éire Óg 0-14

St. Croan’s 0-10

Callington Ltd. Intermediate Football Championship Quarter-Final

Éire Óg’s superiority was never in doubt on a perfect afternoon for football in Elphin, but Pat Doory’s side contrived to make life difficult for themselves before regaining their composure to see off St. Croan’s on Sunday last.

It should have been more straightforward but the winners butchered at least three glorious goalscoring opportunities. That lack of cutting edge will prove fatal if it’s not rectified before Elphin come calling in the last four.

It was scarcely believable that Dean Muldoon’s 58th minute point left just a point between the teams but to Éire Óg’s credit, they never panicked and rattled off the next three scores through Conor Cox, Liam Creaton and Joseph Hester to give the scoreline a more realistic glow.

Last year’s beaten finalists were, for the most part, in control of their own destiny but they lost their way as the finishing line came into view. Unforced errors became more plentiful as Croan’s seized the initiative with points from Damien Goggins, Dan Malone and Muldoon to engender notions of an unlikely smash-and-grab raid.

But that’s where the Croan’s momentum ended as Éire Óg, who saw their captain Enda Crawley return from injury and make an important second-half contribution, regained their bearings to get the job done.

The opening half was all about Éire Óg’s ability to work possession to their key players, most notably Conor Cox who was shooting the lights out with a necklace of wonderful scores from both play and frees.

Young Brian Greene, who shipped some heavy punishment over the hour, and Jason Doory were prominent too, while Liam Creaton pitched in with his usual complement of high-quality scores.

A 0-9 to 0-5 half-time lead was the least the winners deserved but Croan’s, in one final attempt to turn the tide, redeployed Michael Holland from goalkeeper to full-forward. Éire Óg knew what was coming, and they recovered from losing corner-back Mark Finan to a black card to hold their nerve, despite a late rally from Malachy Gately’s side.

With goalkeeper Colm Lavin essentially operating as a seventh defender out around the middle of the field on the St. Croan’s kickout, Éire Óg enjoyed a bountiful supply of possession during the opening half.

Doory was orchestrating matters from centre-forward, while Greene never shirked his responsibility when it came to running hard at a Croan’s rearguard who solely missed their full-back Greg Grogan through injury.

Cox got the ball rolling from a fourth minute free before the Roscommon player took possession off Doory and, despite making a more difficult angle for himself, bisected the posts with aplomb from the right flank.

Brian Greene couldn’t direct Doory’s delivery towards goal as the first of Éire Óg’s chances came and went. Greene missed a better one not long after when he reacted quickest to a Liam Creaton effort that came back off the post, but his effort across the face of goal whizzed past the post.

Damien Goggins got Croan’s off the mark in the ninth minute from a free following a foul on Dan Malone. But a quick transition from defence to attack by Éire Óg was rewarded when Cox landed a free after Creaton was upended.

More Éire Óg pressure was rewarded when Cox converted a trademark free with the outside of the boot from the 45-metre line before he took possession off Jamesie Greene and pointed on the turn.

It got better for the winners as Greene linked up with Doory before confidently splitting the posts from 40 metres to hand his side a 0-6 to 0-1 lead after 19 minutes.

But Croan’s stalled their opponents’ momentum momentarily as a Goggins free that was brought forward for dissent was followed by Kevin Lambert converting a mark after he gathered possession impressively down around his ankles.

When Adam Bracken took a pass off Aaron Garvey to hit the target from the right flank in Croan’s next attack, the margin was back to just two points. But Lavin’s decision to go short on his next kickout, if only to take the sting out of Croan’s, was rewarded when Doory and Joseph Hester allowed Liam Creaton grab his second point of the contest.

Goggins replied with a free before Cox illuminated proceedings with an audacious free from 50 metres, which was followed by a more routine one to hand his side a four-point interval advantage.

When Liam Creaton’s tenacity was rewarded after winning back possession from a James McGreal effort that came back off the post, Éire Óg looked set to kick on. But when Crawley was denied by a smart save from Holland, the sight of Goggins pointing up the other end of the field 30 seconds later felt like a potentially significant moment.

Another two goal chances went abegging for Éire Óg when Creaton was foiled by Holland before Cox, after being played in by Tom Greene, squared possession, but there was no one able to apply the finishing touch.

Adrian Collins and Enda Crawley exchanged scores before Éire Óg’s inability to take their opportunities threatened to come back and haunt them as Goggins, Malone and Muldoon reduced the arrears to just a point with two minutes remaining.

Croan’s gander was up, but there was another gear in Éire Óg as Cox, Creaton and Hester — with a fisted effort after great work by Brian Greene — made sure of their side’s hard-earned victory.