St Brigid's claim sixth Connacht SFC title after tight battle against Maigh Cuilinn
SIXTH TITLE: St Brigid's players celebrate winning their sixth Connacht Club SFC title. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
St. Brigid’s were crowned Connacht club champions for a sixth time after Ruaidhrí Fallon’s late goal and Conor Hand’s 0-7 haul tilted the pendulum in their side’s after a terrific battle with Maigh Cuilinn at King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park.
Hand’s tour-de-force had kept Anthony Cunningham’s side very much in contention before Fallon delivered the knockout blow with three minutes remaining.
For Maigh Cuilinn, they will have regrets about their poor efficiency in front of goal despite dominating the middle third. St. Brigid’s goalkeeper Conor Carroll also made a fine save to deny Fionn McDonagh with the game in the melting pot.
But, overall, Brigid’s despite playing nowhere near their best, found a way to win and hand manager Cunningham his second Connacht club crown as St. Brigid’s manager — the first one coming 19 years ago when Karol Mannion’s dramatic late goal downed Corofin at the same venue to procure a first provincial crown for the South Roscommon men.
Maigh Cuilinn made a dream start in cool but dry conditions in the Hyde.
Seán O’Connor set up Fionn McDonagh for a fisted point in the second minute before Seán Kelly’s delivery was punched to the net by Fiachra McDonagh a minute later.
Both sides’ radar went on the blink with a couple of wides, while Maigh Cuilinn were incensed when Eddie Nolan’s challenge on Johnny Moloney went unpunished as the number 10 bore down on the Brigid’s goal.
Bobby Nugent opened St. Brigid’s account from a ninth minute free before both sides squandered further chances — Ben O’Carroll miscuing a two-point attempt before Fionn McDonagh sent a presentable free wide.
Fionn McDonagh bided his time before handing Maigh Cuilinn a 1-02 to 0-01 lead.
Then, out of nothing, Hand landed a monstrous two-pointer to haul his side back into contention.
Maigh Cuilinn midfielder Paul Kelly and St. Brigid’s forward Ben O’Carroll swapped points but the excellent Niall Walsh restored the visitors’ three-point lead after 19 minutes.
A pass from Brian Derwin didn’t make it to Eddie Nolan but O’Carroll picked up the rebound to grab his second score of the afternoon.
Hand left one between them after 21 minutes but a score from Fiachra McDonagh looked like consolidating Maigh Cuilinn’s half-time lead.
But, in what was the last action of the half, St. Brigid’s broke up a Maigh Cuilinn attack, allowing Hand to run half the length of the field and kick a superb two-pointer — his second of the half — to leave St. Brigid’s on level terms, 0-08 to 1-05, at the change of ends.
A high quality second half saw Brian Derwin and Niall Walsh exchange early scores before Ciarán Sugrue nudged Cunningham’s charges back in front.
But Maigh Cuilinn, who introduced Peter Cooke for the injured Seán O’Mahony before the break, took over around the middle third as a David Wynne score was followed by a two-pointer from Dessie Conneely and a single by Fionn McDonagh to catapult their side 1-10 to 0-10 in front after 37 minutes.
Shane Cunnane and Hand replied with scores to leave their side very much in the hunt but, despite continuing to lord primary possession around the middle, Maigh Cuilinn couldn’t translate their dominance to the scoreboard as they dropped a number of efforts short and Carroll denied McDonagh at a crucial juncture in the contest.
A mark by Conneely was cancelled out by Hand’s seventh point of the game. Substitute Mark Daly brought the sides level, getting on the end of a Ben O’Carroll effort to divert the ball over the bar, before Paul McGrath edged Brigid’s in front with nine minutes remaining.
Conneely levelled matters, before a brilliant point from the left flank by David Wynne edged Moycullen back in front, much to the delight of their supporters who felt that their team were in pole position for a second provincial championship crown.
However, St. Brigid’s landed the killer blow when Daly competed for an effort from Hand that dropped short. Sugrue picked up the pieces and played the ball out to Fallon who kept his cool and found the net.
Conneely scored his fifth point of the game from a free but when Maigh Cuilinn were punished for an obvious three-up breach, O’Carroll pointed the resultant straightforward free to confirm St. Brigid’s as champions and set up an All-Ireland semi-final meeting against the Ulster champions in early January.
: C Hand 0-7 (2 tp), B O’Carroll 0-3 (1f), R Fallon 1-0, B Nugent 0-1 (1f), B Derwin 0-1, C Sugrue 0-1, S Cunnane 0-1, M Daly 0-1, P McGrath 0-1
: D Conneely 0-5 (1 tpf, 1m, 1f), Fiachra McDonagh 1-1, Fionn McDonagh 0-3, N Walsh 0-2, D Wynne 0-2, P Kelly 0-1.
: C Carroll; R Smith, S Trundle, R Dolan; R Fallon, B Stack, P McGrath; S Cunnane, E Nolan; C Sugrue, C Hand, B Nugent; B O’Carroll, S Kilbride, B Derwin.
: M Daly for Kilbride (43), R Stack for Smith (45), C O’Carroll for Nugent (49), E Derwin for Sugrue (60).
P Greally; A Claffey, M Moughan, E Kelly; S O’Connor, S Kelly, D Wynne; P Kelly, T Clarke; J Moloney, N Walsh, G Davoren; Fionn McDonagh, Fiachra McDonagh, D Conneely.
: P Cooke for O’Connor (26), J McLoughlin for Fiachra McDonagh (49), C Corcoran for Clarke (60).
: L Devenney (Mayo).
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