Pearse Óg suffer heartbreak
May 01, 2012Pearse Og suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the Táin league final on Saturday in 3G Breffni park Cavan, to Clonguish (Longford) on a scoreline of 1-12 to 1-14 following extra time.
Playing with the aid of a strong breeze in the first half Clonguish raced into a 3 point lead in the opening minutes. Pearse Óg opened their account in the 10th minute from a well taken point from captain Andy McCrave from far out on the right wing.
The point settled the Pearse Óg players as they got to grips with the more physical and aggressive Clonguish style of play. Both teams traded 2 points each from placed balls before the decisive moment of the first half.
A long clearance out of the Pearse Óg defence from Shane Callan, deceived the opposition full back, who had pushed too far up the field. Davy Mahoney read the ball well and it fell kindly for him just inside the 40M line. Davy picked up the ball and raced through on goal, the Clonguish centre half was quick to get back, but Mahoney played an intelligent ball to Gary O'Brien who ran through in support. The ball fell in front of O'Brien and striking it first time, he smashed it to the net.
A massive free from Beano McCabe from 60 yards out against the stiff breeze, which brought his tally to 3, was quickly followed up by a close in free for Clonguish, leaving the half time score 1-4 to 0-6 in favour of Pearse Óg.
The second half started on a positive note for Pearse Óg as they scored the first two points of the new half. The first an impressive effort from Brian Hassett who collected the ball straight from the throw in and drove it over the bar. The second came off the stick of fellow midfielder Shane Callan.
However, that was to be the last score for Pearse Óg until the 50th minute as Clonguish hit a purple patch and scored the next 4 points, with 3 of them coming from frees, following some naive tackling.
Gerard Smyth got the men wearing yellow back on even terms, with the score of the game. An impossible shot over his shoulder from 40 yards out, while hugging the touch line.
With 10 minutes to go and the score even, it was all to play for. Clonguish were gifted a point from a poorly placed puck out and this was followed up by their final score of the second half from a free.
With less than 3 minutes remaining and the holy family parish side trailing by 2 points and finding the scores hard to come by, all looked lost, however they were awarded a lifeline with a close in free, which Brian McCabe wisely tapped over the bar, to leave the minimum between the teams.
In an exciting finale, Pearse Óg were denied the win right at the death, by a brave save from the Clonguish keeper who somehow managed to get his body in front of the ball, knocking it out for a 65. From the resultant 65, Brian McCabe kept his nerve to drive the ball straight between the sticks for the equalising point, leaving the score at 1-9 to 0-12. The referee allowed the puck out before blowing for full time, resulting in extra time.
The first half of extra time was a tight affair with Clonguish gaining the advantage with a solitary point from play.
Clonguish also managed to get the first score of the second half, a well worked move along the left wing. This left Pearse Óg two points down again and in serious trouble with less than five minutes remaining. However, with the back line of David Mulholland, Phillip McFaul and Domhnall McArdle leading the charge and winning some vital possession and launching balls into the forward line they always stood a chance.
In the final 4 minutes, Pearse Óg rattled off 3 points, the first a cooly converted free by Brian McCabe who once again, wisely decided to take the score and avoided the temptation of dropping the ball into the square. The equaliser came of the stick off Gerard Smyth, after a poor clearance from the Clonguish defence.
Heading into the first minute of injury time, Davie Mahony, to the Pearse Óg supporters delight, scored what appeared to be the winner, a well taken point, following good work by around the middle of the field
From the resultant puck out, Clonguish worked the ball up the field, goalkeeper John O Brien made a good save, however the defence failed to adequately clear the ball out. It fell to the Clonguish corner forward out wide along the right touchline. The POG defence rushed out to close him down, he managed to get the shot off, but mishit it under pressure and the ball took a slight deflection of a Pearse Óg hurl as the defence desperately tried to intercept the ball.
The ball appeared to be flying over the bar however at the last moment, it dipped into the top left hand corner of the net, over the hurl of the despairing keeper.
The referee allowed one more passage of play which almost resulted in a dramatic last second winner for Pearse Óg. A high ball in around the square was fielded by Shane Callan, he managed to get the shot off, which beat the advancing keeper, however with Clonguish lining the goalmouth, the ball hit one of the defenders on the goal line on the top of the head. They managed to win possession and clear their lines before the referee blew for full time.
The Division 5 Táin League was presented to the Clonguish captain after the Ulster Council representative congratulated both teams on a hard fought exciting affair. Tweet
