Gaels squeak past brave Ballyboden

KILKENNY champions, O’Loughlin-Gaels saved themselves from the grave with only seconds remaining in normal time and then made Ballyboden St Enda’s (Dublin) pay the ultimate price when they scored a daring win in this thrilling Leinster Club SFC semi-final in Nowlan Park yesterday.

With a minute of normal time remaining, a place in the Leinster final against Oulart-the-Ballagh (Wexford) looked to be Ballyboden’s after free taker, Paul Ryan shot his second goal of the half. It left the Cats facing a championship demise when 1-14 to 3-9 down.

The Noresiders won the puck-out through Niall McEvoy, who popped over the equaliser. O’Loughlin’s then had a chance to snatch a dramatic victory when awarded a 20-metre free, but the effort from a tough angle was missed by the usually reliable Mark Bergin, who finished with 11 points to his credit.