Delaney’s late point sees Mountmellick CS crowned South Leinster champions

Mountmellick CS 2-13 

Coláiste Chraobh Abhann 4-6 

MOUNTMELLICK Community School have been crowned South Leinster 'D' Football champions after overcoming Coláiste Chraobh Abhann of Wicklow in the LOETB Centre of Excellence on Thursday evening in an incredible contest.

Frank Delaney was the hero as he popped up for a last gasp point in injury time to crown Mountmellick Community School champions.

There were heroic performances all over the field for both sides which led to a memorable final. The game ebbed and flowed with the lead swapping hands on a few occasions.

But it was Mountmellick Community School who ended on the right side of the result as the game went down to the wire with an injury time point separating these two brilliant teams.

It was the Wicklow side that opened the scoring with a brilliant two pointer from Regan Kelly who was outstanding in the middle of the field.

But Mountmellick CS hit back with a two pointer of their own through Shane Conran which was a taste of what was in store for the rest of the contest.

They then went into the lead with two quick points from Oisin McRedmond and a free from Oisin Hade as they started to settle into the game.

Kelly replied with a point before the first goal of the game the way of Joe Keeshan who finished the ball well giving the keeper no chance.

The victor’s response was an empathic one hitting over the next 4 scores with Conran hitting another two pointer while McRedmond and Lorcan White also added points.

It looked like they were going to go in at halftime with a three-point lead, but disaster struck. Keeshan was dragged down by Oran Masterson and Brendan Hickey awarded a penalty kick.

Kelly took the penalty and slotted it into the bottom of the corner which was the last kick of the half as there was nothing separating these two teams at the break with the scores at 0-9 to 2-3 Mountmellick CS came out of the blocks fast and added a point from Lorcan White and they soon got their first goal of the game through McRedmond after brilliant work by Aidan Byrne who went on an individual run and squared the ball for McRedmond who fisted the ball to the net to open a four-point advantage.

The Wicklow side responded with a purple patch of their own and they would score two goals in the space of two minutes to turn the contest on its head. The goals coming through Alex Wolohan and Ráin Daye as they now took a three-point lead 4-4 to 1-10.

But again, Mountmellick CS came storming back and captain Aidan Byrne got a goal of his own to leave the sides level with 15 minutes remaining With 15 minutes to go it was anyone's guess who was going to come out the winners, it looked like the Wicklow side were going to get over the line as they would hit the next two points from Kelly, while there were players from either side suffering from cramp after their incredible efforts.

There was then a turning point in this battle as Cian O'Brien was black carded to leave the Wicklow side with 14 men with six minutes left.

Conran drew the sides level with two points in a row one from a free and the other was a fine effort from play.

Extra time was on the cards as the game was running out of life, but Frank Delaney had other ideas and kicked the winner in the second minute of injury time to crown Mountmellick CS champions.

SCORERS:

Mountmellick CS: Shane Conran 0-7 (2tp, 0-2fs), Oisin McRedmond 1-2, Aidan Byrne 1-0, Lorcan White 0-2, Oisin Hade, Frankie Delaney 0-1 each.

Coláiste Chraobh Abhann: Regan Kelly 1-6 (1tp, 1-0 pen, 0-4fs), Joe Keeshan, Alex Wolohan and Ráin Daye 1-0 each MOUNTMELLICK CS: Senan O’Mahony (Mountmellick); Ryan Doogan (Kilcavan), Cilin Hoey (Portarlington), Oran Masterson (Portlaoise); Frankie Delaney (The Rock), Aidan Byrne (Mountmellick), Scott Kelly (Rosenallis); Oisin Hade (Mountmellick), Eoghan Lalor (Kilcavan); Oisin Dunne (Rosenallis), Tadhg Hughes (Kilcavan), Lorcan White (Kilcavan); Sean Lalor (Kilcavan), Oisin McRedmond (Portlaoise), Shane Conran (Mountmellick).

Subs: James Smyth (Mountmellick) for O’Mahony (43m), Dylan Cronin (The Rock) for Hughes (50m).

COLÁISTE CHRAOBH ABHANN: Aaron Nolan; Cian O’Brien, Enda Leacy, Scott McKenna; Finnian Hughes, JJ Brady, Charlie Colleran; Michael Synnott, Regan Kelly; Alex Wolohan, Ryan Healy, Ráin Daye; Aidan Heffernan, Jack Leacy, Joe Keeshan.

Subs: Leon O’Connor for Healy (43m), Oscar Kelly for Colleran (49m), Joe Wolohan for McKenna (57m).

Referee: Brendan Hickey (Graiguecullen)