ALL
IRELAND CLUB QUARTER FINAL 2007
Gooch & Co ease past
Brendans
GAA AIB ALL IRELAND
CLUB QUARTER FINAL
By John Collins (Irish
World)
Dr Crokes........2-12
St Brendans......0-5
The differences between winning and losing
are often subtle: a shimmy here, a converted
free there, a breathtaking pass somewhere
else and the occasional monumental block or
piece of defensive brilliance.
Some of those differences arise from
God-given talent - the ability to send a
defender one way, while the nimble footed
corner forward goes the other; or the
ability to dissect a defence in two with one
sublime pass.
However, some of the skills required to make
these differences come from another place, a
place less Heavenly maybe, but much more
personal.
Some of these skills come from deep within
the soul or from deep down in the pit of the
stomach and they are often described as the
will-to-win, or more aptly, the
determination not to be beaten.
In last Sunday’s AIB All Ireland
quarter-final between Dr Crokes and St
Brendans, it was the men from Killarney who
showed the greater number of those all
important differences, be that through the
impish cleverness of Colm Cooper, the
ballerina like balance of Kieran O’Leary,
the Herculean effort of man-of-the-match
Brian McMahon or the pure thrust and desire
of team captain James Fleming.
Their opponents on the other hand also
possessed many of those essential criteria
that are associated with victory. However,
unfortunately for them, they just didn’t
possess enough of them nor did they hold the
key to the mystery of alchemy that would
have enabled them to turn their modest
collection of talent into something to
challenge the Kings of Killarney with.
Certainly veteran Brendan Bolger showed that
gut instinct and desire not to be beaten,
Paul Tierney showed awareness of all that
was going on around him, Liam O’Connell’s
display did not lack the willingness and “
body-on-the-line” desire that any manager
wants from his charges, while Killian Phair
showed a cool head on young shoulders, but
ultimately the sum total of what the
Brendans had to offer in terms of the
essential ingredients for victory only added
up to a mole hill when compared to the
mountain of talent the Kerry men had to
offer.
Going into the game as rank underdogs, St
Brendans knew that it was going to take an
effort far in excess of the superb showing
they put on against Tara in the London final
if they were going to beat the champions of
Munster.
Dr Crokes on the other hand, knew that
anything less than perfection from them was
going to lead them down all sorts of dark
alleys, not just in this game but also in
their future planning for the next step of
their anticipated journey to an All Ireland
semi-final.
A
one-off showdown against the best team in
Leinster is not the place to be fighting
demons or struggling with confidence,
therefore it was imperative that they
produced more than a decent winning
performance, they needed an purring
eight-cylinder, ear-drum bursting salvo in
order to make sure they entered their next
expected arena in Limerick high on desire,
confidence and self-belief.
Failure to produce such and the men in black
and amber could well have been reaching for
the kitchen towel to wipe the considerable
quantity of egg from their face that would
have been deposited there by a malfunction
in Ruislip.
As would be expected, St Brendans looked to
put down some form of a marker in the first
half and managed to do so as early as the
first minute when Killian Phair slotted over
an early free for the Londoners after Eanna
Kavanagh had fouled the very industrious
Liam O’Connell.
The Crokes first foray into the opponent’s
goal area resulted in a wide for Eoin
Brosnan, who was operating at full forward,
after Pat O’Shea had been forced to
reshuffle his pack due to the loss of Andrew
Kenneally with an injury.
Brosnan was once again in the thick of the
goalmouth action, when an opportunist
toe-poke along the ground came back off the
foot of Billy Molloy’s bottom left post
after the normally immaculate Paul Tierney
had lost possession in the left corner back
position. The breaking ball fell to Brosnan
who slid in only to see the ball rebound
back out.
Finally Crokes managed a score, when at the
end of a very swift and slick hand passing
move out of their on defence, Kieran O’Leary
deftly dummied his marker Gary Cullen to
slot between the posts to level matter after
6 mins.
A
mistake coming out of defence by St Brendans
No.3 Paul Malone saw him spill possession
and handed Brosnan his third attempt at
goal, which he duly converted from out in
the right corner forward position, to hand
the Crokes the lead, although that was
quickly pegged back by Brendans’ skipper
Adrian Brett two minute later.
