Kingscourt Stars 1-13 Cavan Gaels 1-9
The celebrations are still going on in the town after the Seniors upset the Gaels in Sunday’s county final with a devastating second half performance. The 1-13 to 1-9 victory saw the club claim their first championship in 17 years and their 10th overall.
Right from the off, the side set to their task with a ferocious intensity and Daryl Martin had a goal effort saved in the opening minute. The Stars kept going though and despite the Gaels leading 0-2 to 0-0, the difference in which team wanted the game more was clearly evident. Despite Daire McMahon suffering a cruel injury and Sean Johnston poaching a goal, Kingscourt refused to yield. By 15 minutes, the lads trailed 1-3 to 0-1 and most people would have thought that the game was already up.
However, this team had other ideas and buoyed on by a support, more akin to an Ulster Championship match, the Stars kept to the task in hand and further frees from Barry Reilly and Ryan McCormack kept the side within touching distance. Both sides created a goal chance after but neither was taken and a further Gaels score saw them lead by 1-5 to 0-4 at halftime.
Once the second half started, Ryan McCormack narrowed the gap straight away with a free. While the Gaels registered a score themselves, Kingscourt were starting to get on top and super scores from Mossy Malone, Barry Reilly, and one of our many super-subs, Mark McKeown leveled matters at 0-10 to 1-7 as we entered the final quarter.
With Kingscourt now on top, we were awarded a penalty with 10 minutes remaining when Barry Reilly was pulled back in the box. Up stepped Ryan McCormack and he calmly slotted away the penalty, like it was a training session, to put us ahead for the first time in the match. The Gaels responded strong though and quickly narrowed the gap to 1-10 to 1-9 but that was as close as they could get.
Despite the inevitable Gaels pressure, the defence held out and further points from Ryan McCormack followed before Joe McMahon fisted over the insurance point deep in injury saw the celebrations start, and they are still ongoing…..
The Facebook community are also weighing in with plenty of pics…. and here
And not to be outdone, Northern Sound have gratefully podcast the after match interviews, just click here.
SO what does it mean to win a County Final? Well this wasn’t wrote about us, and doesn’t exactly fit our scenario, but it well resonate with most of us….
