Brigid’s and Pearses bring best out of each other

It’s hard to know where to begin.

Perhaps, it’s best to simply acknowledge that St. Brigid’s and Pádraig Pearses served up a senior football final for the ages, underlining the quality embedded within the Roscommon Senior Football Championship.

There were so many moments of individual brilliance and collective quality that people’s heads were in a spin afterwards. Nerves were frayed, shredded to pieces. Anyone selling valium would have made a fortune.

More than anything, this final was defined by players who backed themselves to deliver seminal moments.

Take the final dramatic moments of injury time. St. Brigid’s championship ambitions are hanging by a thread. Declan Kenny has just kicked Pearses into the lead in the second minute of additional time, leaving his club on the cusp of their fourth Fahey Cup and the first time the club has managed to retain its title.

Brigid’s know that their next attack must yield a score, or else it’s another season of unfulfilled potential.

Against a wind that's a nuisance, the ball is worked meticulously down the right flank when possession lands in the lap of Shane Cunnane. Instead of taking the easy option and recycling possession, the St. Brigid’s midfielder places an inch-perfect foot pass into the lap of Brian Stack who shakes off his marker and kicks the equaliser.

With everything on the line, Cunnane’s decision to back his skillset was in keeping with two groups of players that did their talking on the Hyde’s lush green sward.

As for Stack, it was another routine day at the office for St. Brigid’s main man — where, once again, he carried his team through a storm.

The waters will be that bit less choppy this week as minds and bodies recover, but when Hyde Park’s Colosseum readies itself for the return of the Gladiators next Saturday at 2.30 p.m., inevitably it will be Stack who will be leading the Brigid’s charge.

Pearses were magnificent too. They were 0-8 to 0-1 behind after 11 minutes, but the brilliance of Conor Ryan, the bravery of Caelim Keogh, the hard running of Seán Canning and the trickery of Jack Tumulty ensured that they unearthed a way to get back into a game that looked to be slipping away from them.

And yet, despite that early deficit, they will have regrets this week that they didn’t drive a dagger through St. Brigid’s heart. In a game of small margins, the better chances came their way coming up the home stretch.

Two big chances come to mind. Early in the second half, the otherwise excellent Seán Canning was pinged for two hops when a score was inevitable. Then, in the game’s dying embers, David Murray elected to pass when there was a simple point for the taking — a score that would have put his side two points ahead with only a couple of minutes remaining.

Of course, there was that chance in the final act of the melodrama. Seán Trundle was penalised for not releasing possession. Referee Jimmy Donoghue brought the ball forward to the 45-metre line, which handed Paul Carey a presentable opportunity to win the match.

But Carey, with the wind behind him, pulled his effort wide, and both teams lived to fight another day.

Once again, Brigid’s probably have the greater room for improvement, and while the narrative this week that such a high-octane game will bring Anthony Cunningham’s men on in leaps and bounds, Pearses will also be much better for going toe-to-toe with the 2023 Connacht champions.

Clann na nGael manager Pat Fallon mentioned last week that Pearses know how to play Brigid’s, and he was right. No other team have that hardcore belief that they can beat them in a big game.

That’s what Pearses will draw comfort from this week, that once again they have rattled Brigid’s cage in a game of huge importance.

As for Brigid’s, they need more of their bigger players, outside of Brian Stack, to step up to the plate.

Against that backdrop, next Saturday’s replay couldn’t be more delicately poised.