Padraig Pearses 3-16 Mullagh 1-19
Kevin Egan, Connacht Tribune
AS Al Pacino said, “the inches that we need are all around us”. But the bit he left out is that sometimes, who wins a big game has nothing to do with which players work hardest to seize those precious moments.
This contest was level in stoppage time when Conor Fahy held possession in front of the Mullagh dugout and Keith Coen – the Clare Road defender – threw himself into make a brave block. It was wholehearted and well-executed from Coen, and it deserved better than to be a key step in Pádraig Pearses scoring the goal that won them this game.
The ball deflected backwards towards a waiting Pearses man and after one handpass, Fahy got a second chance to fire a high ball into the square, aiming at Tomás Flannery. The substitute got himself in the right position and was dragged down by Paddy Hardiman, leaving Kerril Wade with an easy call to award the second penalty of the game.
The symmetry of the moment was unmistakable. Hardiman also conceded a penalty with two minutes played when he took Diarmuid Fahy down with a frontal tackle, and on both occasions Emmett Ward’s penalty was inch-perfect, powerfully struck into one of the corners. The first goal gave Pearses the confidence boost they needed in a battle with the 2023 Senior B winners, and Ward’s second was the decisive score that finished the job.
In between those two scores, these two sides were impossible to split. Ronan Glennon and Oisín Flannery were powerful anchors at centre-back on both sides, the two Deans at midfield – Reilly and Finnerty – picked off fine scores and were full of energy. Both teams also made a habit of responding well to the concession of scores, picking out their targets up front and taking quickfire points.
The parallels continued. Keith Coen (Lurgan) and Jonah Donnellan also mirrored each other in the half-forward line, keeping composed to the point of lethargy at times, but filling the highlight reel with superb points too.
Donnellan and Conor Fahy pointed in style as Pearses moved five points up approaching the 20-minute mark, but Mullagh hit their best form in the second quarter, finding the net through Tony Clarke and rifling three points in first half stoppage time to lead by 1-11 to 1-10. The pick of the trio came from Liam Curley, who had a impressive championship debut.
Pearses had the aid of the breeze in the second half but conceded the first two points, before an explosive run from Cillian Fahy saw him collect a pass from Diarmuid Fahy and fire the ball into the top corner, ending a 1-8 to 0-3 run for Gerry Spellman’s side.
From then until that late penalty from Ward, there was never more than two points between the sides and there was never any sustained momentum either way. The scores didn’t flow as freely either, with only seven of the game’s 39 scores arriving in the last 20 minutes.
That didn’t prevent a thrilling finish. Donnellan showed tremendous vision to pick out Colm Fahy with a 55 metre stick pass backwards out of the left corner and then a towering score from Jack Barrett nudged Pearses into a lead with three minutes left, only for Conor Dolphin to leave the contest incredible finely-poised going into stoppage time.
The stage was set for the sporting Gods to intervene and last Saturday they chose to bless Pádraig Pearses with a very kind run of the ball, just when they needed it most.
PÁDRAIG PEARSES: H Mitchell; E Lally, E Cunniffe, R Carr; J Barrett (0-3, 0-1f, 0-1 ‘65), O Flannery (0-1), C Raftery; M Hennelly, D Reilly (0-2); J Donnellan (0-2), R Bellew (0-1), C Fahy (0-1); D Fahy (0-1), E Ward (2-0, 2 pens), C Fahy (1-5, 0-3f). Subs used: P Kenny for Lally (37), L Mitchell for Raftery (47), T Flannery for Bellew (52).
MULLAGH: P Hardiman; N Coen, S Hardiman (0-1), A Rocke; K Coen (Clare Road), R Glennon (0-4f), S O’Brien; C Kennedy (0-1), D Finnerty (0-5, 0-2f); D Monaghan (0-1), K Coen (Lurgan; 0-3), T Clarke (1-0); L Curley (0-2), S Callanan, E Gaffney (0-1). Subs used: C Dolphin (0-1) for Kennedy (41), D Glennon for Monaghan (55), S Cahalan for Curley (57).
Referee: Kerril Wade.