St Brigid’s keep great season alive with terrific win over fancied Kildare opponents

St. Brigid’s are the last Offaly football team standing in 2026 thanks to a moment of magic – or maybe a moment of outrageous good fortune – from Alan Scally. The midfielder’s incredible strike killed off a late surge from St. Kevin’s at the end of a thrilling contest in Daingean, and ensured that the lights will stay on for training in Croghan for at least another fortnight.

AIB Leinster Club Junior Football Championship quarter-final

St Brigid's 2-12

St Kevin's (Kildare) 1-11

Whether midfielder Seán Briody and key attacker, Cian Donohoe are fit to return for their trip to Wexford remains to be seen but with or without that duo, this group will make that road trip with sky high confidence after they saw off a balanced and lively St. Kevin’s side, who went into this game of making it three Kildare winners of this championship in the space of just four years.

Scally himself gave a wry smile as he said “I wanted to keep it on target anyway,” when asked about his 25 metre strike that rocketed into the top corner of the net with a minute of normal time to play. Regardless of his intent, it was the final killer blow to a mounting St. Kevin’s resurgence.

The absence of Briody and Donohoe robbed Laz Molloy and his selectors of a lot of their depth and that was undoubtedly part of the reason why the home bench got a total of nine minutes on the pitch (seven for Bobby Troy and two for Aaron Kennedy), while St. Kevin’s had four non-starters on the pitch going into the closing ten minutes.

That injection of energy saw the Kildare champions kick three points in a row to go from 1-12 to 0-8 behind, to a much more manageable four-point deficit.

As they have done all year however, the St. Brigid’s defence largely held firm, and when a breakaway attack ended with Scally’s score, they had the leeway to concede a late goal to a James Ralph penalty and still advance.

That the Croghan club were seven points clear going into that end-to-end finale owed a lot to their superior execution of the basic skills of the game and their ability to thrive in a match that was full of intensity and contact.

The turnover count was high on both sides, but even as they maintained a very narrow shape going forward and so had to complete their passes in tight spaces through a congested defence, St. Brigid’s retained the ball in contact that bit better, while putting a considerable squeeze on Keith Fitzharris’ kickouts for St. Kevin’s.

After the first four possessions all ended in turnovers and then Thomas Mooney’s opening shot was sent wide, St. Brigid’s settled into the game to dominate the opening 20 minutes.

Dan Molloy stepped forward to score a point and set up a goal chance for Mooney that was fired into the foot of the post, and after St. Kevin’s hit back with the next two points, St. Brigid’s went on a 0-6 to no score run.

Aaron McDermott was a little fortunate with his two-point kick that bounced over the bar after Fitzharris slipped as he came out to gather it, but there was nothing lucky about the scores that were kicked by Molloy and Scally, while Mooney opted to punch another one over the bar instead of going for goal, keeping the momentum going.

St. Kevin’s hit back with three scores – one from outside the arc – in as many minutes, but they too had left goal chances behind them, most notably Kevin Ward’s low effort that was pulled with when he just had Liam Fox to beat.

Fox kept it much more simple with his restarts and that suited St. Brigid’s perfectly, who had a distinct size advantage with Molloy and Scally at midfield. They too were creating chances for green flags and when Molloy and McDermott combined to put through James Lynch, the wing back made no mistake with his low shot, making it 1-7 to 0-7 at half-time.

Impressive St. Kevin’s midfielder Jamie Smyth opened the scoring after half-time but the match was effectively won in the next 15 minutes or so, when St. Brigid’s picked off five points without reply. Three of them came directly from St. Kevin’s kickouts, two from McDermott, while in the middle third, their tackling was ravenous and effective, perfectly walking the line of legality as marked down by Enda Kelly.

The inevitable surge from St. Kevin’s did come and the majority of possession in the final quarter was theirs, but they needed to take more out of the St. Brigid’s lead than they did. Miscues on a couple of very scorable frees, including one from the 20-metre line straight in front of the posts, meant they were still chasing the game late on, and thus vulnerable to quick counter-attacks.

