U-18 Gaelic team win the Lennon Cup
O’Fiaich 0-16 St Mary’s 1-10
O’Fiaich College won the Lennon Cup for the first time since 1993 after edging out St Mary’s of Drogheda in a pulsating battle. The match was expected to be a close encounter and did not disappoint as it took sixty minutes plus two periods of extra time to separate the sides.
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St Mary’s were quickest to settle into the game and after ten minutes they led by three points to one. Playing with the aid of a gale force wind they looked to press home their advantage and by the twentieth minute they built up a three point advantage, leading six points to three with Roy Kierans and Shane Dowling leading the charge for the Drogheda men. A Kevin Hearty inspired O’Fiaich fought back to draw level at half time with Stephen Broadhurst sending over the score of the half with a magnificent left footed effort.
O’Fiaich began the second half in lively fashion and made their superiority count on the scoreboard. With Rian Hand now dictating things from centre half O’Fiaich were playing a better brand of football. Broadhurst and Hearty slotted over after driving runs and when Michael Gray sent over two points in a row it looked like O’Fiaich were on their way to a comfortable victory. However, St Mary’s showed the character that got them to the final when they pulled the tie level heading into injury time with a quick-fire goal and point. The remaining two minutes of injury time failed to produce a winner as both sides had to settle for extra time with the score at 0-11 to 1-8
The momentum was all with St Mary’s in the first half of extra time and they looked to be heading for victory when they kicked two magnificent scores into the breeze. O’Fiaich refused to lie down and once again lifted themselves and responded with two crucial scores from the energetic Daniel Berry and Hearty. This left the scores level at half time in extra time with St Mary’s appearing in the driving seat as they had the gale force breeze behind them. Once again the O’Fiaich lads produced the goods and continued to battle for every ball. They had a number of scoring chances but failed to find the lead score their play deserved and the teams finished level after extra time with the score now 0-13 to 1-10.
Both teams agreed to finish this epic contest on the night and the referee ordered five minutes aside in an attempt to separate the teams. It was in this period that O’Fiaich finally drove home the game. A monster score from the classy Halpenny sent his side into the lead and when Emmett Leavy sent over an equally audacious attempt the Brendan Lennon Cup now looked destined to return to O’Fiaich College. In the second half of this extra time O’Fiaich had a grip on the trophy that they were not prepared to relinquish. Another fantastic point from Hearty was to be the clincher as O’Fiaich held on for an historic victory on a final scoreline of 0-16 to 1-10
In what was an enthralling game O’Fiaich had heroes all over the field but Kevin Hearty deserves special praise for his seven point tally and all round inspiring performance. St Mary’s contributed enormously to a thrilling encounter and were best served by Goalkeeper Shane Finnegan, Ciaran Ward, Shane Dowling and Roy Kierans.
Teams:
O’ Fiaich: ConorMcGeown, Emmett Cooney, Ian Carr, David Tippins, Oladimeji. Rian Hand, Michael Gray (0-2), Emmett Leavy (0-1), Sean McAuley, Paul Mallon, Richie Halpenny (0-1), Daniel Berry (0-2), Stephen Broadhurst (0-2), Kevin Hearty (0-7), Aidan Sheeky(0-1). Substitutes Michael Marray, Liam Ferguson, Timmy Egan. Stephen Maguire, Chris Reenan, Oisin Keenan, James O Connor, Cillian De Roever, Ryan Duffy
St Mary’s: Shane Finnegan, Matthew Nulty, Gareth Cooney, Adam Byrne, Gideon Lugoye, Jamie McDonnell, Gary Keogh , Eoin O’Neill, Shane Dowling , Jim Marry, Kevin Dunne, John Levins, Ciaran Ward, Roy Kierans, DnnyBattersby.
