Glory days for Gerald’s as Neary points the way
Fionan O’Reilly, captain of St Gerald’s College, lifts the Aonghus Murphy Cup surrounded by his delighted teammates.
St Gerald’s, Castlebar 1-10
Coláiste Baile Chláir 1-8
Paul O’Malley at CoE Bekan
The Aonghus Murphy Cup made the bumpy spin to Castlebar from Bekan on Sunday afternoon after St Gerald’s College prevailed over Coláiste Baile Chláir in a war of attrition at the wild and windy Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence.
The now eight-time Senior ‘A’ Connacht Colleges champions were made to put their shoulder to the wheel, particularly in the second-half when a Claregalway goal cut the gap to just a point between the sides. Gerald’s had put an arm’s-length between the teams at the break thanks to a first-half goal, which came against the run of play following early positivity from the Galway side, who were looking to exorcise the demons of last year’s Connacht final defeat.
To their credit, they never gave up the ghost; it took huge mental strength to cut that sizeable four-point lead St Gerald’s held at half-time but the Castlebar lads were resolute in their own right, taking the next three scores unanswered after Claregalway’s goal to see out the contest more or less. Some goalmouth drama close to the end threatened to bring Claregalway’s dreams closer to reality but netminder Sean Rabbette and company ran a tight ship.
It was at the other end of the pitch where St Gerald’s truly won the contest. Dara Neary put on an exhibition of shooting with four fine points from play while Gavin Forry’s left boot and Ryan Gibbons right boot provided three points apiece from frees. In fact, Gibbons skewed free-kick effort with 34 minutes played was the only wide that Gerald’s had for the whole 60 minutes compared to the more profligate Claregalway who racked up six.
The game gave the two star-studded dugouts plenty to consider from beginning to end. St Gerald’s manager David Joyce was flanked pitch side by Mayo GAA’s Diarmuid O’Connor and former county attacker Mickey Conroy while Claregalway’s charges were led by former Mayo U20 manager and county player Maurice Sheridan and Corofin’s Kieran Murphy.
There was a boisterous atmosphere outside the Dome with both colleges showing real school spirit. Flares were puffing out enough smoke to declare a new Pope, bodhrans clattered the beat of war and songs and psalms ripped straight from the Barclays Premier League hymnbook were rehearsed routinely.
“There’s only one Stephen Curley,” bellowed the Coláiste Baile Chláir faithful as they watched their full-forward pop over the game’s opening score from a free with 48 seconds played. The Castlebar crowd had a tune of their own for Gavin Forry, who responded in kind with a free of his own for Gerald’s. Daniel Fitzmaurice and Cillian Trayers added the next two scores for Claregalway, both coming after they turned over a Gerald’s man. These came either side of a Ryan Gibbons free.
It was mostly Claregalway in the ascendency and the opening goal of the contest came very much against the run of play. Cathal Keaveney sized up an effort from a long way out that dipped and met the outstretched palm of Cian Walsh. His light touch diverted the ball from the reach of Claregalway custodian Cillian Walsh and it nestled into the back of the net.
Dara Neary followed up with the first of his four fine points. Daniel Fitzmaurice added his second of the half and Neary replied once more, this time finishing off a flowing move with Cian Walsh providing the final pass. Eanna Monaghan put a free between the sticks and a Ryan Gibbons double from frees brought the half to a close with St Gerald’s ahead by four.
It took until the 38th minute and then the 43rd for both teams to register their opening score of the half, as Gerald’s began to slow things down. Eanna Monaghan popped over a free for Claregalway, every point now a much-needed shot in the arm for the Galway men. Gavin Forry, now operating in the backs, was still on free-kick duty and kept the gap at four.
The Claregalway goal came out of the blue and it was a wake-up call for Gerald’s, who had been slowing things down a bit too much. Stephen Curley’s free rattled the frame of the goal and came back out to Ryan Flaherty, who gleefully smashed it in.
This turn of events did not rattle Gerald’s and they showed tremendous composure to extend the gap to four. Gavin Forry added his third free and 60 seconds later, Dara Neary scored another howitzer under a lot of pressure from a Claregalway man. He marked an inspirational day of shooting, in which every point seemed better than the last, with a score on the 59-minute mark.
With four minutes of added time, some hope began to creep in for Claregalway and Eanna Monaghan’s 61st-minute point put them within punching distance of St Gerald’s. Some fracas saw a free awarded to Claregalway from extremely close range and Monaghan was the man to step up and take it. Facing a wall of fifteen men on the line, he smashed it goalwards but it was blocked by one or two flailing Gerald’s limbs. Ryan Flaherty sent a pass back towards the danger zone but it went over the bar instead to leave the gap at two points. Sean Rabbette kicked it out and Dermot Lyons blew time on an epic Connacht schools final.