Scally’s emphatic finale to one of those attacks ensured that a fantastic year for the Croghan club has at least one more chapter to be added.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Jamie Smyth (St. Kevin’s): You could make a case for Dan Molloy, who was always positive and effective. Alan Scally’s physical presence was crucial, Cameron Egan marshalled the edge of the square superbly and Liam Cocoman seemed to be stuck into every tackle and there to support every St. Brigid’s player in possession. There were heroes all over the pitch for the winners, but no individual on the home side was as good as the St. Kevin’s midfielder.

Smyth was up and down the pitch relentlessly, adding three points and constantly breaking open the St. Brigid’s defence. Kevin McNamee and team captain Mark Grace also put in a very impressive shift for the Kildare champions.

THE SCORERS

St. Brigid’s: Dan Molloy 0-4 (0-1f), Aaron McDermott 0-4 (1tp), Alan Scally 1-1, James Lynch 1-0, Thomas Mooney 0-1, Ethan Hannon 0-1, Evan Rigney 0-1.

St. Kevin’s: James Ralph 1-1 (1-0 pen, 0-1f), Jamie Smyth 0-3, Declan O’Flaherty 0-2 (tp), Jamie O’Brien 0-2, Kevin Ward 0-1, Mark Grace 0-1, Barry Noone 0-1f.

THE TEAMS

ST. BRIGID’S: Liam Fox; Ronan Swords, Cameron Egan, Odhran Briody; James Lynch, Ronan Doyle, Ethan Hannon; Dan Molloy, Alan Scally; Evan Rigney, Dillon Donoghue, Liam Cocoman; Aaron McDermott, Thomas Mooney, Ben Kennedy. Subs: Bobby Troy for Donoghue, 57 mins; Aaron Kennedy for Rigney, 60+1 mins.

ST. KEVIN’S: Keith Fitzharris; Niall Keane, Diarmuid Smyth, Alan Bennett; Kevin McNamee, Mark Grace, Enda Keane; Dylan Brereton, Jamie Smyth; James Ralph, Tom Barron, Cormac Noone; Kevin Ward, Declan O’Flaherty, Jamie O’Brien. Sub: Conor Gordon for Bennett, 37 mins; Conor Murray for Noone, 46 mins; Barry Noone for Barron, 46 mins; Conor Brady for O’Brien, 50 mins; Aidan Ralph for Ward, 57 mins.

Referee – Enda Kelly (Castledaly, Westmeath).

REFEREE WATCH

The travelling St. Kevin’s supporters grew increasingly vociferous in their condemnation of Enda Kelly’s refereeing as the game went on, but aside from missing one robust tackle from Ethan Hannon – which subsequently was spotted by the linesman, leading to a yellow card - the Westmeath official simply let the two teams compete physically for the ball, leading to a hard and enjoyable championship encounter. It could be argued that this approach favoured St. Brigid’s, given their profile and style, but Kelly was completely consistent and reasonable from start to finish.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

For drama and impact, it could only be Alan Scally’s late goal. St. Brigid’s might have been four points up when he rattled the top corner of the net from over 20 metres out, but they were tiring fast against a young and lively St. Kevin’s side that had a deep bench.

VENUE WATCH

Daingean was the perfect venue for this game, handy for both clubs and with the pitch in good order. There was ample stewarding as well, to ensure easy management of parking and supporters.

WHAT'S NEXT

It’ll be a long road trip for St. Brigid’s next time out, as they’re fixed to travel to Wexford side Oylegate-Glenbrien in a fortnight for the semi-final. Wexford senior hurlers Mike Kelly, Shane Reck, Séamus Casey and Páidí Casey are all key players for a team that has racked up comprehensive wins over Beann Éadair (Dublin) and O’Hanrahan’s (Carlow) so far in this championship.

STATISTICS

Wides: St. Brigid’s – 7 (4 in first half); St. Kevin’s – 6 (1 in first half).

Yellow cards: St. Brigid’s – 2 (Hannon 40mins, Kennedy 45mins); St. Kevin’s – 0.

Black cards: St. Brigid’s – 0; St. Kevin’s – 0.

Red cards: St. Brigid’s – 0; St. Kevin’s – 0.