Ballymore/Two Mile House amalgamation win thrilling Minor 'B' final
Matthew Galvin scores a goal for St Oliver Plunketts Photo: James Lawlor
St Oliver Plunkett’s edged past a gallant Naomh Bhríde outfit after extra time in an absorbing Manguard Plus Minor Football B Championship Final at Cedral St Conleth’s Park on Saturday afternoon.
If the game was played next year we would have had penalties, but Plunkett’s goalkeeper Cillian Gilroy was the late hero in tipping Oisín Molloy’s two-point attempt over the bar to see the Ballymore Eustace/Two Mile House combination home by a single point, having surged four points ahead earlier in extra time. Under new FRC rules that will count as a two-pointer in 2026.
St Oliver Plunkett’s got off to a perfect start with wing-forward Fionn Coyle Connolly clipping the ball past Daragh Looney in goal for the Ellistown/Nurney side within twenty seconds of the throw-in.
Naomh Bhríde replied with a close-range Harry Donnelly free before man-of-the-match Matthew Galvin replied from play for Plunkett’s and after nine minutes the men in maroon added a two-point free from goalie Cillian Gilroy to go 1-3 to 0-1 ahead.
A remarkable two-minute spell then brought three quickfire goals. Donnelly slotted low inside Gilroy’s post and from the restart Naomh Bhríde were in again when Cillian Boyle finished neatly into the top right corner.
That put Naomh Bhríde ahead 2-1 to 1-3 but Plunkett’s went straight down the other end and Galvin soloed through to clip the ball past Looney for their second goal to put them back in front.
Remarkably, after that burst we went nine minutes without a score, but in keeping with the pattern up to that point it was another goal, a third for the Naomh Bhríde men, with TJ O’Loughlin beating the Plunkett’s ‘keeper to a Conor McBrien point attempt which dropped short.
Plunkett’s settled with points from play from Galvin and Darragh O’Boyle before a close-range free from Donnelly left them level at 3-2 to 2-5 at half-time.
Plunkett’s were wasteful in the second half, and it developed into a nip-and-tuck affair. By the three-quarter mark Plunkett’s were a point clear at 2-9 to 3-5 thanks to points from a Seán Dowling ’45 struck brilliantly into the wind, a brace from flying wing-back Eddie Diver and a free from Darragh O’Boyle, with Donnelly responding with two and Scott Lavin with one for their opponents.
The scoring dried up in an understandably nervy final quarter, but Donnelly landed a two-point free to send his side one point clear before O’Boyle and Galvin replied. With four minutes left Donnelly landed another free, from inside the ‘D’ to bring the game to extra-time (3-8 to 2-11), thanks in part to a couple of late misses from the Plunkett’s side.
Only one winner looked likely for much of extra time with the eventual winners scoring four of the first five points to leave them 2-16 to 3-9 ahead shortly after the interval, Fionn Stewart Byrne coming to the fore with three of those points, added to by Patrick Kennedy and the ever-willing Galvin. Corner back Charlie Cullen responded for Naomh Bhríde.
Remarkably, though, the winners failed to score again and a two-pointer from Theo Hanlon, the international shot-putter, brought the gap down to two points with four minutes left. Into the last minute, Molloy’s two-point attempt almost brought it to penalties but Gilroy’s tip over was enough to hand the title to the boys in maroon.
Cillian Gilroy 0-2 (tpf); Cameron Cullen, Billy Cross, Michael Fisher; Eddie Diver 0-2, Seán Dowling 0-1 (’45), Conor Quinn; Harry Mahon, Patrick Kennedy 0-1; Matthew Galvin 1-4, Fionn Stewart Byrne 0-3, Fionn Coyle Connolly 1-0; Thomas Forde, Peter Murphy, Darragh O’Boyle 0-3 (2fs). Subs: Matthew Kiely for Fisher h-t, Aidan Gilroy for Kiely 70, James Dowling for Murphy 77.
Daragh Looney; Aaron O’Loughlin, Andrew O’Donnell, Charlie Cullen 0-1; Donnacha McCormack, Oisín Molloy 0-1, Ben Doyle; TJ O’Loughlin 1-0, Conor McBrien; Theo Hanlon 0-2 (tp), Scott Lavin 0-1, Mikey Farrell; Seán Murphy, Harry Donnelly 1-7 (0-2 tpf, 0-4fs), Cillian Boyle 1-0. Subs: Daragh Murphy for Farrell 55, Connell O’Loughlin for Doyle 63.
Alan Archbold.