Having collected a short free from Killian
Phair, Brett turned beautifully and slotted
over with the type of accuracy that
followers of London football have associated
the Sligo man with over the past two
seasons.
Finally, the man that the sizeable crowd had
turned up to see entered the fray and Colm
Cooper sneaked in behind his marker Fergal
McArdle to collect a ball that looked to be
heading wide before dodging McArdle again
and fisting over the bar. It was that
never-say-die attitude displayed by Cooper
in pursuit of what appeared to be a lost
cause that separates the winners from the
rest.
With 20mins played, Crokes doubled their
lead when captain James Fleming pointed
after some great work from the very
industrious Kieran O’Leary and two minutes
later, Gooch was back in the picture once
more as he slotted over his second point as
the Crokes again hurt their hosts with a
blistering counter attack.
Struggling in midfield, St Brendans reverted
to their familiar tactic of playing two men
up front, although at times Killian Phair
and Adrian Brett looked totally isolated and
that isolation manifested itself in the fact
the St Brendans never looked like being able
to really hurt the Crokes’ defence, despite
asking several difficult questions.
A
foul by Keith McMahon on Adrian Brett handed
Phair the chance to add to his tally, which
he did with some aplomb - a score that
allowed the young Cavan man to answer the
doubters amongst the Crokes travelling
contingent with a defiant raised fist
following his success.
A
great save from Brendans’ keeper Billy
Molloy denied Brian Looney a goal, a block
that had mirrored a similar outcome when the
same player attempted to beat the Wexford
man five minutes earlier.
Sensing that his team were not making the
most of their “on-paper” superiority, Pat
O’Shea opted to move Eoin Brosnan to
midfield with Kieran Brosnan reverting to
full forward, having started in the half
forward line, and just as half time
approached, it was Kieran Brosnan who
pointed to give the Kerry men a 3-point
advantage at the interval.
Certainly at the turnaround it would have
been the Brendans who would have been more
content with the 30 minutes of work,
although they would have also been fully
aware of the reality that all they had
achieved in the first half was a containment
exercise.
The ability to truly penetrate and hurt at
times appeared beyond them.
Meanwhile, across the hallway in the Crokes’
camp, Pat O’Shea had the task of trying to
pull an All Ireland inspiring performance
out of a group of players who at times
seemed quite content to meander their way to
the finishing line in this contest.
Immediately after the restart, it was
obvious that the lecture from O’Shea had had
some effect and within two minutes Colm
Cooper had extended their lead by a point
after Fergal Greenan had fouled Cooper
himself and then moments later the Brendans’
world came crashing down around them as a
piercing run from Ambrose O’Donovan, which
had been set up by a pass from Eoin Brosnan,
saw the Crokes midfielder charging into the
Brendans’ penalty area only to have his
progress halted by a foul by Fergal Greenan.
Referee Tommy Quigley had no hesitation in
awarding a penalty and the Gooch stepped up
to stroke the coolest of penalties past
Billy Molloy into the keeper’s bottom right
hand corner, to leave seven points between
the teams.
A
further free from Cooper three minutes later
extended that lead after Phair had missed a
free from 35 yards for the Brendans,
although the young Brendans corner forward
made amends for the error after Paul Tierney
had been hauled down by Ambrose O’Donovan on
one of his regular forays into the Crokes’
half.
By this stage Paul Malone had moved out from
the full back area for St Brendans to cover
the roaming Brosnan and Brendan Bolger,
playing his first full game in several
months following injury, dropped back to
patrol the free space between the half backs
and the full back line.
Killian Phair continued to keep his side in
contention when he converted another free,
this time after Eanna Kavanagh had conceded
a free and that also earned him a booking to
leave six points between them.
Cooper quickly cancelled that score with a
free following a foul on Vince Cooper.
A
minute later, David Moloney, just 30 seconds
after coming onto the field, pointed and two
minutes after that, Kieran O’Leary
mesmerised the Brendans’ defence by
tip-toeing along the end line to point from
an acute angle having beaten his marker Gary
Cullen, for a point that left nine points in
the game.
