Eoghan Rua, Coleraine (Derry) 0-12 Glenmore (Kilkenny) 2-8
WHEN Padraig O Mianain and the Eoghan Rua management prepared for the AIB All-Ireland junior final, at no point did they expect to hold Glenmore to just a point from play in the final 42 minutes.
In fact, in that same period, a Glenmore side with Kilkenny goalkeeper Eoin Murphy on board and Allstar Ger Aylward roaring them on, managed just three points in total.
What O Mianain and Coleraine also didn’t expect, however, was that they would concede two early goals and, ultimately, lose the match before it was 20 minutes old.
At that stage, the Kilkenny and Leinster champions led by 2-5 to 0-2 and, try as Coleraine did, they couldn’t reel in that deficit.
They will struggle for some time to get their heads around this loss because in those 42 minutes they outscored Glenmore by 0-10 to 0-3 and, over the whole game, scored 12 times to Glenmore’s 10.
But goals win games and Alan Murphy’s eighth and 18th minute strikes, both excellent efforts when he evaded the attentions of Liam McGoldrick to ripple the net, proved decisive.
Afterwards, O Mianain cut an emotional figure as he considered whether the club will ever be back here again. Consider that they only started training seriously when the club footballers lost the Derry final at the start of October and you see where he’s coming from.
What will really nag Coleraine is that had there been another few minutes, they could very well have won, such was their increasing dominance late on.
“We were a bit nervous at the start and I think we got hit by a couple of sucker punches, those two goals were the barrier that we couldn’t overcome,” said O Mianain.
“We fought back and settled into the game very well and if you had watched the last 40, 45 minutes, you’d say it was two even teams.
“But that’s no consolation, we’re not walking away thinking it’s okay because they’re a Kilkenny team and we’re a Derry team.
“We came down to play 15 against 15 and we gave it our very best, the boys played very well. We’re very proud of them.
“But I think we just ran out of time. They were really on the defensive and I think if we had another five minutes, we’d have done it.
“When you see the calibre of players they have, boys with MacCarthy Cup wins under their belts, it can only make you proud but, again, that’s all academic really because we came down to win.”
O Mianain accepted that both of Murphy’s goals were well taken as, both times, he fetched expertly and fired to the net, eventually finishing with 2-2.
“We knew he was a good player, he got the two chances and took them,” he said.
“Like, he caught the high ball, turned... what can you do?”
Glenmore were missing captain Aylward due to a cruciate ligament injury suffered in the semi-final win over Dungourney.
The forward attended the game on crutches and gave a stirring speech at half-time, although it didn’t seem to have much effect as Glenmore were poor in the second-half.
Remarkably, they didn’t score from open play and delivered just two points in the half-hour, both from frees.
Ciaran Gaile top-scored for Coleraine with seven points, all from frees, and with each successful conversion the underdogs got closer and closer to Glenmore.
Best known for their football exploits, and backboned by the five McGoldrick brothers, some of Coleraine’s point-taking was superb and perfectly fitting of Croke Park.
Liam, Colm and Sean Leo McGoldrick all hit excellent scores though the concession of that 2-5 early on left them swimming against the tide.
Gaile’s final converted free for Coleraine put them just two behind in the 60th minute and, moments later, two minutes of injury-time were signalled.
They set siege to the Glenmore goal but the three-pointer they needed didn’t materialise.
“It was very frustrating not being able to play,” said Aylward, Glenmore’s injured skipper.
“I was looking out at Eoghan Rua there in the last few minutes and they were really putting on the pressure. They were in on top of the lads every time they got the ball. They came with big physiques, very fit and they troubled our lads for long spells but in the end we did the business.”
Eoghan Rua, Coleraine: P Mullan; C Lagan, B McGoldrick, L McGoldrick (0-1); A Rafferty, N Holly, P Dallas; SL McGoldrick (0-2), R Leonard; C Gaile (0-7 frees), R Mooney, D Mullan; Ciaran McGoldrick, Colm McGoldrick (0-1), T Magee (0-1)
Subs: None
Glenmore: D Aylward; S Duggan, F Freyne, S Doherty; P Roche, R Mullally, M Phelan; S Murphy (0-1), D Aylward; J Cody, E Murphy (0-1), E Vereker; A Murphy (2-2), M Phelan, M Aylward (0-4 frees)
Subs: L Hennessy for D Aylward (h/t), B Doherty for Pheland (53), D Croke for S Murphy (62)
Referee: James Clarke (Cavan)
