SENIOR LEAGUE FINAL 2006

Gaels beat Brendans to take league

SFL Div1 Final

By Paul Withers

Tir Chonaill  Gaels................0-10

St. Brendans (Holders).........0-04

Tir Chonaill Gaels are the Football League Division 1 champions after a hard-fought victory over St. Brendans at Ruislip on Saturday evening.

In a physical and intense battle, Gaels held off a mini Brendans revival at the start of the second half to find the scores to close out the game.

Gaels shot out of the blocks early on and it was youngster Andy Gallagher who opened the scoring in the second minute when he converted a fine free.

Gallager then added to his tally a couple of minutes later with another fine point before forward Jonathan McLoughlin made it three points in the opening six minutes for his team after good build-up play in the middle of the field by captain Paddy McConigley.

Killian Phair opened the Brendans account in the eight minute when he split the Gaels’ posts with a free and Joe Cascadden had the chance to reduce the deficit to one point a minute later but shot wide from a tight angle.

The next eight minutes saw the game go without a score as proceedings threatened to boil over. Tackles were flying in and angry words were exchanged but referee Beano Collins failed to show a single yellow card in this period.

Declan Alcorn restored Gaels’ three-point lead on 17 minutes after pointing from a free that was strangely given in the favour of the men in red and white.

Brendans were rocking slightly and saw Fergal Holden add another point for TCG a minute later before finding their feet when Adrian Brett split the posts of Brian McBrearty after a good interchange with Paul Tierney.

However, Alcorn added another point a few minutes later when McConigley forced a turnover but Phair was unlucky not to reply for Brendans when he saw his free hit the tip of the Gaels post.

Gallagher added the final score of the half from a free two minutes into first half injury time to give his side a five point lead going into the break – 0-07 to 0-02.

Brendans upped their game at the start of the second half and it was Phair who added another point from a free in the 35th minute of the match. Despite this, Brendans could only add one further point to their total in the remaining minutes of the match.

The game entered a quiet patch as the midfield became congested and it wasn’t until midway through the half that the next real chance came. It fell to David Meehan who collected a quick free from Gallagher but he fired his shot wide.

Fergal McArdle continued the revival for Brendans a minute later with a fine point from out wide on the right and were desperately unlucky not to level the scores a couple of minutes later.

After a frantic scramble in the Gaels’ goalmouth, Tierney eventually got a shot away at the near post but unfortunately for Brendans it was blocked on the line and cleared to safety.

TCG took control after this and added three more points to close out the match, with McLoughlin getting two of them from frees to leave Brendans trailing by five points with just seven minutes left.

The menin green and white became frustrated and saw two of their men booked in the remaining minutes as they struggled to find a way back into the game.

Substitute Dave O’Brien added the final point of the match to leave Gaels celebrating another title and both teams will now look ahead to the championship for more success.

Teams

TCG: B McBrearty, R Walsh, P Callaghan, S Boyle, M Kelly, P McConigley, H Cunningham, D Meehan, JP Breslin, F Cleary, D Alcorn, D Trearty, J McLoughlin, A Gallagher, F Holden.

St. Brendans: B Molloy, G Cullen, P Malone, S O’Hare, L O’Connell, F Greenan, F McArdle, J Cascadden, L Fallon, K Phair, P Tierney, A Brrett, P Bowles, S Cullen, S Manly.