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Gallant Gallen Fall Short At Final Hurdle

Thursday, 26 January 2012

Gallen CS full back Jack Egan moves the ball out of defence. MT04300

Cnoc Mhuire, Granard 3-13. Gallen CS, Ferbane 2-5.

Despite a powerful first half performance, Gallen CS dreams of a Leinster title were dashed in emphatic fashion on Wednesday last as the hotly fancied Cnoc Mhuire, Granard turned the screw in the second half to claim victory by a flattering 11 points.
Played in Tang, the Ferbane school entered the game minus three of their top players with Michael Butler (suspension), Daragh Keenaghan (long term injury) and Merrick Daly (illness) all unavailable to the Gallen school. Couple this with Granard comprehensively beating them in the group stages and the outlook wasn't good at the outset.
However in true underdog fashion, the Offaly school made little of the underdog tag in the opening half and played sublime football to match the Longford school blow for blow in that opening period.
That first half of football was a joy to watch with both sides taking some brilliant scores and defending excellently. A draw match at half time, Gallen looked on course to give this a right rattle in the second half but it was the Granard men who took some initiative and grabbed the bull by the horns to go on and win comfortably but in saying that they were not 11 points a better side.
Gallen CS only kicked a point in the second half but they did hit the post and have a ball cleared off the line as well as been smothered by a stern Granard defence on more than one occasion.
Gallen's missing trio were certainly a miss but the performance of the team that took to the field should not be over shadowed. The commitment, heart and determination on show was immense for this age level and quite simply some of the point taking and passing were way beyond their years.
With Gallen also starting out on their defence of the senior All-Ireland next month, it bodes well for them that the junior team will be producing players to fight for places. Dylan Buckley's kick outs were immense and his reflex save in the second half stood out. Jack Egan and Sean Buckley defended well while the re-jigged midfield of Christian Brazil and John Corcoran both had their moments before succumbing to the Strong Granard pairing.
Up front Paddy Cosgrove and Ryan Heavin both got through a fine hour's work on the half forward line while the roaming Dean Hogan fought until the death. Colin Kenny was the go to man with regards the scoring and he is one that will certainly look to feature with the seniors this year.
Second half goals from Granard's Fionnan O'Reilly and Aaron Fegan ended Gallen's hopes but they battled in to the end in front of a sizable support at the Westmeath venue.
Gallen got off to a great start and they settled the early nerves when Colin Kenny floated over a free after Dean Hogan had been fouled. After Granard leveled things up, Gallen and Shannonbridge man Christian Brazil curled over a super free from a tight angle to give the advantage back to the Ferbane school.
Disaster then struck in the 14th minute as Matty Gorman tore down the right wing, took an off load from Rian Brady and blasted the ball to the roof of the net. That was a set back for Gallen but they didn't let it faze them as two minutes later they surged up the field.
Colin Kenny played in Christian Brazil and as Brazil went to get his shot away, he was foot blocked and a penalty was no more than the Gallen lads deserved. Ice cool Colin Kenny stood up and expertly blasted to the top corner to give his side a deserved 1-2 to 1-1 lead with 16 minutes on the clock.
Their lead was short lived and Granard were back in the ascendancy within a couple of minutes with two neat points. Gallen responded brilliantly again this time with Ronan McEvoy finishing off a super team move for their second goal. Colin Kenny and Ryan Heavin did the hard graft and McEvoy's finish was one of coolness and style.
Colin Kenny added a point with his weaker right foot on 22 minutes and Gallen now commanded a 2-3 to 1-3 lead. Granard had it back level by the 26th minute with a trio of points as Rian Brady helped himself to a brace.
Kenny once again kicked another super point this time with the outside of the boot with a minute left in the half but Aidan McElligott made sure the sides went in level at 2-4 to 1-7 with a late point for the Granard men.
Granard hit the ground running in the second half and within six minutes of the restart they were two points up with substitute Aaron Fegan making his presence felt at centre forward.
In those early second half minutes Cormac Quinn did register Gallen's only score of the second half with a well taken point. Aaron Fegan fisted a goal in the 38th minute and a Rian Brady point coupled with a goal from ace marksman Fionnan O'Reilly, all before the 45th minute left the score 3-11 to 2-5 and the game beyond the reach of the brave Gallen challenge.
Paddy Cosgrove came agonisingly close to netting for the Offaly school with five minutes to go but it would have only been a consolation as the deficit was a bridge too far and Granard were crowned champions.

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