Kelly’s the hero on joyous night for Jarlath’s
The St Jarlath's squad (Ballyhaunis and Eastern Gaels) pictured after their victory in Friday night's FBD Connacht Club U17 'B' football championship final win against Bearna na Forbacha at the Centre of Excellence in Bekan.
It was by the skin of their teeth that the amalgamation of Ballyhaunis and Eastern Gaels won a Connacht championship title on Friday night, with Adam Kelly’s two-point free in the penultimate minute of stoppage time the difference between the game going to extra-time instead.
It never looked as though it was going to be this difficult for St Jarlath’s to win this provincial U17 ‘B’ football final when they led 0-13 to 1-3 after 39 minutes, however, a determined fightback saw Bearna na Forbacha wipe out a six points deficit in the space of just three minutes at the tail-end of normal time. It was then though that Adam Kelly, a key member of the Mayo team that reached this year’s All-Ireland U17 semi-final, displayed his nerves of steel, defying the unedified jeers of the opposition to drive a match-winning kick between the Galway side’s posts from 45-metres off the ground.
In fact, Kelly had ended the game almost the way he started it, as it was his conversion of a ’45 in the opening minute that had set St Jarlath’s on their way. He added a point from a free in the sixth minute to cancel Bearna na Forbacha’s opener from Cian Vaux and then negated a point by Jack Watson with his first from play, to leave St Jarlath’s 0-3 to 0-2 ahead after fourteen minutes.
Kelly and midfield partner Eamon Flanagan were dominating the aerial exchanges and it was the latter who struck the game’s opening two-pointer after which a point from Fionn Conlon, off a superb delivery by Dara Flanagan, and a two-point free by Kelly saw St Jarlath’s, for whom this was practically a home game, lead 0-8 to 0-2 by the 21st minute.
Bearna na Forbacha ended a quarter hour scoreless spell with a point from a free by Tiernan Connolly but St Jarlath’s replied with two of their own inside a minute – John Jennings winning the opposition’s kickout to set-up scorer Liam Nolan who then turned provider for Fionn Conlon to score his second and leave the locals seven points clear.
The Galwegians grabbed a lifeline when their under-16 corner-forwards combined for a 26th minute goal, as Cormac Naughton exchanged passes with Cian Vaux before crashing the ball into the roof of Eamon Monaghan’s net. But even then the St Jarlath’s reply was emphatic, as Conlon scored a third point from play after which the second-half commenced with points by Nolan and Kelly to restore the Mayo side’s seven points advantage.
With weather conditions perfect and not a puff of wind at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence, it’s hard to explain why the heretofore prolific St Jarlath’s would go the next eighteen minutes without raising a flag but Bearna na Forbacha’s new found urgency was certainly part of the reason.
It took the outstretched leg of Monaghan in the 38th minute to deny Cian Vaux from scoring the visitors’ second goal but the latter and Tiernan Connolly did convert frees either side of a point from play by Jack Walsh, whose influence from centre-forward was growing all the time.
It had, however, looked something of a fatal blow to Bearna na Forbacha when they lost Naoise Geraghty to a black card, but their numerical disadvantage was short-lived as St Jarlath’s centre-back Cillian Caufield received a second booking and his marching orders in the 50th minute.
Eamon Flanagan and Adam Kelly did kick a point apiece to move St Jarlath’s 0-15 to 1-6 ahead but Geraghty’s return to the field handed Bearna na Forbacha the numerical advantage and in the three minutes that followed, their centre-back Luke Bradley kicked back-to-back points, Jack Walsh unleashed a thunderbolt to the St Jarlath’s net and Tiernan Connolly pointed an equaliser, just as the game entered into four minutes of stoppage time.
The Galway boys, however, undid all their hard work with bad options and indiscipline. A short kickout went awry and caused them to cough up a kickable free that Adam Kelly sent wide. But the St Jarlath’s maestro atoned in the best possible fashion, by winning back the ball from the next kickout to earn another free which this time he lashed over, landing the provincial prize for the East Mayo outfit.
Scorers – St Jarlath’s: Adam Kelly 0-2-5 (2tpf, 1 ’45, 2f), Eamon Flanagan 0-1-1, Fionn Conlon 0-0-3, Liam Nolan 0-0-2.
Bearna na Forbacha: Jack Walsh 1-0-1, Cormac Naughton 1-0-0, Tiernan Connolly 0-0-3 (2f), Cian Vaux (1f) and Liam Nolan 0-0-2 each, Jack Watson 0-0-1.
St Jarlath’s: Eamon Monaghan; Michael Dee, Tom Donnellan, Conor Smith; Seamus Comer, Cillian Caulfield, Zach Smith; Adam Kelly, Eamon Flanagan; Sean Donnellan, John Jennings, Liam Nolan; Dara Flanagan, Fionn Conlon, Michael Morley. Subs: Tomas O’Laighin (for Comer 46), Shay Guilfoyle (for Dee 50).
Bearna na Forbacha: Oisin Conroy; Evan Murphy, Ruairi O’Connor, Conal Keane; Naoise Geraghty, Luke Bradley, Robert Quinn; Jack Watson, John Brendan McDonnell; Tiernan Connolly, Jack Walsh, Tiarnan Clery; Cian Vaux, John Curran, Cormac Naughton. Subs: Diarmuid Faherty (for Clery 17, inj), Jack Kelly Greaney (for Curran ht), Tom Devlin (for McDonnell 38).
REF: Ronan Hynes (Sligo)
