Deserved win for Corduff
December 16, 2010Corduff (Monaghan) 2-7
Swanlinbar (Cavan) 0-8.
A sharper, slicker Corduff deservedly took the Ulster junior football club championship title at the expense of Cavan champions, Swanlinbar, in this entertaining final that was played as the curtain raiser to the senior club final in Kingspan Breffni Park on Sunday last. Played in bright, sunny yet chilly conditions this was a game that by and large lived up to its pre-match billing especially in the second-half when Swanlinbar rallied strongly after playing second fiddle for most of the first half. Ultimately though they failed to hit the target often enough, especially when they were on top in the third quarter. Poor finishing epitomised the opening half with Corduff the more guilty and in fact they could well have had the result wrapped up by the break had they been more clinical in their finishing with 10 wides in all in that period telling its own story. They were dominating the outfield exchanges and the defence had the "road up" sign erected from the early stages with all six backs working well as a unit. Cathal and Shane Connolly in midfield worked themselves to a standstill while in the attack Raymond Byrne led the line to great effect and got great support from martin Mills, Pauric Gollogly and Keith McEnaney.
Swanlinbar too were guilty of wasteful finishing in both halves with five shots off target a number of which were from very scoreable positions in the opening period while at least five other efforts dropped short into the hands of Darren Byrne. Michael Cunningham and Adrian McGoldrick did all they could to hold the defence together, Michael Curran and John Cunningham worked hard in midfield while up front Paul McGovern, Gearoid McKiernan, Kevin Brennan and Christopher Curran posed the biggest threat.
Corduff were only headed once in the entire contest and that for the opening 10 minutes when Cavan under 21 player Gearoid McKiernan opened the scoring for Swanlinbar with a point in the opening minute. Midfield dominance and the ability of centre back Declan Larkin to repeatedly drive forward as the extra man saw Corduff gradually take control and after a few near misses they drew level with a point from a free by Brendan McNally in the 10th minute. Scores were at a premium in the first half with Corduff taking the lead for the first time in the 18th minute when Shane Malone latched on to a breaking ball to breach the Swanlinbar full back line and crash to the net to give his side a lead they never subsequently relinquished. Corduff went on to lead at half-time by 1-4 to 0-3, 3 points in quick succession from Pauric Gollogly, Shane Connolly and Keith McEnaney in a strong four minutes spell giving them a five points cushion but Swanlinbar pulled back a point through McKiernan just before the break to leave four points between them at that stage.
Two minutes into the second half Mark Cunningham converted a free to reduce the deficit to three and they could well have had that margin wiped out completely before Robbie Prior got Swanlinbar's 2nd point of the second-half in the 11th minute. Two minutes later wing back Damien Leydon broke through for a good point to reduce the margin to the minimum and the game was now firmly in the melting pot. However, when the big question was asked Corduff responded and opened their second half account with a point from a free by Brendan McNally in the 14th minute. Corduff had now found their feet again and two minutes later they struck the decisive blow of the game in the 16th minute when substitute Padraic Keenan finished to the Swanlinbar net with his first touch a mere 20 seconds after his introduction. That goal restored Corduff to a five points lead and while Swanlinbar did pull back two further points Corduff could always respond to keep their noses in front. Damien Leydon registered his second point of the game in the 23rd minute but Corduff struck back for a well worked score from Raymond Byrne to put the margin again at five points. Back came Swanlinbar for another point from Gearoid McKiernan as the Cavan champions kept up the pressure but again Corduff responded with Keith McEnaney and Declan Larkin placing Martin Mills who finished well to put the gap to five yet again. Swanlinbar played to the last seconds but they could make no further inroads as Corduff held out for a deserved victory to become the fourth club from Monaghan to win the Ulster junior football club championship.
Teams and Scorers: Corduff: Darren Byrne, Shane McNally Snr, Ciaran Brennan, Ben Woods, Shane McNally jnr, Declan Larkin, Gareth King, Cathal Connolly, Shane Connolly 0-1, Pauric Gollogly 0-1, Martin Mills 0-1, Brendan McNally 0-2 (2f) Keith McEnaney 0-1, Raymond Byrne 0-1, Shane Malone 1-0. Subs: Padraig Keenan 1-0 for S Malone, Christopher McEnaney for B McNally, Gerry Mee for B Woods.
Swanlinbar: Gavin Leydon, Thomas O'Brien, Michael Cunningham, Paul Prior, Damien Leydon 0-2, Adrian McGoldrick, Padraig Leydon, Michael Curran, John Cunningham, Christopher Curran, Paul McGovern, Gearoid McKiernan 0-3, Mark Cunningham 0-2 (2f), Kevin Brennan, Robbie Prior 0-1 (f). Referee: Stephen McNamee (Tyrone).
REACTION.
"It just didn't happen for us today" Swanlinbar manager said after the game, "because no matter what gaelic football match you go out to play you cannot afford to drop a five balls into the goal keeper's hands and those could have been vital, vital scores and if we had taken those scores we could have put Corduff on the back foot. As well as those missed opportunities and a couple of others we then conceded a goal at a vital time and to be honest that goal was really the turning point of the game. Having said that though I would have to say that over the 65 or so minutes of football Corduff were the slicker team, they were always that bit sharper and our boys didn't just get to the pace of the game today and I wish Corduff all the best".
Shane Donohoe of Corduff was a little worried. "We definitely were because we knew coming into this game than we were coming up against a very good Swanlinbar team. They had beaten all comers all year and had beaten most teams well so we knew we were up against it and were in for a really tough game. We were a bit worried in the first half that we weren't finishing off a lot of the chances we were creating, we weren't putting the scores on the board, but in fairness to the lads they kept at it and at it even though it was going against them they still kept their focus and had the courage to take the next shot when the opportunity presented itself".
The Corduff manager agreed it was a very nice Christmas present to be going home with, the Paul Kerr Memorial Cup but Corduff's thoughts would soon be turning to another date they have in January when they move on to the All Ireland semi-final. "Yes we have but then isn't it great to be looking forward to that, we are delighted to get a break now for a couple of weeks over Christmas and we'll certainly enjoy that break but it's great to have something to look forward to when we come back together after Christmas and we'll see what happens from there".
RAYMOND BYRNE FELT THAT THE POSTPONEMENTS COULD HAVE HELPED HIS TEAM.
Raymond Byrne not only played a vital part in helping his club Corduff to victory in the Ulster junior football club championship but he is also a joint manager of the team along with Shane Donohue. Raymond Byrne acknowledged immediately after last Sunday's victory that it was a fantastic occasion for the club and he was delighted to be part of it and regarded winning the Ulster club championship as "mission accomplished" but only so far. "We won't think about the next step today because we are going to celebrate this victory tonight. An Ulster champioship was what we set out for since the day we won the Monaghan junior championship. We wanted to represent Monaghan well and I think today we can claim to have done that and reaped a fitting reward". Tweet
