Southern Gaels battle past Mullahoran to complete Division 1 minor double

MFC Division 1 final

Southern Gaels 0-14

Mullahoran 0-9

Paul Fitzpatrick at Kingspan Breffni

Southern Gaels (Gowna and Lacken) deservedly came through a tough battle against local rivals Mullahoran to claim the Division 1 Minor Championship title in front of a good crowd at HQ on Saturday afternoon.

This match was close most of the way; Southern Gaels opened an early two-point lead, went 0-5 to 0-2 down but a flurry of points at the end of the first half saw them go in level, which in hindsight was crucial. With the wind in the second half, they managed to hold off the Dreadnoughts, with a two-pointer from the outstanding Fiachra Brady with five minutes to go finally breaking the Mullahoran resistance.

This match was postponed on a couple of occasions and perhaps those delays and the long, drawn-out nature of the competition, which started 102 days earlier, sucked the life out of things a little bit. While the effort levels on both sides were not in doubt and there was some fine play, the game generally felt a little flat – not that Southern Gaels will be annoyed about that. Having completed the Division 1 league and championship double, they can reflect on an impressive season.

Southern Gaels started brightly and immediately put pressure on the Mullahoran defence. After an early wide, Fiachra Brady took the initiative, curling over a lovely effort from just outside the D for the game’s first score.

The duel between Oisín Maguire and Jake Brady was compelling throughout, with both players doing well at various stages. A foul on Brady led to Cormac McEntee, who picked up the Man of the Match award, converting off the left to double the advantage at 0-2 to 0-0.

Southern Gaels’ Cian Galligan dropped one short before Mullahoran registered their first shot, a wide from Ultan O’Reilly after seven minutes. A minute later, Odhran O’Reilly got his eye in, striking superbly off his right boot on the run to make it 0-2 to 0-1.

John Donohoe followed up with a fine individual point, beating a man and floating over to tie the game at 0-2 each on 12 minutes.

A wide from Tiernan Flood followed, but Mullahoran were beginning to press the Southern Gaels kick-out to good effect. Tadhg Sheils sent a clever pass out to Kian Lynch, who fired over a spectacular, instinctive point without even looking at the posts in the 14th minute to edge Mullahoran ahead at 0-3 to 0-2. Moments later, Lynch raced along the end-line and squared a dangerous low ball across the goalmouth, only for Ben Brady to make a crucial interception for Southern Gaels.

After a foul on Galligan, Southern Gaels missed a scorable free. At the other end, Mullahoran were patient in possession and worked the ball to county minor Donohoe, who sliced one over with the outside of the right boot from a tight angle for a superb two-pointer to make it 0-5 to 0-2 on 18 minutes.

Southern Gaels, though, steadied themselves. McEntee, using his strength to hold off his man, clipped over with his left on 28 minutes to reduce the deficit to two. Odhran Madden then drove forward and sent over a fine score to make it 0-5 to 0-4 before Jake Brady produced a brilliant individual point, jinking through heavy traffic and slotting over with the left to level it at 0-5 apiece right on the half-time whistle.

The curtain-raiser had seen Templeport pull away with the wind at their backs in the second half; the question now was would Southern Gaels repeat the trick; the breeze had certainly died down a little over the course of the afternoon.

McEntee opened the second half with a mark and a neatly-taken point to give Southern Gaels the lead again. Mullahoran hit back almost immediately when they won the next kick-out, with Ciaran Sharpe feeding Tadhg Sheils, who galloped through and stroked over on his left to tie it up once more at 0-6 each after three minutes of the half.

A 50-metre free from Caolán Madden drifted wide before David Simpson ghosted into the corner-forward position, unnoticed, and when Brady found him with a handpass, he clipped over to make it 0-7 to 0-6 after 36 minutes.

Mullahoran responded through John Donohoe, who stepped inside and coolly slotted over to level again at 0-7 each but the Dreadnoughts were guilty of missing a couple of chances at this juncture.

Despite Mullahoran’s pressure, Southern Gaels held firm and broke with intent. On 42 minutes, Jake Brady showed ingenuity near the sideline with a clever flick, setting up McEntee to curl over beautifully from the left for 0-8 to 0-7. Mullahoran were struggling to make their possession count, with Sheils wide from a free after good forward pressure had forced Darragh Eccleston to over-carry.

The Dreadnoughts carved out a big goal chance in the 46th minute when Sheils powered through, offloading to O’Reilly, whose low ball across found Kian Lynch, but Eccleston produced a crucial double save before the ball was scrambled out for a 45. That resulting kick drifted wide, and with the floodlights flickering on and the wind picking up again, the sense was growing that Mullahoran, forcing it a little, had missed their moment.

Southern Gaels were that bit more efficient and made more of the possession they earned. A quick move down the field ended with Cian Galligan fisting over to make it 0-9 to 0-7 on 50 minutes. McEntee sent another wide before making amends moments later, winning the next kick-out and belting over a left-footed point to stretch the lead to three.

Back came Mullahoran. Lynch, who had worked hard, won possession in the right corner and the move was recycled to Ultan O’Reilly, who shovelled a pass out to Sheils. The captain looped over a lovely left-footed effort to keep Mullahoran alive at 0-10 to 0-8 after 53 minutes.

Then came the decisive moment. Fiachra Brady, who had been a constant threat, struck a superb two-pointer from the right wing, a high curling effort that split the posts to make it 0-12 to 0-8 and finally break Mullahoran’s resolve. Odhran Madden won the next kick-out and quickly fed Galligan, who made no mistake with the finish as Southern Gaels, 0-13 to 0-8 up with five minutes left, began to express themselves.

O’Reilly was fouled and the free brought forward, tapping over to narrow the gap to four, but Mullahoran’s energy reserves were fading fast. Southern Gaels missed a couple of late frees, bringing their wide tally to nine, before McEntee capped a strong individual display with a classy point on the run from the left wing to seal a five-point win, 0-14 to 0-9.

Mullahoran threw everything forward in the closing moments but, with a small panel, the legs weren’t there and their shooting deserted them, with several players cramping as the clock ran down. Southern Gaels, composed and organised, saw it out comfortably to complete a notable double.

Mullahoran: Diarmuid Reilly; Killian O’Reilly, Oisín Maguire, Oisín Sheils; Ciaran Sharpe, Aaron Plunkett, Tiernan Flood; Emmett Reilly, Tadhg Sheils (0-2); Harry Mulligan, Odhran O’Reilly (0-1), John Donohoe (0-4, 2pt); Conan Smith, Ultan O’Reilly (0-1f), Kian Lynch (0-1)

Subs: Darragh McKenna for H Mulligan (44), Sean Harten for C Smith (54), Odhran O’Reilly for J Donohoe (60).

Southern Gaels: Darragh Eccleston; Ben Brady, Caolán Madden, David Simpson (0-1); Dylan Corr, Fiachra Brady (0-3, 2pt), Charlie Sheridan; Seán Galligan, Caolán Fitzpatrick; Sonny McKiernan, Odhrán Madden (0-1), Eoghan Gunn; Cian Galligan (0-2), Cormac McEntee (0-6, 1f, 1m), Jake Brady (0-1).

Subs: Donal O’Meara for S McKiernan (42), Tom Crotty for E Gunn (44), Raymond Madden for C Sheridan, Conor Cronin for J Brady (both 60), Fionnán Crowe for B Brady (61)

Ref: Mickey Lee.

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