Anthony Daly: St Martin's workrate gave them a glimmer but Ballygunner just don't do panic
Pauric Mahony of Ballygunner celebrates after his side's victory in the AIB GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship semi-final match between Ballygunner and St Martin's at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
I know the M50 can be a nightmare, and it has the potential to be like a car-park on the last Sunday before Christmas, but I really felt that yesterday’s two All-Ireland semi-finals should have been staged in Croke Park.
Why didn’t I say that here on Saturday? Because I hadn’t seen the Parnell Park pitch.
We all knew the sod at the Donnycarney venue wasn’t going to be hectic but it looked even worse when compared to the carpet in Thurles for the second semi-final.
Everybody accepted that the Ballygunner-St Martin’s game was the bigger match but the contrast in the two pitches was so stark that it was almost an outward admission of one semi-final mattering more than the other. Is that fair comment? I think it is, especially when Croke Park would have been a solid neutral venue for all four teams. It’s effectively a motorway for all four clubs to get there. Games of that magnitude deserve the same stage.
You could argue that if the Loughrea-Slaughtneil game was on in Croke Park that it would have been an even bigger win for Loughrea because that venue would have suited them even more. But that’s not the point. Every team deserves to be treated equally.
We didn’t get the games we hoped for though the first half of the Ballygunner-St Martin’s game was riveting if a bit over tactical. The Gunners took over the second half to such an extent that I can only imagine how their stats team and Jason Ryan went after them at half-time. Because their numbers weren’t good.
The vast majority of that was down to St Martin’s workrate and use of possession but Ballygunner looked rattled and out of sorts. An upset really looked on the cards when St Martin’s led by 0-8 to 0-6 but I just wonder if the turnaround had as much to do with how St Martin’s psychologically reacted in that moment as how Ballygunner did?
An inexperienced team can begin to start looking at the clock and wondering if they can hold on whereas an experienced team just keeps the head down and forgets about the clock. Ballygunner were under pressure but I knew they wouldn’t panic.
Ballygunner’s big players came to the fore too, especially Pauric Mahony and Dessie Hutchinson, while young Mark Hartley made a massive difference off the bench. And once the tide turned, St Martin’s couldn’t row it back.
St Martin’s were in a great position but they could have been in an even better spot if Michael Coleman’s goal hadn’t been disallowed before half-time. TV replays showed that Ian Kenny’s leg had knocked the ball into the net but, even at that, it should have been a penalty as Coleman was hauled down.
St Martin’s needed everything to go right but it didn’t. The three O’Connor’s – Jack, Barry and Rory - have been outstanding all year but they never hit those heights here. St Martin’s best player was Joe Barret who ended with 0-3.
Ballygunner’s workrate in the third quarter lifted them to another level and they took the scoreboard to another level with that momentum. They’ll go into the final now full of confidence that they can win that second All-Ireland but they’re meeting a good side in four weeks.
I was impressed with Loughrea but Slaughtneil never turned up. They looked like a team that expected it to happen but a lot of their big guns were not at the races. They do play a short game but some of their short passing from the outset was OTT. And Loughrea made them pay for any mistakes in possession.
Loughrea are a really well-coached side. They’re very patient too but they had seven wides in the first half and needed Anthony Burns’ goal to put a small shard of daylight between the teams at half-time. It looked teed up for Slaughtneil after the break but Loughrea’s second goal from Vince Morgan just killed the match as a contest.
Burns was very threatening throughout. Tiernan Killeen had a fine game. Cullen Killeen and Kieran Hanrahan were outstanding. Johnny Coen and Shane Morgan were solid at the back. Loughrea showed the strength of their bench too, especially with Neil Keary bagging 0-3, whereas Slaughtneil had none of that and were under pressure in every sector of the field.
When a team isn’t going well, no matter how experienced or inexperienced you are, you’re always looking to your big men to lift the standard and drive the side forward. Slaughtneil’s big men just couldn’t. Brendan Rogers is an incredible servant but his weak shot that dropped short into goalkeeper Gearoid Loughnane in the 58th minute summed up their performance all afternoon.
Slaughtneil are far better than they showed but they just never brought the fight that was required. I just didn’t think they were at it tactically either. If you’re going to play that short game Slaughtneil would have been better off with Chrissy McKaigue out around the middle as opposed to having him inside in the full-forward line. Chrissy got two points but it was nearly the only two balls he got all afternoon.
I thought that Slaughtneil mentally accepted defeat after the second goal but they were beaten by a really good side too. The outcome for Loughrea was really tainted, however, by the red card to Cullen Killeen in additional time. Loughrea were up in arms over it but nobody can have an opinion on the matter because there was no TV pictures to confirm what did happen off the ball.
Loughrea were so incensed and will appeal, with Cullen such an important player for them – he was the official TG4 man-of-the-match. They will need clear TV detail of what occurred but a lot of the top-class clubs like Loughrea would have their own footage from behind the goal.
It's just a pity now that their focus in the coming days will be on trying to deal with a negative rather than on the massive positive of reaching an All-Ireland final.
