9 in a Row
In a very wet and cold Palmerstown on Saturday last, we took on our local rivals C.B.S. in the Roinn A football final. This was our third time to meet the same opposition at this stage in the last four years, and without a doubt, this was the greatest battle.
Having lost heavily to them in the same venue earlier in the year, we knew exactly how strong they were. That said, our own form had improved greatly since then, and we had two strong performances recently against Thomastown and Ballyhale.
Also, in spite of the inclement weather recently, we did have good training sessions in our hall. We were well prepared and ready for the final.
We lost the toss and played towards the road goal in the first half. The rain poured but there was little wind. We got off to a great start when captain, Harry Duggan, landed an early point. Our next attack resulted in a well taken goal from the skilful Adam Cummins, and things couldn’t be going much better!
We were playing very well: Harry and his mid-field partner Shane McGeary were keeping a constant supply of ball moving towards our forwards. Kevin Power was winning a lot of possession at 15 and laying off intelligent ball. We should really have extended our lead, but before we knew in, C.B.S. had levelled matters. Early match nerves were now gone and a ding dong game followed-both sides making little of the poor conditions and playing a really high standard of football.
Peter Henebry at full back was starring- time after time he cleared his line brilliantly and gave great confidence to those around him. Eoghan Moylan had his usual dependable game at no. 2 while Liam Stynes, a late replacement for the sick David Ryan, was superb at left corner back. He played like a seasoned defender and did a brilliant job in keeping one of the C.B.S. stars very quiet.
Toward the end of the half, we got back on top again. Johnny Manogue was a colossus at centre back. He has a brilliant sense of position and constantly was in the right place to break up our opponent’s attack. He got classy support from his two wing men, Sean Boyd and Liam Brennan (all of whom are eligible to play next year). In the remaining time before the half time whistle, we added 1-3. The goal came from the crafty Conor Heary, who was on hand to finish to the net after a slight fumble by the goalkeeper from C.B.S. Two added points from frees by Harry, and a classy point from Peter Collins finished our scoring for the half. Peter was playing great at full forward, continuing on from his performances of the last two outings where he was great. His ability to win high ball had been a feature of our forward play recently, and his final tally of 3 points was invaluable an such a tough day for scoring. Indeed, when he was fouled for a penalty late in the half, we had a good chance to extend our lead. No fault to Shane McGeary, who struck the penalty really well- but from the distance from the goal the referee placed the ball…..Shane had little chance.
Half time score: St. Canices 2-4  C.B.S. 1-1

For the second half, the rain ceased. C.B.S. began to put on more pressure now and the gap began to close. Their extra strength and age difference began to have a bearing- remember that nine of our outfield players are in fifth class. Joe Sheehan and Mark Nolan, both playing in the half forward line, had to come well down the field in search of ball. Some inconsistent decisions from the referee were not helping our case, in particular decisions around the picking up of the ball! C.B.S. added points to close the gap to four. Peter Collins’ two great points from play were vital to us during this half, and a well taken free from Harry just kept our noses in front.
When C.B.S. scored their second goal with minutes remaining, the gap had now closed to one point. The momentum was definitely with them, and it was real “backs to the wall” time for us. Any other team would have given in at this time. It was evident from looking at our lads that we were out on our feet, but from somewhere we gathered strength. It would be impossible to pick out one area of weakness in this last 5 minutes…from Cian Lyng making some great stops in the goal….to the effort made from our two substitutes Mark Power and Cillian Timmons…it was brilliant to watch.
When Sean Cleere eventually blew his whistle in the 28th minute of the half, there was a great cheer of relief and joy from the large number of Canice’s supporters on the sideline. We had survived to win by the narrow margin 2-7 to 2-6!
At the presentation of the cup, Cumann na mBunscoil chairman Tom Hickey commended both teams on the high standard of football and sportsmanship on display. C.B.S. manager, Niall Bergin was very generous in his praise of our team afterwards as he spoke to us in our dressing room.
A special word of thanks to Catherine Nolan for supplying a fresh set of jerseys for the second half (and water all year!) and to all the parents who supported the boys throughout the year.
After the match we crossed the town to dine at The Pembroke in Patrick Street, where John Ryan and his staff treated us royally.
A final word to the 30 lads who represented us on Saturday……..WELL DONE

 

Cian Lyng
Eoghan Moylan Peter Henebry David Ryan(s) Liam Stynes
Sean Boyd Johnny Manogue Liam Brennan
Harry Duggan (0-4 3F)Shane McGeary
Conor Heary(1-0) Joe Sheehan Mark Nolan     
Adam Cummins(1-0) Peter Collins(0-3) Kevin Power
 M Power C Timmons L McEnroe G Byrne C McAuliffe  R Duggan
 B Smith J Collins E Clarke B Cuddihy C Madden B Cleere J Treacy

 

 

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