Errigal see off Crokes after an extra-time classic

Errigal Ciaran 2-18  Dr Crokes 1-18

(after extra-time)

THE fire alarm went off at the redeveloped St Conleth’s Park half an hour after the end of this All-Ireland semi-final on Saturday evening. Fortunately nothing came of it, though the white hot action which preceded it on the pitch could well have triggered any smoke detector.

This was sizzling stuff from start to finish, across eighty pulsating minutes, and at the finish up it was Errigal Ciaran who made history, becoming the first Tyrone team to reach the All-Ireland Senior Club Championship Final.

‘Newbridge or Nowhere’ was Kildare’s rallying call when in dispute with the GAA a few years ago and at the weekend no football fan would have wanted to be anywhere else as the Ulster and Munster heavyweights served up an engrossing duel.

Yes the Canavan brothers again will hog the headlines (registering 1-13 between them), but their brilliance aside it would be churlish not to reference the bravery and character Errigal demonstrated across every sector of the pitch, with loyal footsoldiers like Aidan McCrory, Ciaran Quinn, Ben McDonnell and Ciaran McGinley again outstanding.

Dr Crokes of course had their moments. A team of that calibre and tradition are not going to go meekly into the night, and their Kerry stars Micheal Burns and Tom Brosnan weighed in with the bulk of their scores, but Errigal were not going to denied.

Even though they could justifiably point to the erratic officiating at times of Brendan Cawley, the Dunmoyle boys kept going and going, even with cramp becoming a factor as a draining struggle went all the way to extra-time.

Captain Darragh Canavan fired his side into an early lead, before a close range fisted Cian McMahon score and points from Brosnan (free) and Burns put Crokes two to the good.

Ruairi Canavan then swung over a beauty and while Brosnan responded with a close range free, the two Canavan brothers started to really light up a gloomy afternoon.

A superb collect and lay-off from inches off the turf by Darragh enabled Ruairi to split the posts, with the latter also tagging on a free, and Darragh curling over a wonderful right footed effort to put Errigal ahead 0-5 to 0-4 just past the twenty minute mark.

Burns responded with a confident conversion at the other end to level matters up, but as the pleasing tempo of the contest was maintained, Darragh cut in along the sideline to fist over and Ruairi shook off his marker to plant a wonderful effort over.

Dr Crokes were probably shading the possession stakes, but the hard work and tenacity of Peter Harte, Peter Og McCartan and Ben McDonnell, among others, ensured they had to work overtime for scoring opportunities.

Burns and Ruairi swapped frees in the run-up to the break, but a fine score from midfielder Mark O’Shea meant Crokes trailed by just one- 0-8 to 0-7- at the turnaround.

That remained the gap as David Shaw saw his score cancelled out by another top notch Darragh attempt (he was giving Kerry starter Gavin White a torrid time in the full-back line, though Crokes opted not to deploy any sweeper to provide some protection inside).

A brace of Burns scores leap-frogged the Killarney boys ahead again, but in the 40th minute they were rocked back on their heels, as the Canavans combined for a vintage goal. Ruairi’s vision from a free spotted Darragh in space behind and he fired high past exposed keeper Shane Murphy into the roof of the net.

To their credit Crokes maintained their composure, and with their second half subs making a positive impact they restored parity courtesy of Brian Looney and Brosnan (free).

The latter stuck over another placed ball soon after, having watched Ruairi come up off the shoulder of McDonnell to steer over the latest top notch Errigal point.

Sub Padraig McGirr became the first non-Canavan on the board in the 54th minute with a quality effort on the counter-attack, but Crokes responded straightaway with another Brosnan free, leaving it 1-11 to 0-14 with five minutes to play.

Darragh fisted over the go-ahead Errigal score, but yet again Brosnan provided an emphatic response, and with Burns floating over in real style as the match ticked into stoppage time, it appeared the Munster men might nick it.

Cometh the hour though and with the five minutes of injury time having almost elapsed Peter Og McCartan, as in the Ulster Final, had the bravery to pull the trigger from the 40m mark to square things at 1-13 to 0-16 and set up extra-time.

Darragh (rifling inches over the crossbar) and Looney raised white flags at either end as the action resumed in fairly cagey fashion, with stamina also now becoming an issue.

The teams remained deadlocked at the turnaround with Joe Oguz’s fisted score cancelled out by Brosnan (free).

Oguz though was to make a more meaningful impression in the 72 minute, benefiting from sterling work by sub Eoin Kelly to blast a shot high to the net.

A Ruairi Canavan free and points on the break by sub Mark Kavanagh and McDonnell had Errigal six to the good and seemingly in easy street, but with Crokes midfielder Michael Potts drilling a shot through a congested square into the Errigal net, it set up a nervy finale.

The Tyrone champions  had done enough to see them through to the main stage in Croke Park.

Scorers

Errigal Ciaran: Darragh Canavan (1-6), Ruairi Canavan (0-7,3f), Joe Oguz (1-1), Padraig McGirr, Mark Kavanagh, Peter Og McCartan, Ben McDonnell (0-1 each)

Dr Crokes: Tony Brosnan (0-7,6f), Micheal Burns (0-6,2f), Michael Potts (1-0), Brian Looney (0-2), Mark O’Shea, David Shaw, Cian McMahon (0-1 each)

Teams

Errigal Ciaran: Darragh McAnenly, Cormac Quinn, Aidan McCrory, Ciaran Quinn, Tiarnan Colhoun, Niall Kelly, Peter Og McCartan, Ben McDonnell, Joe Oguz, Peter Harte, Ruairi Canavan, Ciaran McGinley, Thomas Canavan, Darragh Canavan, Odhran Robinson. Subs used: Mark Kavanagh for T Canavan (43mins), Padraig McGirr for O Robinson (53), Ronan McRory for T Colhoun (60), Eoin Kelly for P McCartan (70), Dermot Morrow for C Quinn (70), Peter Og McCartan for C McGinley (77)

Dr Crokes: Shane Murphy, Evan Looney, Fionn Fitzgerald, Maidhci Lynch, Charlie Keating, Gavin White, Brian Looney, Mark O’Shea, Michael Potts, Michael Burns, Gavin O’Shea, Tom Doyle, Tony Brosnan, David Shaw, Cian McMahon. Subs used: Kieran O’Leary for T Doyle (37mins), Daithi Casey for C McMahon (46), John Payne for C Keating (47), David Naughton for M Potts (52), Alex Hannigan for D Shaw (60), Cian McMahon for M Burns (69), Michael Potts for B Looney (74), David Shaw for G O’Shea (75)

Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare)