Fourteen man Edenderry bounce back in final quarter to progress to final

Edenderry saved the best until last as they produced an excellent final quarter to come from behind and seal a place in the final of the Offaly Junior ‘A’ Football Championship with a five point victory over Doon in the semi-final played in Durrow on Sunday last.

Tullamore Court Hotel Offaly Junior ‘A’ Football Semi-Final

EDENDERRY 1-9

DOON 0-7

Doon led by 0-6 to 0-5 when Edenderry were reduced to 14 men after 44 minutes when Joe Bergin was dismissed for an off the ball incident but the West Offaly men were unable to utilise their man advantage and over the remainder of the game were outscored by Edenderry by 1-4 to 0-1. Indeed Doon had a two man advantage for most of the final 10 minutes after Gary Blong received a black card but they were unable to break down the Edenderry rearguard and began to run out of ideas towards the end.

Edenderry defended well in that latter quarter and then broke quickly on a number of occasions to snatch scores which put daylight between the sides. They had received a huge boost of the game’s only goal shortly after going down to the 14 men and that instilled great confidence in them while seeming to knock some of the heart out of Doon.

The early stages of the game were tight with both sides guilty of making a lot of mistakes and giving the ball away too easily. They were level twice in the first quarter before Edenderry went two clear but Doon hit the final two points of the half to level it at 0-4 each at the break.

Doon also hit the first two points of the second half and at that stage seemed to be taking control but Edenderry ended a long scoring drought with the next score but were then reduced to 14 men. Straight after the water break they levelled and within a minute hit the net for the only goal of the game and they pushed on from there.

Credit to Edenderry for sticking with it and lifting their game when the odds seemed to be against them and they definitely finished the stronger side. Goalkeeper Eric Corcoran made two excellent saves, one in each half, while Cathal Farrell, Peter Butler and Darragh Farrell played well in defence, Jack Brady became more of an influence as the game went on and Sean Moriarty, Ciaran Nolan and sub Derek Kelly did well in attack.

Doon will be disappointed. They had a lot of possession but weren’t able to turn that into scores. They had a couple of goal chances but were denied by Eric Corcoran. Mark Gaffey, Robert Enraght Moony and Luke Keenaghan tried hard in defence, Niall Kelly did well around the middle of the field when introduced early in the game, and Conor Mannion, Darragh Egan and Nathan Gavigan did well in the forward line.

It took eight minutes for the first score to arrive when Conor Mannion pointed for Doon. Ciaran Nolan quickly replied and Jamie Dolan then put them in front from a free but Conor Mannion ended a good move with a levelling point after 14 minutes. Sean Moriarty and Jamie Dolan put Edenderry two up but two late points from Nathan Gavigan, one free and one mark, left it 0-4 each at half time.

Further points from Conor Mannion and Darragh Egan had Doon two up seven minutes after the break but Joe Bergin replied with a point after 10 minutes for Edenderry. However four minutes later he was red carded after an off the ball incident after the referee consulted with his umpires and it was 0-6 to 0-5 at the water break.

Straight after the resumption Jack Brady kicked a great point and when the kick out went straight to him, he linked with Conor Hynes and Derek Kelly and his pass across the goals was flicked to the net by Sean Moriarty. He added a further point and although Willie Healy pulled one back, Doon kicked three wides in a row, which could have levelled matters, and late points from a Sean Moriarty free and Derek Kelly sealed the win for Edenderry.

MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

EDENDERRY: Eric Corcoran; Jim Bergin, Cathal Farrell, Briain Nolan; Peter Butler, Paul Hanlon, Darragh Farrell; Bobby Reynolds, Jack Brady; Joe Bergin, Sean Moriarty, Les Nolan; Ciaran Breen, Ciaran Nolan, Jamie Dolan. Subs. Conor Hynes (for Les Nolan, half time), Derek Kelly (for Sean Moriarty, half time), Gary Blong (for Jamie Dolan, 36 mins), Sean Moriarty (for Ciaran Breen, 47 mins).

DOON: Mark Langtry; Mark Gaffey, William Healy, Ross Enraght Moony; Robert Enraght Moony, Keith Hamilton, Luke Keenaghan; Eoghan Hennessy, Nathan Gavigan; Conor Mannion, Jason O’Shea, Cormac Gavin; Sean Keenaghan, Ciaran Brazil, Darragh Egan. Subs. Niall Kelly (for Eoghan Hennessy, 12 mins), Ben Egan (for Ross Enraght Moony, 54 mins), Micko Kelly (for Cormac Gavin, 55 mins).

REFEREE: Paurig Gallagher

MAN OF THE MATCH

It was a bit of a mixed day for Sean Moriarty but he ended up having the biggest impact on the game. He did well enough in the first half and kicked one point but was replaced at half time. However he returned at the second half water break and a minute later struck for the decisive score and added two more points after that to finish the game’s top scorer and steer his side to the final.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Edenderry trailed 0-6 to 0-5 at the second half water break having only scored one point in the previous 22 minutes and they were down to 14 men, but within two minutes of restarting after that break they had hit 1-1 and the whole complexion of the game had changed and they were able to maintain their grip from that until the end.

REFEREE WATCH

Paurig Gallagher drew the ire of the Doon crowd, particularly in the first half, as a free count did go against them 12-5 in that period. It did seem that Doon had to work a little harder to gain a free but overall most of his decisions were correct. He consulted with his umpires before issuing a red card to Joe Bergin and twice allowed play to progress before going back to issue black cards for offences in the previous phase of play.

TALKING POINT

Doon failed to make use of their numerical advantage in the latter stages. For most of the last 10 minutes they had two extra men with Edenderry having players red carded and black carded at that stage but it was difficult to pick out the extra men and in fact Edenderry broke very effectively in the latter stages for late scores. Doon’s build up play was quick enough at that point and that allowed Edenderry to get enough players back to crowd them out.

WHAT’S NEXT

Edenderry advance to the Junior final where they will take on Tullamore. Doon’s season comes to a disappointing end when they had such high hopes beforehand, having topped their group unbeaten, including a first round victory over Edenderry.

VENUE WATCH

Durrow hosted this semi-final very well. The pitch was a little slippy after overnight rain but held up well. Parking was well organised and there were enough stewards on duty to cope with the crowd.

STATISTICS

Wides; Edenderry 11 (5 in first half) Doon 7 (2 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Edenderry 0 Doon 1 (Conor Mannion)

Black Cards: Edenderry 1 (Gary Blong) Doon 1 (Mark Gaffey)

Red Cards: Edenderry 1 (Joe Bergin) Doon 0.

THE SCORERS

Edenderry; Sean Moriary (1-3, 0-1 free), Jamie Dolan (0-2, 0-1 free), Ciaran Nolan, Joe Bergin, Jack Brady and Derek Kelly (0-1 each).

Doon; Conor Mannion (0-3), Nathan Gavigan (0-2, 0-1 free, 0-1 mark), Darragh Egan and Willie Healy (0-1 each).