Kingscourt v Cavan Gaels – Saturday 1st June 2013
In recent years, club football in Cavan has been dominated by one team – Cavan Gaels. They set the standard by which all other senior teams in the county must try to match, and emulate. So when the Gaels arrived in O’Raghallaigh Park, to face off in a repeat of the 2010 county final against the hosts, Kingscourt Stars, you would have expected fireworks on the pitch. Both clubs fielded strong sides, with county senior star Martin Dunne, and county captain, Alan Clarke, lining out for their respective teams.
Margaret Farrelly got proceedings underway, and it was the home side who dominated the early stages of the game. Philip Tinnelly returned after missing the previous game against Ramor, and didn’t waste any time making his mark on the match, when he opened the scoring in the second minute, after a fine solo run upfield. Philip Smith struck over a close-range free in the sixth minute, which was shortly followed by a 45 which Barry Reilly struck over with aplomb. Philip Tinnelly added his second point of the match, when he fired over in the tenth minute. The home side were four points up, with Cavan Gaels struggling to keep possession of the ball, and to execute their game plan.
It took the away side a quarter of an hour to register their first score of the contest, when Kevin Meehan seized the initiative, and pointed from close range, after a well-worked team move by the Gaels. From the resulting kickout, the Stars worked the ball downfield and when Thomas Wakely offloaded quickly to Darryl Martin, suddenly, he was through on goal. The Stars forward pulled the trigger, but was denied from point-blank range by a great save from Gaels goalkeeper Martin Cassidy. This was to prove a turning point in the overall context of the match, and served as a wake-up call for the visitors.
Kevin Meehan was becoming an increasing influence in Cavan Gaels’ resurgence in this match. Meehan collected the ball close to goal, and shaved the top of the crossbar, when he blazed over in the seventeenth minute. Darryl Martin made amends for his earlier miss, by slotting over his first point of the match a couple of minutes later. Declan Meehan then pointed, to reduce the deficit to two points, after twenty minutes of play. Joe O’Connor’s men were starting to regain their confidence, after a sluggish start to the game.
Philip Smith struck over his third point of the match in the twenty-second minute, but three Gaels points in four minutes drew the game level, two from the boot of Martin Dunne as he converted two close-range frees, and another Kevin Meehan score, bringing his personal tally to three points with the half time-whistle just minutes away. Tomás Malone responded with two scores of his own just before the break, which left the scores at 0-8 to 0-6 in favour of the Stars.
After play resumed for the second half, the visitors got back on terms quickly through scores from Martin Dunne, this time from play, and Levi Murphy, who was noticeably becoming more involved in Cavan Gaels’ attacks. Two Barry Reilly frees restored the two-point advantage, after ten minutes of play in the half. Declan Meehan pointed a minute later to peg back the home side’s lead to a single point.
The game was effectively won in the fourty-second minute, when Levi Murphy ghosted past the Kingscourt defence, and cooly finished to the corner of the Kingscourt net, which meant the Gaels now had the lead in this match for the very first time, by two points. Murphy then added another point four minutes later, and a controversial score by Kevin Meehan, which appeared to be at least a yard wide of the upright, saw the white flag raised, astonishingly, and the point was registered on the scoreboard for the away side. The Gaels were now four points to the good, and Kingscourt seemed to have no answer to their opponents’ blitz-fire attack.
Amid the chaos, Barry Tully had been introduced in place of Philip Smith, for the home side, after he had sustained an injury. A Barry Reilly free for the Stars was cancelled out by a Martin Dunne free for the Gaels, and when Darryl Martin pointed five minutes from time, there were three points separating the sides. The Gaels were in the driving seat, however, and the Stars were becoming increasingly frustrated in their efforts to gain possession of the ball. Deep into added-on time, Martin Dunne sealed victory with his fifth point of the match, and substitute Andrew Graham had the final say when he converted a free with the last kick of the game.
Overall, the away side deserved the victory, as they provided a greater all-round scoring threat, and were more clinical in front of goal. The disappointing aspect of this match was the lack of intensity, and real sense of urgency to win the game. Both sides will really need to up their performance-level, with the county championship only a matter of weeks away now. Kingscourt had an opportunity to possibly put this game to bed early in the first half, and ultimately this cost them their chance to win the game. The Stars will collectively need to be more organised in defence, and more ruthless in attack against stronger sides, like the Gaels, who will exploit such weaknesses. A two-week break until the next round of matches will be welcomed by players and management alike, who will now have time to identify the areas of play which will need to be improved upon, ahead of a busy schedule of matches over the course of the summer months.
Full Time Score: Kingscourt Stars 0-12 v Cavan Gaels 1-14
REPORT by Daire Mac Mahon
