U21A Football Championship Final
St Brigid's 3-13
St Gall's 1-14
At Woodlands
ST BRIGID'S dethroned holders St Gall's after a frantic and enthralling affair to claim the U21A championship on Sunday afternoon at Woodlands.
Both clubs have been trailblazers at underage success in recent years with St Gall’s targeting two-in-a-row and St Brigid’s keen to add to their already glittering list of accolades. It should’ve come as no surprise that this one would be fireworks one week on from the fixture being cancelled due to a late pitch inspection.
The Musgrave Park men took full advantage of the elements as they racked up an eleven-point lead at the break with Joseph Logan in prolific form, firing two fantastic goals after the Biddies opted to play with the wind in the opening period.
Both Donncha and Brian McGurk showed their county prowess in the midfield and used the smaller pitch in Woodlands to launch multiple two-pointers as they began to assert dominance over the Milltown men.
Pádraig Óg Ó Muirigh gave St Gall's some hope with his first half free
St Brigid’s flew out off the traps and raced into a seven-point lead in the opening ten minutes. Donncha McGurk’s perfectly flighted effort from the forty-five brandished an orange flag before St Brigid’s fired in an early goal which came from a superb counter which allowed Joseph Logan to rifle his effort into the roof of the net.
Brian McGurk then demonstrated his own ability from range with another long-winded effort from well beyond the arc as the Biddies were making great use of the wind at their back and used it to full advantage as this final looked to be getting away from the holders.
St Gall's were giving as good as they got but just couldn’t make anything stick on the scoreboard whereas their counterparts had a Midas touch on the counter attack.
It took until the midway point of the first half for St Gall’s to break their duck as Pádraig Ó Muirigh tapped over a close-range free to give his side some much-needed respite.
St Brigid’s responded emphatically though as Rory McErlean saw white flags from a free before Brian McGurk doubled his two-point tally for the day with another effort which soared over from range.
The Biddies began turning the screw and complemented by a compact defence, it was proving a tough nut to crack but Callum Walsh managed to power his way through to slot over St Gall’s first from play with five remaining until the break.
Moments later, Liam Lynn added another as he rose highest to fist over Daniel Quinn’s flighted effort from the forty-five. Lynn would again reply for his side, but St Brigid’s finished the half with yet another score from full-back Sonny Doyle to give the Musgrave Park side a commanding eleven-point lead before the whistle was sounded at Woodlands.
The West Belfast club understood the task at hand in the second period, but with the heavy attacking artillery they had amongst their ranks they also knew they stood more than a fair chance of creating something special.
Danny Quinn's free kick-started the second-half momentum when he clipped his effort between the posts.
As all finals do, the tension began to build and proceedings were getting a little heated and in one such exchange St Gall’s were reduced to fourteen men when Gaireach Adams saw red which only made their uphill task became even trickier.
Despite having it all to do in the second half and being reduced to eventually 13 men midway through the half, St Gall's gave a fantastic account of themselves through largely the attacking quality on show from Daniel Quinn, who kicked four scores which saw orange flags raised for two, as they looked resurgent.
When Niall Fallon’s two-pointed effort found its mark, the gap was reduced to a single point with five minutes of normal time left on Colin Thompson’s watch, but the South Belfast side would steady the ship and use the numbers advantage to regain composure and momentum in the tie.
JJ Higgins found the net two minutes from the end with a clinical finish before Joseph Logan fired over another point to cap off a fine individual performance and seal the silverware for the men in white and blue.
Nevertheless, the men from Milltown seemed unfaltering in their comeback and used this as fuel in their attempts at clawing back the deficit.
Midway through the half, they got a lifeline as Oisin Maskey pounced to sweep the ball in off the deck with a beautiful curling effort from his left foot as the ball nestled in the roof of the net igniting hope for the Milltown faithful.
The margin stood, it looked as though it could be game on again but when a brawl ensued and Manus McCrossan was brandished with a red card it looked to spell the end of any hope.
A phenomenal first half performance from St Brigid's ultimately saw the title change hands, but with a bit more discipline within their ranks St Gall's will rue the chance of two in a row in the U-21 Championship which now calls Musgrave Park home for now.
St Gall's: C Óg Mullan; F McCullough, G McAdhaimh, C Hale; S MacAdhaimh, L Lynn 0-02, E Walsh 0-01; M McCrossan, O Maskey 1-0; D MacCrabhagain, D Quinn 0-7 (2xTP) P O’Muirigh 0-01; N Fallon 0-02 (1xTP) C Walsh 0-01, A Mackel
St Brigid's: L Cullinan; C Logue, S Doyle 0-1 T McKenna; A McNicholl, N Finnegan, C O’Connell; B McGurk 0-4 (1xTP) D McGurk 0-2 (1xTP) D Quinn 0-1, N Duffy, I Robinson 0-1 R McErlean 0-1, JJ Higgins 1-1, J Logan 2-2
Referee: Colin Thompson (St. John’s)
