O'Loughlin Gaels, Young Irelands in thrilling draw

O’Loughlin Gaels 3-9 Young Irelands (Gowran) 2-12

Fitting too that this thrilling decider ended in a draw, because neither defending champions O'Loughlin Gaels nor the 2001 kingpins Young Irelands would have deserved to endure the disappointment of defeat after providing an enthralling and nail-biting spectacle for a 12,000 attendance in near perfect conditions.

No doubt Young Irelands will feel hard done by at the concession of the equalising goal virtually at the death, but credit O'Loughlin Gaels with refusing to accept the inevitability of defeat staring them in the face in those closing tension charged minutes.

They sensationally summoned one last surge deep into added time, and when the ball broke invitingly behind two defenders from a magnificent Sean Dowling sideline cut, Nigel Skehan was the calmest player on the field as he buried the ball in the left hand corner of Martin Carey's net.

When the replay will be held will be determined by a decision of the Leinster Council today. The winners are due to play the Kildare champions in the provincial campaign next Sunday, but the Kilkenny request will be for a one-week deferment to enable the replay to go ahead.

Failing that, it will be played next Saturday with the winners in action again 24 hours later.

Young Irelands enjoyed a dream start and raced into a five point lead inside seven minutes.

Charlie Carter rattled an upright before their midfielders James McDermott and Ollie Carter had sweetly struck points and, when Jack Carey knifed his way through the opposing defence to crash the ball to the net in the 7th minute, the Gowran outfit were off to the proverbial flyer.

But write O'Loughlin Gaels off at your peril, and with Andy Comerford hurling a lot of ball from centre back they took firm control for the next quarter of an hour.

So much so that their five point deficit was translated into a one point lead by the 16th minute with Brian Dowling scrambling an untidy goal, and it got even better for them with Nigel Skehan (2), Maurice Nolan, and Brian Dowling tacking on further minors with just one from James Fitzgerald in reply.

But it was Young Irelands who finished the half as they had started it and points from Charlie Carter, D.J. Carey (free), and Dick Carroll left them just one adrift, 1-7 to 1-6, at the break.

Within a minute of the restart Skehan extended the champions lead with a pointed free, but the Carter/Carey combination came to their side's rescue with a goal in the 34th minute.

Carter's goal effort was saved by keeper Kevin Cleere, but Carey was ideally positioned to belt the breaking ball to the net. Young Irelands were back in front and it was a lead they were to hold until that priceless strike by Skehan in the final seconds.

However, Carter saw three scoring efforts shave the wrong side of an upright in the space of five minutes, and they were misses that ultimately came back to haunt his side. Their cause wasn't helped either by the hamstring problem that again flared up on D.J. and seriously restricted his movement throughout much of that second half.

Still it was looking really good for Young Irelands when they opened up a four point gap with a brace of super Carter points in the 49th and 52nd minutes, only for Skehan to throw the champions yet another lifeline when he crashed a 20 metre free to the net 60 seconds later.

Once more the minimum margin separated the great rivals, and then came a real defining moment when Young Irelands were awarded a 21 for a 55th minute foul on Dick Carroll.

The point that was there for the taking might, in hindsight, have been the wiser option, but D.J. settled for a blasting operation only to see his effort stopped and cleared.

Charlie Carter's delightful 58th minute point eased the pressure on Young Irelands and, when Jack Carey rifled over an even better one in the 60th minute, they looked to be home and hosed. The replay, be it Saturday or Sunday next, is one that goes with a "highly recommended" rating.

Scorers O'Loughlin Gaels: N. Skehan (2-2, 1-1 frees); B.Dowling (1-2); M. Nolan (0-3); M. Comerford and N. Bergin (0-1) each. Young Irelands; D. J. Carey (1-3, 0-3 frees); J. Carey (1-1); C. Carter (0-4); J. McDermott, O. Carter, J.Fitzgerald, D. Carroll (0-1) each.

O'Loughlin Gaels: K. Cleere; B. Kelly. B. Hogan. B. Murphy; A. O'Brien. A. Comerford. S.Dowling; S. Cummins. A. Geoghegan; M. Comerford. C. Furlong. N. Skehan; J. Comerford. M. Nolan. B. Dowling; Subs; N. Bergin for O'Brien (inj); J. Lawlor for J. Comerford.

Young Irelands: M. Carey; C. Carroll. E. Farrell. C. Phelan; S. Byrne. T., Drennan. D. Phelan; J. McDermott. O. Carter; C. Carter. J. Carey. J. Fitzgerald; D. Carroll. D. J. Carey. D. Carter.

Referee; Denis O'Sullivan, Callan.