St. Croan’s come good to reach Connacht semi-final
Eoin Collins kicked three first-half points for St. Croan's during their Connacht Junior Championship quarter-final victory against Cloonacool at King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park. Picture: Bernie O'Farrell
St. Croan’s hit 1-5 in the final ten minutes to turn a precarious situation into a comfortable one as Vinnie Egan’s side set up a Connacht semi-final meeting against Mayo champions, Kiltimagh, in Castlebar on Sunday next.
For much of the game, Croan’s were wasteful in front of goal, hitting 13 wides over the hour.
But, led by Alan Conroy, Croan’s let off the handbrake to prevail, with substitute Keith Muldoon grabbing the game-clinching goal two minutes into injury time.
The only sour note for Croan’s was an injury to Kevin Smyth who joins Ross Timothy and Greg Grogan on the treatment table at a pivotal time in the West Roscommon side’s season.
Eoin Collins took up from where he left off in the county Junior A final with a hat-trick of terrific scores inside the opening 18 minutes.
But Cloonacool were ahead at that stage, thanks to Hughie Marren’s well-struck penalty.
But Croan’s received the perfect tonic on the stroke of half time when the excellent Ger Connaughton won a short kickout, and in a flash Croan’s had the ball up the other end of the field, leading to an emphatic finish from Freddie Kelly to hand his side a 1-6 to 1-3 interval lead.
The first 20 minutes of the second half saw Croan’s do much huffing and puffing as their squandermania continued, and Cloonacool could have been in front if they took some of the chances that came their way.
But Croan’s finally found their groove. Aiden Brogan, Conroy and Smyth landed good scores before Muldoon reacted quickest to a shot from Adam Bracken that was parried into his path by Cloonacool goalkeeper, Diarmuid Henry, to find the net.
There was still time for Conroy and Muldoon to add late scores, meaning all three Roscommon champions — St. Brigid’s (senior), Strokestown (intermediate) and St. Croan’s (junior) — will be in provincial football semi-final action next weekend.
St. Croan’s scorers: Keith Muldoon (1-1), Eoin Collins (0-3), Aiden Brogan (0-3, two frees), Freddie Kelly (1-0), Alan Conroy (0-2), Adrian Collins (0-1), Kevin Lambert (0-1), Kevin Smyth (0-1).
