All-Ireland Club IFC: Croker beckons for Westport and St Colmcille's

January 29, 2017

Lee Keegan and his Westport teammates celebrate after winning the Mayo IFC title.
Pic via Westport G.A.A on Facebook.

Lee Keegan's Westport are due to meet Graham Reilly's St Colmcille's in the All-Ireland Club IFC final at Croke Park on Sunday, February 19th.

The 'Footballer of the Year' and his Westport team-mates secured their final place with a determined 1-10 to 0-11 extra-time victory over Kenmare of Kerry in Ennis.

A hamstring injury prevented captain Stephen O'Brien from starting for Kenmare and they trailed by 0-4 to 0-5 at half-time.

But, as the full-time whistle approached, the Kingdom and Munster standard bearers were in pole position with a three point lead.

Shane Scott came to Westport's rescue when converting a penalty and the regulation 60 minutes finished with the scoreboard reading: Kenmare 0-9, Westport 1-6.

Kerry star O'Brien came off the bench for the second period of extra-time time but he was powerless to prevent his side from slipping to a two point defeat.

Meanwhile, Meath and Leinster representatives St Colmcille's were left standing after a thrilling encounter with Pomeroy of Tyrone in the Athletic Grounds.

Captain Ben Brennan converted a long range last gasp free to give Colm Nally's charges a 3-11 to 2-13 success.

The Royal County representatives had earlier let an eight point lead slip but they displayed tremendous character to get their hands on a much coveted final ticket.

David O'Byrne, James Conlon and Conor O'Byrne netted the all important goals for the 'Cille's.

Reilly - who was recently appointed Meath senior football captain for 2017 - also played a prominent part in their victory.

Westport - P O'Malley; N McManamon, K Keane, K Dever; B O'Malley, B McDermott (0-1), J Walsh; L Keegan, S Scott (1-1, 1-0pen); F McDonagh (0-2), P Keegan, L Staunton (0-2f); C Moran (0-2), P Lambert (0-1), O McLoughlin. Subs: R Geraghty for O McLoughlin, D Horan (0-1) for L Staunton, C Geraghty for F McDonagh, R Geraghty for P Lambert.

Kenmare - K Fitzgibbon; Stephen O'Shea, T O'Sullivan, D Crowley; S O'Sullivan, D O'Shea (0-1), M Crowley; JM Foley, D Hallissey; P O'Shea (0-1), S O'Leary (0-1), K O'Sullivan; Sean O'Shea (0-2), P O'Connor (0-6, 5f), A O'Leary. Subs: B O'Sullivan for P O'Shea, S Dalton for D Hallissey, C O'Sullivan for T O'Sullivan, P O'Shea for S O'Sullivan, D Hallissey for Dalton (BC), S O'Brien for S O'Leary.

Referee - M McNally.

**

St Colmcilles - J Brown; A Lynch, J McDonnell, C Ward; E Woods, I Mullan, J Sweeney; D Sheerin, R McCloskey (0-1); C Hilliard, B Brennan (0-2f), D O'Byrne (1-0); G Reilly (0-4, 2f), N Ronan, J Conlon (1-3). Subs: C O'Byrne (1-1) for C Hilliard, J Kavanagh for C Ward (BC), D McMahon for E Woods, J Reynolds for D O'Byrne, B Mullen for J McDonnell.

Pomeroy - J McCourt; F Burns (1-5, 1-0pen, 0-3f), C McKenna, S Quinn; D Nugent, HP McGeary (0-1), M McKeever; R Loughran (0-1), J Loughran (1-1); K McGeary (0-3), M McKeever, O McCreesh; K Armstrong, C Colhoun (0-1), G Goodfellow. Subs: J McCaffrey (0-1) for K McGeary, A Woods for S Quinn, K McGeary for D Nugent, R Lagan for O McCreesh (BC).

Referee - J Molloy.


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