Senior/Junior Championship 1999

In a game that was expected to be a close affair, it was quite surprising when St. Caillins brushed the St. Marys challenge aside with relatve ease.

The game was played in wet condition at Cloone football pitch. The first half was entertaining and full of action. At the end of the 30 mins it was hard to say who would be the victor. A major talking point of this half was a St. Marys missed penalty. The second half was a different story to the first as St. Caillins turned on the style and totally outclassed the St. Marys team to end up convincing and deserving winners.

A very drab affair in Carrick for 50 mins of the game. Both teams never got going and were definitely capable of much more. St. Caillins led the whole way, the only thing between the two teams being luck, which for once seemed to be with the St. Caillins side. Disaster struck for St. Caillins with 10 mins remaining when Allen Gaels roused themselves and stormed into the lead scoring 1-2. With time running out it seemed as if St. Caillins were again on the receiving end of a hard-luck story. However, the St. Caillins team showed incredible determination and resolve to draw level and then to go on to win the match by two points in what was a heart stopping finale.

If there ever was a bananna skin for St. Caillins to slip up on in this years Championship then many people believed it would be this game. St. Caillins were facing a very youthful and inexperienced Bornacoola team whom just 3 years previously were playing Junior football. Indeed, I remember narrowly losing to them in a tightly contested match in the first round of the Junior Championship in Kiltubrid park that year (1996).

This game proved many peoples fears to be true with Bornacoola fighting tooth and nail to leave the game level after 60 mins. St. Caillins cause was not helped with an early 4th minute injury to star center-back Killian McLoughlin, and many hoped in the parish that he would recover in time for the replay.

If one team benefited from the first game then it must have been Bornacoola. The confidence they must have got from the first game did them wonders as they took the game to St. Caillins. They could do no wrong as they fired points over from all angles. St. Caillins seemed to be struggling and things looked bad when the St. Caillins defense gifted Bornacoola a goal. Fortunately for St. Caillins, every time Bornacoola looked like pulling ahead, they showed great confidence in a reply by scoring a goal. At the interval Bornacoola were just ahead. The second half gradually had St. Caillins exerting their dominance as Bornacoola seemed to tire. Points that in the first half would have been scored by the "Bors" were missed and in the end it was St. Caillins' day. The highlight of this game was St. Caillins ability to score goals at vital moments, and indeed 3 exellent goals were scored by St. Caillins. St. Caillins were again to have worries as star player T P McLoughlin went of towards the end of the match due to injury. With the County Final being fixed for the following weekend, the team did not have much time to recuperate from any injuries received.

Carrick played host to one of the most dramatic and controversial county finals ever seen within the county. Emotions surged during the dying moments of the game as dissapointment, anger and elation were felt by everyone.

The match was a poor and foul-ridden affair. It was only within the last 3 minutes that the game came alive and the spectacle which was witnessed by the crowd quite possibly will never be seen again. One of the most dramatic endings ever in a county final started with 3 minutes of normal time remaining. With St. Caillins losing by 2 points, Patrick Guckian got his hands on the ball and scored one of the best goals ever to be seen in a county final. Naturally, the St. Caillins fans were jubilant and especially so when Gerry Butler converted a free kick 1.5 minutes into injury time. We believed we had it, after all there was'nt much injury time to be played. The devastation that we felt 1 minute later when Glencar/Manor scored a dramatic winning goal can never be expressed. 2 more minutes were then played, but the damage had been done and Glencar/Manor held out for victory.

It was a bitter pill for St. Caillins as they felt justly hard done by. The ammount of injury time played was very controversial and some accused the referee of playing for a draw. It is obvious that another official is needed whom would take note of stopages.