Real work starts now for Grangenolvin
Grangenolvin's Dylan Costigan goes to ground to win possession Photo: Sean Brilly
There was no mistake by Grangenolvin as they rounded off Group A of the Tom Cross Transport Junior Football Championship with their fourth successive win in a comfortable, if unspectacular, manner.
There was no shooting the lights out that we have grown accustomed to from the likes of Fionn Bergin but this felt like a team getting the job at hand done in as unfussy a manner as possible before the bigger, season-defining challenges ahead.
Grange have been here before. This is the second season in a row that they have finished the group stages with a 100% record, and they have only lost two group games in the last four years, but they have fallen at the semi final stage in the last three Championships, two of those defeats coming against Kill.
So this was a big win for Grange against a side who have cause them so much pain in recent years, even if they did beat Kill in the quarter-finals in 2023 in between those semi-final defeats in ’22 and ‘24.
This time around, there was no cutting edge in this burgeoning rivalry between the two clubs. Kill knew their fate was sealed before the ball was thrown in and that they would be playing in the Junior ‘A’ Championship no matter what the result.
That showed in the gulf between the teams and when Paul Huntindon made it 2-13 to 0-5 in the 45th, Grangenolvin could really have pushed on won by more but they took their foot off the pedal in the final quarter.
They were always in charge of the first half and got particular joy from direct ball into the goalmouth area. Oran Bergin was a powerful presence there and he knocked down a high ball in the 19th minute to his brother Cillian who buried it to the net to make it 1-4 to 0-2.
Another of the Bergin brothers, Conall, then showed his talents when he kicked a brilliant two pointer off his right foot and then from just a step inside the two point arc nailed a long range one pointer off his left. There was also a fine two point score in the first half from raiding wing back Brian Cullen.
Conall Bergin’s midfield partner Keith McGloin showed his eye for goal once again in the last minute before half time when another high ball into Kill square broke kindly for him and gave Mike Jones no chance with a powerful finish.
That left it at 2-10 to 0-2 and really, Grange had their evening’s work done by then.
From a Kill point of view, they at least won the second half and that’s something they will take into the Junior ‘A’ Championship.
For Grange, they look imperious one again as they march into the last four but they go there with memories of a semi-final last year on the back of five wins from five in the groups but losing to a Kill team who had won only two of their five games.
They’ve been brilliant so far, but Grange will know that it’s only the warm up they’ve completed, their real work starts now.
Conor McMahon; Gavin Ivory, Paul Huntingdon 0-1, Keith Holligan, Lewis Gannon, Dyland Costigan 0-1, Brian Cullen 0-2 (1tp); Keith McGloin 1-0, Conall Bergin 0-5 (1tp); Ross Dooley, James Gannon, Cillian Bergin 1-0, Oran Bergin 0-1, Nathan Doyle, Fionn Bergin 0-3fs. Subs: Johnny Lawlor for Ivory, 37; Timmy Doyle for Dooley, 37; Wayne Dooley for Doyle, 45; Willie Clynch for McMahon, 45; Aaron Phelan for Cullen, 47.
Mike Jones; Ciaran Devoy, Justin Halligan, Aidan Coleman, Mark Lee, Kevin Corrigan, Owen Thompson; Alex Byrne, Finn Ryan; AJ Jordan 0-2 (1f, 1’45), Stephen O’Leary 0-1, Barry McHugh, James Kilbride 0-5 (1tpf, 1tp, 1f), Jake Nolan, Alan Wren. Subs: Paul Kirwan for O’Leary, 45; Cian Lawlor for Nolan, 49; Tom Markey for Thompson, 51; Liam O’Carroll 0-3 (1tp) for Wren, 56.
Michael Malone
