Mullinalaghta win U-21 'B' title for the second year in a row

21.11.10 | U-21 “B’ Final | Mullinalaghta St Columba's 1-13 Colmcille/Sean Connolly's 0-9 | By Padraic O'Brien

For the second year in succession Mullinalaghta St. Columba's proved too strong for Colmcille/Sean Connolly's in the U-21 'B' Football Championship decider and while the title holders had the comfortable margin of seven points to spare in the finish the amalgamation tried hard to spring a surprise and only trailed by two points (0-10 to 0-8) midway through the second half.

The Mullinalaghta supporters at the final in Pearse Park on Sunday last were getting a little anxious at that stage but a terrific long range point by James McGivney was a great lift and St. Columba's struck the killer blow in the 50th minute when Myles Matthews shot to the back of the net after latching on to a defence splitting pass from John Keegan.

Colmcille/Connolly's grabbed a consolation score in the 56th minute when Frank Reynolds landed a well struck point but a strong finish by Mullinalaghta yielded another couple of points through Gary Rogers (free) and James McGivney while the always dangerous JJ Matthews was most unlucky not to score a goal when shooting against the post after linking up with influential midfielder John Keegan.

Matthews and Keegan were particularly impressive for the worthy winners while McGivney (who fired over four points from play) and centre-half-back Conan Brady also figured prominently for the better balanced St. Columba's team who led by 0-8 to 0-5 at half-time after getting off to a flying start with a point apiece from Donal McElligott (free) and John Keegan in the first couple of minutes.

Back came Colmcille/Connolly's with a well worked score from Adrian Brady in the 4th minute and Niall Farrelly shot over the bar to leave the sides all square. JJ Matthews then raced through to register a fine point for Mullinalaghta and the ding-dong battle continued as prominent corner-forward Farrelly notched a brace of points (free and play) for the gritty amalgamation.

Trailing by 0-4 to 0-3, St. Columba's stepped up another gear to dominate the second quarter and after Donal McElligott converted a close range free in the 17th minute, a further four points followed with JJ Matthews landing a couple of excellent efforts while McElligott (play) and James McGivney were also on target for the reigning champions. Matthews was receiving a great supply of the ball and his penetrating runs provided a constant threat to the opposing defence.

A minute into stoppage time Colmcille/Connolly's closed the gap when a well struck free was converted by midfielder Martin Brady who enjoyed some good spells during the course of the game.

Two minutes into the second half Gary Rogers kicked a good point for St. Columba's but soon after they missed a glorious chance of a goal when Enda Rabbitte shot wide with only the opposing keeper John McKenna to beat.

That was a very lucky escape for Colmcille/Connolly's who fell further behind when James McGivney got his second point but the amalgamation battled back to clock up three scores in a row and that determined recovery made it very interesting indeed.

Niall Farrelly kicked a great point from a tight angle in the 40th minute and a brace of Barry McKeon frees cut into the St. Columba's lead which was now a slender advantage. Just two points separated the sides but Mullinalaghta were in no mood to let the title slip from their grasp and a wonderful score from James McGivney in the 45th minute got them going again.

Myles Matthews got the decisive only goal to put the issue beyond all doubt and there was no way back for Colmcille/Connolly's as they suffered the bitter disappointment of a repeat defeat in the U-21 'B' Final.

MULLINALAGHTA: David Donohoe; Patrick Fox, James Rogers; Myles Matthews (1-0), Conan Brady, Simon Cadam; John Keegan (0-1), Donal McElligott (0-3, two frees); Ruairi Mulligan, Gary Rogers (0-2, one free), Enda Rabbitte; JJ Matthews (0-3), James McGivney (0-4).

Subs:- David O'Rourke for E Rabbitte (50 mins); Michael Murray for D McElligott (62 mins); Carlos Matthews for M Matthews (62 mins).

COLMCILLE/SEAN CONNOLLY'S: John McKenna (Sean Connolly's); Leigh McKeon (Colmcille), Thomas Keogh (SC); Frank Reynolds (SC, 0-1), Gregory Masterson (SC), John McGee ( C); Martin Brady (SC, 0-1, free), Ciaran Brady ( C); Adrian Brady (SC, 0-1), Barry McKeon (C, 0-2, frees), Paul Martin (SC); Paul McKeon ( C), Niall Farrelly (C, 0-4, one free).

Subs:- Thomas O'Neill (SC) for A Brady (half-time); Dessie Lennon (SC) for P Martin (37 mins); Colm Mulligan ( C) for F Reynolds (59 mins).

Referee: Patrick Maguire (Granard St. Mary's).

St. Columba's Mullinalaghta players celebrate at Pearse Park after winning the U-21 'B' Football Championship

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