Cunningham hails players' fight as St Brigid’s claim Connacht crown

Ruaidhrí Fallon’s late goal clinched the win for the Roscommon outfit. 

St Brigid’s manager Anthony Cunningham, centre, joins in the celebration with his players. Pic: 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.

Former Galway hurling boss Cunningham praised his players for staying in the fight, despite being dominated by a physically imposing Maigh Cuilinn outfit, to procure provincial silverware in dramatic circumstances.

“We were second fiddle for good parts of it. The physicality and height of Moycullen was something we hadn’t come across before but we really upped the performance in the last 20 minutes. To get the finish we did, it was great to get the goal at the time. It was a great fillip for us.

“We had studied them (Maigh Cuilinn) quite a bit. They had been dominant in Galway around the middle when they needed to be. I guess their height and their ability to win primary possession was a major factor in them getting through the Galway championship,” he highlighted.

Despite a relatively patchy first-half display, St. Brigid’s were on level terms at the break, thanks to Conor Hand’s second two-pointer of the half on the call of half time. In the end, Cunningham felt that the fresh legs he introduced around the middle, especially Mark Daly who pitched in with a point, helped his side fall across the finishing line.

“It took us a while to sort things out. I felt we got on an even keel halfway through the second half. The performance of Conor Hand was exceptional. Ruaidhrí Fallon put in a great shift. For us, we just got back into it. The fresh legs helped. It really is a tough game now with the amount of running involved.

“We have two very good midfielders that are finding it very hard to get in — Billy McDonnell and Mark Daly. Mark has got some minutes but the competition is hard. They’re competing against Shane Cunnane and Eddie Nolan who are tremendous players for us. It’s a good position to be in. It’s great to have four midfielders of that calibre at club level,” he remarked.

It will be a short Christmas around the parish of Kiltoom/Cam with an All-Ireland semi-final against the Ulster champions on the horizon in early January, but Cunningham vowed that it would be something his players would embrace over the festive period.

“Being honest, I didn’t even know what the fixture (All-Ireland semi-final) was until someone told me recent it was early January. We’ll take a few days off and go back at it. It’s good because the lads will be around. We have a huge amount of players coming from Dublin and they’re putting in a great effort,” he concluded.

Scorers for St Brigid’s: 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 

Scorers for Maigh Cuilinn: 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.

ST BRIGID’S: 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.

Subs: M Daly for Kilbride (43), R Stack for Smith (45), C O’Carroll for Nugent (49), E Derwin for Sugrue (60).

MAIGH CUILINN: 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.

Subs: P Cooke for O’Connor (26), J McLoughlin for Fiachra McDonagh (49), C Corcoran for Clarke (60).

Referee: L Devenney (Mayo