Lancashire Junior Championship Final
September 09, 2012St Brendans GAA, Manchester v John Mitchels, Liverpool
Lancashire GAA headquarters at Old Bedians in Didsbury was the venue for this much anticipated Junior Championship Final between St Brendans of Manchester and Liverpool outfit John Mitchels last Saturday evening. The many spectators in attendance were treated to a magnificent display of Gaelic football. St Brendans started the strongest in the first two minutes by winning the throw in and going on the attack up the field, resulting with a well taken point from Killian O'Meara. The pressure from the men in maroon and white kept coming and this led to a goal from Brendan's forward Colm Conway. John Mitchels then replied from this pressure by going up the field and scoring a point from a free-kick. St Brendans then won the resulting kick-out with good handling by Cathal Brennan in the middle of the field who then laid it on to Brendan's Captain Lee Gavin who slotted the ball in between the posts for St Brendan's second point of the game. At this stage, John Mitchels became frustrated and they conceded a penalty when St Brendan's forward Liam Kelly was brought down in the box. Kelly slotted the ball wide to give Mitchels some hope of regaining a stronger position in the game. John Mitchels then replied with a further two points before Brendan's forward Conway scored a well-taken point at the other end. Continued pressure from Mitchels resulted in the Liverpool outfit grabbing another two points. Another fast attack up the field from St Brendans resulted in a point from James Mulligan. St Brendans then continued their domination of the first half with more pressure on the Mitchels full-back line and this resulted in a well taken goal from forward Colm Conway. John Mitchels then grabbed their seventh point of the game just before the half-time interval.
Half Time: St Brendans 2-4 John Mitchels 0-7
St Brendans started the strongest team in the second half when forward Francis McGinley headed the ball into the net to give them their third goal. Brendans then went on to register two further points, both coming from forward Liam Kelly. John Mitchels then replied and continued the pressure on the Brendans defence which resulted in a sloppy goal conceded for the Hough End outfit. Mitchels applied more pressure to Brendan's and an attempted shot at goal was blocked well by St Brendan's goalkeeper Rob Kelly. St Brendan's then gained more momentum and this was evident when Captain Lee Gavin consecutively scored a goal and a point. Mitchels then started to battle back and regained some strength to go up the field and score a point. Then, a highly-dangerous tackle by a Mitchels player on midfielder Connolly raised doubts about the quality of the refereeing, who took no action against the player in question. St Brendan's then went on to take control of the game with consecutive points coming from half-back Sean Monaghan and forward Liam Kelly. With John Mitchels becoming more frustrated, the strong fitness levels of the St Brendan's players was evident too see with a further two points coming from midfielder Niall Connolly. St Brendan's full-back Ciaran Connolly then scored Brendan's twelfth and final point of the game, after a magnificent solo-run of the pitch. John Mitchels replied with their seventh point of the game but it was not enough as the final whistle sounded straight after to give St Brendan's their first Lancashire Junior Championship in eleven years.
Full Time: St Brendans 4-12 John Mitchels 1-09
St Brendan's Team and Scorers:
1. Rob Kelly
2. Nathan Plant
3. Dermot Quinn
4. Ciaran Connolly 0-1
5. Paddy Murphy
6. Sean Monagahan 0-1
7. Brian Johnston
8. Niall Connolly 0-2
9. Cathal Brennan
10. Lee Gavin 1-2
11. James Mulligan 0-1
12. Colm Conway 2-1
13. Francis McGinley 1-0
14. Liam Kelly 0-3
15. Killian O'Meara 0-1
St Brendans Captain Lee Gavin receives the Lancashire Junior Championship trophy from County Secretary Fergal Kiernan.
St Brendans GAA, Manchester - 2012 Lancashire Junior Championship Winners Tweet
