Kealy goal secures championship and league double for St Joseph’s
St Joseph's celebrate their Junior 'C' Football Championship final win over Courtwood at LOETB Centre of Excellence on Wednesday Photo: Denis Byrne
ST Joseph’s and Courtwood met on a miserable Wednesday evening in the LOETB Centre of Excellence to battle it out for the Junior C title. This was the second final that these pair of teams had met in this year. Earlier in the season, St Joseph’s claimed Division 7 league honours over Courtwood with a 3-14 to 0-15 victory.
St Joseph’s topped their group then breezed by Ballyroan Abbey in the semi-finals to qualify for the decider. Courtwood also topped their group before proving too much for Park-Ratheniska in the semis.
James Michael Fleming opened the scoring for St Joseph’s in the early minutes. The men wearing yellow, and blue would play with a significant wind behind their backs for the first half.
St Joseph’s did have two excellent goal chances early on. Firstly, Colin Campion cruised through the heart of the Courtwood backline, but Campion’s shot was superbly saved by Sam Kreb in the Courtwood nets. Then Dan Dunne had another goal sight but this time it was Courtwood corner-back Andrew Flynn who saved the day by clearing off the line.
It took fifteen minutes but eventually Courtwood registered their first score of the evening. Rory Doyle dropped over a close-range free after St Joseph’s wing-back Ciaran Carroll picked up a yellow card.
Rory Doyle doubled his and Courtwood’s tally in the twenty-second minute to see them take the lead for the first time. Five minutes later the same player added another free to his name to see Courtwood go two ahead.
Dan Dunne dropped over a sweetly struck 45’ for St Joseph’s just before the half-time whistle blew. After playing against the wind, Courtwood held a 0-3 to 0-2 lead at the break.
Courtwood continued to defend in a disciplined and tight manner to start the second half, as St Joseph’s were beginning to grow frustrated. However, the men wearing white could not make it count down the other end despite the advantage of the wind.
St Joseph’s needed a lift, and they got it when Darragh Farrell fired over a delightful point to roar their crowd into voice. Two minutes later St Joseph’s scored the only goal of the game which would prove decisive.
Dan Dunne played it low inside to first half substitute Peter Kealy. He turned sharply before Kealy cracked a shot into the back of the net and St Joseph’s now led again.
Dan Dunne (free) and Colin Campion raised further white flags to see St Joseph’s go five clear after three quarters of action had been played. Courtwood did reply with their first of the half thanks to a converted 45’ from Sam Krebs.
St Joseph’s Dan Dunne had found his range now though and added another from play to restore the five-point gap. However, Courtwood received a bit of a lifeline when they were awarded a penalty after substitute Matt Kelly was fouled in the square.
Rory Doyle stepped up for the spotkick, but his effort was too high and resulted in a white flag rather the intended green flag. Courtwood did grab the next three scores through Luke Doyle (two) and David Duffy to leave one between the teams late on.
However, St Joseph’s had enough to see this one out. Dan Dunne and Peter Kealy raised white flags and that meant St Joseph’s’ third team completed a league and championship double.
SCORERS:
St Joseph’s: Peter Kealy 1-1, Dan Dunne 0-4 (0-2fs, 0-1 45), James Michael Fleming, Colin Campion and Darragh Farrell 0-1 each.
Courtwood: Rory Doyle 0-4 (0-3fs, 0-1 pen), Luke Doyle 0-2 (0-1f), David Duffy and Sam Krebs (45) 0-1 each.
ST JOSEPH’S: Bryan Fleming; Mark George, Joseph Morrin, David Farrell; Ciaran Carroll, Tadgh Dineen, Michael Dempsey; Colin Campion, Cathal Fleming; James Michael Fleming, Callum Hogg, Reese O’Halloran; James Fitzgerald, Dan Dunne, Darragh Farrell.
Subs: Peter Kealy for Fitzgerald (14m), Padraic Condron for Hogg (19m), Paddy Joyce for O’Halloran (41m), John Fleming for Carroll (46m), John Farrell for Fleming (58m).
COURTWOOD: Sam Krebs; Evan Kelly, Will Boland, Andrew Flynn; Eoghan McGarry, Eddie Boland, Ciarán Boland; David O’Connell, Darragh McEvoy; Liam Ward, Rory Doyle, David Duffy; Liam Burke, Luke Doyle, Tom O’Connell.
Sub: Matt Kelly for O’Connell (45m).
Referee: Michael Tarpey (Kilcavan)
