Heneghan proves the difference as Castlerea overcome St Brigid’s
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Castlerea's Dermot Lyons lays off the ball with St. Brigid's Eoin Sheehy and Karol Mannion closing.
Castlerea 1-7 St Brigid's 0-8.
DEFENDING county champions Castlerea St Kevins marched into the quarter finals of the senior championship following their win over St Brigid's at O'Rourke Park on Sunday evening.
To say this was not a classic is an understatement but it took a moment of luck (or genius depending on what side you are on) to decide this dogged clash of two giants of senior football. A goal from Ger Heneghan that will start many an argument as to if it was meant or not the difference in a game that failed to simply take off.
The win aside, Castlerea will certainly be the happier with their performance. Starting without several players including the influential Nigel Dineen who was injured, they showed that they are not a one man team and the return and performance of Enda Kenny sent out a strong message that they are not going to give up the title without a fight. St Brigid's may also point out to the absence of vital players including the injured Mark O'Carroll but they did pull back a four point deficit at the start and could have snatched a very late winner if Karol Mannion's punched effort went into the goal and not over the bar as it eventually did.
Both teams and their supporters knew the importance of this game and the size of the crowd was expectant of a good game of football. Unfortunately they did not get a classic but there were plenty of talking points throughout. Castlerea opened the scoring with a Ger Heneghan free after three minutes and it lit the touch paper for a period of dominance that saw the home side tack on four points without reply. Enda Kenny dominated at midfield and his work rate certainly contributed to Castlerea going ahead in the manner they did. Ronan Curran put them two points clear before another Heneghan free and a great score from John Duggan had them four points in front and in control.
Brigid's knew that they had to improve or their championship would be over before it began and with Karol Mannion and Frankie Dolan now getting to grips with the Castlerea backline, the comeback was now on. Cathal McHugh also started to come into his own with two points but it was the concession of a penalty that was the main talking point of the first half. Dolan worked his way inside and used all his experience to draw the foul. Referee Marty Parker spread his arms immediately and Karol Mannion, who rarely missed from the penalty spot, walked up to take the kick. However, with goalkeeper Geoffrey Claffey rooted to the ground, the shot came off the post and out, much to the relief of the Castlerea support.
Neither side could add to the scoreboard before the break and the statistic of four wides apiece in the first half told volumes to both teams lack of accuracy in front of the posts.
If the first half was poor the second was much better with a real championship bite coming into the game. Frankie Dolan pulled a point back with a free before Eoin Sheehy scored an exquisite 45' from the ground. It could have been more but an excellent Claffey save denied Conor McHugh. Brigid's then took the lead with a point from Conor McHugh but it would be only temporary as Castlerea came back with a point from Darren McDermott a minute later.
The game was now entering the final quarter with both sides in with a realistic chance of winning. Brigids regained the lead with a point from Sheehy before Heneghan levelled matters with another free. David O'Connor again gave Brigids the lead with eleven minutes to go before the moment that changed the game came to pass. Ger Heneghan, holding possession, left fly a shot that looked as if it was going to go over the bar. However, it dropped at the very last second, looped over Philip Martin in the Brigid's goal, went off the post and into the net. It gave Castlerea the lead and knocked the stuffing out of St Brigids who to their credit, never gave up. Ronan Curran looked to have made the game safe with a point two minutes from time but the Kiltoom club still fought on. Their cause not helped by a straight red card given to Ger Aherne for an off the ball incident.
With the clock almost up and five minutes of injury time played, st Brigids had one last throw of the dice. A free from Sheehy was floated into the Castlerea small square. Mannion got his fist to it but the ball bounced off the ground and over the bar. It would be the final move of the match and Castlerea held on for the win and more importantly, the points that sees them through to the quarter finals of the championship.
St Brigids now face Pádraig Pearses in what is a straight shootout to see who joins Castlerea in the quarter finals.
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