Cortown 1-10 Clann na nGael 0-13
Cortown and Clann na nGeal played out a thrilling draw in the AFL Division 3 on Saturday evening in a sun-soaked Cortown. These sides are no strangers to each other having met last year in the 2015 Intermediate Championship when Cortown ran out comfortable winners in Pairc Tailteann which sparked a miserable year for the Athboy men. Incidentally, the referee that day, Paul Mooney, also took charge of this meeting.
Cortown were missing Tommy Smith who was apparently having trials in London, however there was conflicting reports that Smith was in fact on trial in London but they are so far unconfirmed! Perhaps it is just as well Smith was missing as himself and Mooney have history with the Syddan man sending Smith off during the meeting of the two sides last April. Paddy Kerrigan also missed out at full back with a niggling hamstring injury halting his progress.
There was nothing easy in the opening moments and the sides traded points in the opening exchanges with Cortown getting off the mark thanks to a certain Graham Geraghty handling on the ground and despite vintage GG protests to Mooney, the decision stood and Ryan O'Rourke tapped over straight in front of the posts. An Aaron Ennis free briefly put the Athboy side back in front before Davy Rispin was pushed over and some more dissent from the away side lead to the ball being moved forward and O'Rourke neatly finished the opportunity to put the sides on terms again.
The big moment of the first half came soon after when some good work from Colm Kerrigan seen him link up with Brian Smith who took a side-step to his left and unbelievably with his LEFT foot managed to squirm the ball past the lanky but ineffective Clann goalkeeper to give Cortown a nice lead. Smith had some dodgey fish before the game and his stomach wasn't right before the game but he did enough to find the net all the same. Clann na nGael showed great character, almost character of a Brendan Roger's standard and with Steve Sidwell lookalike Caoimhin Griffin, Aaron Ennis and veteran Gary Woods getting Clann na nGael back on track to give the away side a slender lead going into the break.
However, Cortown weren't done and after an unsavoury incident at the far goals with young thug Cormac Lindsay causing a massive kerfuffle to break out with minor star Lindsay at the heart of the row. When things finally calmed down there was still time for another moment of note when some nice interplay between Davy Rispin and the big bad Bull Casserly eventually resulted in Kerrigan swinging over an extraordinary point with his weaker left boot to the amazement of all in attendance...definitely a fluke! In any case, this tied the teams up and at half time it was level-pegging and all to play for, 1-3 to 0-6.
The second half started the way the first did with O'Rourke again slotting over a simple free after Smith was hauled down 14 yards from goal. Rispin put Cortown in front again when Casserly dished off to him and he applied the finish with his left foot. Clann na nGael were far from finished and far from finished brings me onto the legend that is Graham Geraghty. The 1999 All-Ireland winning captain may not be the lightning quick and elusive, energetic Inter-County star that he once was but the 43 year old still oozes class and he picked two moments consecutively to inspire the Clann's. He hit two of the sweetest scores, one with the outside of his right boot from 45 yards which was a delightful effort. So how does he do it?! Is it highlight? Botox? Who knows but the enigmatic Geraghty still has plenty to offer even at the rare old age of 43!
Cortown needed something and they found it too when Smith picked Rispin out, he cut inside and fired over a lovely long range effort to keep the hosts in touch. The Cortown men were in level again when the fore-mentioned Smith burst through and calmly slotted over. The purple patch continued for the men in yellow when Beanie Faulkner who was growing into the contest, recycled to Rispin who did the rest and put Cortown in front again. Faulkner then gave Cortown a two point advantage when substitute Kevin McGuiness caused a nuisance of himself and Faulkner picked up the break and curled over beautifully with his weaker left boot.
They just couldn't shake off the Athboy men and despite some heroic defending by Lindsay in particular Athboy kept closing the gap. Smith was foiled brilliantly when he was in on goal but almost immediately after, Rispin disposed his man ran towards goal and fired over to give Cortown a 2 point advantage once again and an unassailable looking lead with only a matter of minutes left on the clock but there was yet more drama to come. The hit and miss Ennis was in a very much hit mood and he put a solitary point between the teams before another melee broke out and the result from it was a red card for Cortown midfielder Richie Flanagan. That's three red cards dished out by Mooney in his last two games officiating this fixture. With time up, Clann na nGeal won a free and with the last kick of the encounter it was Ennis who sailed it over to ensure a share of the spoils in the most dramatic of finishes.
It's never dull when these two meet and this one was no exception with a full-blooded, passionate encounter with no love-lost between the two rivals and overall after a pulsating 60 minutes of football, maybe just maybe a draw was the fairest result. Cortown will look for a win next Sunday when they travel to Drumcondrath which will no doubt be another tasty and physical encounter.
Cortown: John McFadden, Cormac Lindsay, John McGearty, Stevie Clarke, Declan Clarke, Daragh O'Halloran, Ivor O'Halloran, Richie Flanagan, Declan Coyne, Colm Kerrigan (0-1), Brian Smith (1-1), Beanie Faulkner (0-1), Davy Rispin (0-4), Ryan O'Rourke (0-3fs), Bull Casserly.
Subs: Tomas Brien for D Clarke, Kevin McGuiness for Coyne, Justin Reilly for Casserly.
Referee: Paul Mooney (Syddan)
Tweet