Brigid’s see off Clann to set up mouthwatering senior football final
Conor Hand and his St. Brigid's team-mates are back in another county senior football final where they will meet defending champions, St. Brigid's, on Sunday, October 26th. Picture: INPHO/Tom Maher
St. Brigid’s have set up a mouthwatering senior football championship final against defending champions, Pádraig Pearses, in three weeks’ time after getting the better of Clann na nGael in Sunday afternoon’s semi-final at Woodmount.
Anthony Cunningham’s side kept their opponents at arm’s length to prevail by 0-16 to 0-11, despite only holding a four-point lead having played with the aid of a strong breeze during the opening half.
Big second-half performances from Brian Stack, Shane Cunnane, Paul McGrath, Conor Hand, Ben O’Carroll and Brian Derwin tilted the pendulum in Brigid’s favour as Clann relied on two-pointers to stay afloat.
An orange flag inside the opening two minutes from Eoghan Derwin wasn’t a sign of things to come as Brigid’s missed a further six two-point attempts in the first half.
Brian Derwin and Conor Hand landed points inside the final five minutes as Brigid’s cobbled together a 0-7 to 0-3 interval lead.
Early two-pointers by Ciarán Lennon and Paul McManus left Clann well in the hunt, but Brigid’s always had that bit more about them going forward, while Brian Stack displayed superb leadership in defence.
Ciarán Lennon had the chance to leave a point between them from a mark, but he missed and Brigid’s managed to keep Clann at bay with late points from O’Carroll, McGrath and Brian Derwin to set up a repeat of last year’s quarter-final in the decider on October 26th.
In the intermediate football championship, Shane McGinley’s two-pointer from play in injury time saw Strokestown break Fuerty hearts in Ballyforan to confirm their place in the decider against Éire Óg on a scoreline of 3-12 to 2-13.
Diarmuid McGann’s goal towards the end of the opening quarter injected some much-needed impetus into the game.
But a two-pointer from Cormac Lavin and a goal from Cian Murray left Fuerty 1-7 to 1-5 ahead at the break, albeit they had played with the aid of a strong breeze.
In the third quarter, Strokestown hit 2-4 without reply to suggest they were going to ease their way through to the decider — the goals coming from Kevin Finn and Mikey Kavanagh.
But, despite trailing by seven points and facing the elements, Fuerty responded with 1-4 of their own as Eoin Ward found the net.
Fuerty lost Shane McAndrew to a black card, but they drew level through Cian Murray before McGinley catapulted his side back into the decider in dramatic fashion.
The Junior A Football Championship final will be between St. Croan’s and Ballinameen as St. Croan’s, as expected, cruised through their semi-final against Western Gaels.
The pre-match favourites romped to a 5-16 to 0-7 victory in O’Rourke Park, Castlerea.
First-half goals from Ross Timothy and Kevin Lambert handed Croan’s a 2-9 to 0-3 buffer at the break, and their dominance continued after the break with a further hat-trick of goals from Conor Kennedy, Lambert and Aidan Brogan.
