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Post date: Aug 6, 2012 5:28:12 PM
In a very entertaining South board Final played in Hawkfield on the Bank Holiday Monday, Cúchulainn Gaels came up just short, scoring 3:05 to Milltowns 3:10. This was never going to be an easy task for the Gaels, who despite missing a number regulars left everything on the pitch in an effort to secure victory.
As stated, The Gaels were depleted with a number of players on holidays and took the field with no less than five under 11 players. With the management forced into a reshuffle of the team, a number of players found themselves lining out in some rather unusual positions. After a lively opening ten minutes, Milltown broke the deadlock with a well worked goal. Another quickly followed as the Gaels struggled to cope with the Milltown attack who fired over an additional point before Ross Fallon opened the Gaels account with a fine point.
Fergal O’Mahoney, James Manning and Eoin O’Fearghaill were superb in the Gaels defence during this period and battled for every ball as the onslaught continued. Milltown added four more points to go 2.5 to 0.1 ahead as the outlook looked bleak for the Gaels. However, Robert McGrath began to dominate at the heart of the Gaels defence and pushed forward to put Milltown on the back foot. Midfielder Stephen Keogh pointed and then scored a fantastic individual goal before pointing again to reduce the deficit, Milltown replied with two fine points to leave it 2.7 to 1.3 at half time.
On the resumption, Harry Arkwright moved to centre forward and did a superb job in reducing the threat of Milltown’s number six who was the launch pad for so many of their attacks in the first half. Joey O’Sullivan and Cormac O’Neill also got to grips with their men and began to dominate their positions while Hugh O’Mahoney was fighting like a terrier for every ball, as always. Milltown pointed a free but were then rocked by another superb goal from Stephen Keogh as the margin was reduced to five points. Daniel Cawley, solid in the Gaels goal fielded two dangerous balls in a packed square to prevent further Milltown scores. The Gaels dominated the next ten minutes with Ryan Leahy, James Galvin and JB Murphy coming into the game but the Milltown defence stood firm. A Milltown goal against the run of play turned the game again, however two Stephen Keogh points pulled the Gaels back into the game before Milltown pointed again.
The Gaels gave it everything they had in the final ten minutes. they were rewarded with a well taken goal from Jack Ryan to leave just four points between the sides. A couple of goalmouth scrambles were followed by a shot at goal from full forward Michael John Prendergast that went just outside the post. The Cúchulainn Gaels pressure continued, however the ball just refused to go in despite the best efforts of the Gaels attack.
A late Milltown free finished the scoring to leave it 3.10 to 3.5 in favour of Milltown.
Great credit must go to the Gaels players for such a courageous display. This was a fantastic team performance; special mention must go to Stephen Keogh, Eoin O’Fearghaill, Robert McGrath and Harry Arkwright who simply couldn’t have given more on the day.
Match Report: Declan McGrath and Rory McGrath.
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