Crokes’ captain James Fleming then added a
simple 14-metre free as the visitors started
to ease away from an obviously tiring St
Brendans team and just as the home side
offered up their last few ounces of energy,
O’Leary played the pass of the game, as he
sliced the Brendans’ defence open to put
Gooch through for a goal chance, only for
the corner forward to be hauled down by his
man marker Fergal McArdle before he had the
opportunity to shoot.
Once more referee Quigley indicated a
penalty and this time Cooper stepped up to
blast the ball to the other corner of the
goal past the despairing dive of Billy
Molloy to round off the scoring and leave
matters at 2-12 to 0-5.
The fact that St Brendans only managed two
scores in the second half, both of which
were frees, says more about the
determination of the Crokes than any
particular lack of ability or effort from St
Brendans.
Plain and simply, the Munster champions came
out a different team in the second half,
searching not just for a win in this game
but more importantly a performance to carry
them into the All Ireland semi-final.
An undoubted and deserved man-of-the-match
showing from London-based Brian McMahon was
the cornerstone upon which this Crokes’
performance was based, and although it will
be Colm Cooper who will steal all the
headlines for his scoring feats, the corner
forward will be quick to acknowledge the
contribution of the giant midfielder.
Along with him, James Fleming and Ambrose
O’Donovan played extremely well, while
Kieran O’Leary proved that he is a player of
some considerable class and potential and,
while it may be the man in the opposite
corner - Colm Cooper - who gets all the
headlines, the talents of O’Leary will be
ignored at any opponent’s peril.
It took the Crokes’ defence some time to
settle on their men, partly the price that
has to be paid for a period of inactivity
but also the uncertainty that comes from
knowing little or nothing about the
opposition.
Adrian Brett tried hard to win ball and make
use of it, while Killian Phair showed great
composure, even when been pressurised by the
sizeable travelling Crokes contingent
Liam O’Connor though was probably the pick
of the Brendans’ forwards from an attacking
perspective and certainly most of what the
London champions managed to produce in the
first came through the diminutive Cork man.
Centre forward Brendan Bolger was probably
the loser’s most effective player throughout
the game and although he contributed little
to the attack, his work rate in and around
the midfield and half back line was
commendable.
Further back, Paul Tierney was the star of
the defence for the first forty minutes,
constantly making interceptions, reading the
play and also breaking with the attack,
while Fergal McArdle had a reasonable hour
on “The Gooch”.
Paul Malone acquitted himself well
defensively against Eoin Brosnan especially,
although he was a little loose in his use of
the ball and was caught in possession on a
couple of occasions.
Further behind them, Billy Molloy made two
fine saves in the first half and couldn’t be
faulted for either of Cooper’s penalties.
While most will have looked upon this game
as a formality for the Crokes, the reality
was that they had to work hard to get into
it and the benefits of this outing will
stand to them in Limerick against
Moorefield.
The rustiness that was so apparent has been
well oiled at this stage and no doubt Pat
O’Shea will be delighted to have got a
seriously competitive match under his belt
before taking on the Leinster champions.
Teams:
St Brendans: B Molloy;
G Cullen, P Malone, F McArdle; P Tierney, F
Greenan, S O’Hare; S McAlinden, P Mitchell;
J Corscadden, B Bolger, L O’Connell; A
Brett (0-1), S Cullen, K Phair (0-4; all
frees). Subs: D O’Connor for P Tierney; P
Bowles for Corscadden; M Gillespie for Phair;
L Fallon for Mitchell.
Dr Crokes: K Cremin; K McMahon, L Quinn, S
Doolan; B Moriarty, M Moloney, E Kavanagh; A
Donovan, B McMahon; B Looney, K Brosnan
(0-1), J Fleming (0-2; 0-1f); C Cooper (2-5:
0-3 frees; 2-0 pen), E Brosnan (0-1), K
O’Leary (0-2). Subs: V Cooper for K Brosnan;
D Moloney (0-1) for Looney; J Cahillane for
Doolan; B O’Donoghue for Moloney
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