Final agony for Westport boys in Connacht thriller
Bríon Kearney makes a save as Westport's Conan O'Reilly gets ready to pounce on any slip up by the Oranmore-Maree custodian. Picture: Kim Robertson/Westport GAA
When it comes to finals, it is safe to say it was not a good five days for all involved with Westport. Just six days after the senior football team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the replayed Mayo county final, their minor team fell agonisingly short in one of the best finals that has ever been held in the Connacht Centre of Excellence last Friday evening.
The high scoring nature of this Connacht final is even more remarkable given that if it had been played in ‘old money’, the scoreline would still have read 5-12 to 5-11, with no two-pointers scored in the contest.
It was a game that had drama and quality in equal measure. The quality came as no surprise given that five of Westport’s starting fifteen, Thomas Williams, Dara Dawson, Fionn and Fiachra Ó Cinnseala and Ben Holmes, were part of the Mayo squad that reached this year’s All-Ireland U17 semi-final, with Holmes making the Electric Ireland Minor team of the Year also.
Oranmore-Maree themselves had six players – Gavin Curran, Joey Cullinane, Aaron Hanrahan, Barry Keating, James Lennon and Noah Carroll – in the Galway panel, although Carroll and Lennon played no part in this final due to injury, while Hanrahan came on as a substitute.
The impact of Cillian Costello, James McGuire and Tiernan Grealish would also be telling for Oranmore-Maree throughout.
In a game that swayed back and forth, it appeared that Westport would reel in Oranmore-Maree again at the end of the second-half after already doing so in the first. Trailing by five with two minutes of normal time left, Westport struck 1-1 to leave the minimum between them but were unable to work another opportunity to at least take it to extra-time.
While Westport will be devastated by the result, they can hold their heads high as they fought until the bitter end.
A key component of Westport’s run to the Connacht decider had been their quick starts in their Mayo U17 final win over Ballaghaderreen-Kilmovee and their facile Connacht semi-final victory over Sligo side St Mary’s, and they were off to the races again here as they led 1-4 to 0-3 points by the end of the first quarter.
Ben Holmes and Conor O’Reilly both pointed before Barry Keating got Oranmore-Maree off the mark in the third minute. Fiachra Ó Cinnseala and O’Reilly extended Westport’s lead as Oranmore-Maree fluffed their lines early doors with a trio of wides and a point attempt by Rian Donohoe that came back off the post.
Keating left two between the sides before Holmes teed up Fiachra Ó Cinnseala for a simple palm into the net on 12 minutes, but Westport would not score again until the 26th minute as their accuracy deserted them.
Points from James McGuire and Keating left only a goal between the teams and that would be wiped out on 23 minutes. Keating and Tom Furlong were involved in a brilliant team move that was finished off to the net by McGuire.
It got better two minutes later as following Gus Lohan’s single, a ball was launched into Keating and while he initially failed to control it down, he would volley it soccer style into the roof of the net to make 2-5 to 1-4.
Westport responded in style. After a great score by Fionn Ó Cinnseala that saw him ghost past three defenders, Ben Holmes latched onto a diagonal ball before bulldozing his way past full-back Eoin Healy and plundering in Westport’s second goal to level the game for a second time. This was followed by Dara Dawson’s first point as Westport led 2-6 to 2-5 at half-time, and they would extend their lead two minutes after the restart as Holmes turned provider once again, setting up Conan O’Reilly to finish soccer style.
Oranmore-Maree would level it for a third time thanks to a James McGuire point and a great finish into the net by Tiernan Grealish. Fiachra Ó Cinnseala and Barry Keating exchanged points before Grealish found the net again thanks to a thunderous strike that came off the underside of the crossbar.
Matters got worse for Westport as Cillian Costello, under pressure from Westport defenders, elected to dribble the ball before poking it past Thomas Williams and this was followed by another Barry Keating point to make it 5-8 to 3-8.
Ben Holmes halved the deficit with his second goal, and Westport’s fourth, at the end of the fourth quarter, followed by a Dara Dawson free, but Oranmore-Maree would score four of the next five points, three of them coming from the boot of Barry Keating and it appeared that the Galway side were home and dry with three minutes remaining.
Westport, however, received a lifeline when Oranmore-Maree were reduced to fourteen players after Gavin Curran was sent off having picked up a second yellow card. It was all Westport from here as Ben Holmes fisted over and Darragh Reynolds left a point between the sides when he pilfered Westport’s fifth goal.
The West Mayo boys looked to make another opening, but Oranmore-Maree held firm to claim a famous win, adding to the U17 ‘A’ and U19 ‘A’ football and hurling titles they won in Galway this year in what has been an unprecedented year of success for the club.
Scorers – Oranmore-Maree: Barry Keating 1-0-7 (0-3f), Tiernan Grealish 2-0-1, James McGuire 1-2, Cillian Costello 1-0-1, Gus Lohan 0-0-1.
Westport: Ben Holmes 2-0-2, Conan O’Reilly 1-0-2, Fionn Ó Cinnseala 1-0-1, Darragh Reynolds 1-0-0, Dara Dawson 0-0-3 (2f), Oisin Barrett 0-0-1.
Westport: Thomas Williams; Matthew Scahill, Jamie O'Toole, Aidan Murphy; Liam Marshall, Mattie McLaughlin, Darragh Reynolds; Ross O'Connor, Aodhan Gavin; Fionn Ó Cinnseala, Dara Dawson, Tom Holmes; Fiachra Ó Cinnseala, Ben Holmes, Conan O'Reilly. Subs: Oisin Barrett (for T Holmes 29), Jack Collins (for Scahill ht), Fintan Burrows (for Reynolds 54-58 blood sub), Oisin Wallace (for O'Reilly 56).
Oranmore-Maree: Bríon Kearney; Stephen Ruane, Eoin Healy, Daniel Stokes; Tom Furlong, Gus Lohan (0-1), Cian Cusack; Gavin Curran, Kian Dooley; James McGuire, Joel Cullinane, Rian Donohue; Cillian Costello, Tiernan Grealish, Barry Keating. Subs: Aaron Hanrahan (for Cullinane (25-26 temp), A Hanrahan (for Dooley 40).
REF: Aaron Clogher (Roscommon)
