Fenagh St. Caillins Vs. Allen Gaels

First Half:

Dramatics in Carrick on Shannon as Fenagh scored a late injury time point to leave it all square after a pulsating and nail biting 60 minutes, which was not for the faint hearted.

In recent years the Championship meetings of Allen Gaels and Fenagh have been very tight affairs with usually very little between the two teams. This didn't look on the cards as Allen Gaels tore into Fenagh and by the 22nd minute had placed themselves in a very commanding position with a 7 point to 3 point lead, the Fenagh points coming from the boots of two of the Flynn brothers, Niall and Brendan.

Further disaster for Fenagh in the 23rd minute when Adrian Cullen grabbed a goal for the Gaels. It didn't look good for Fenagh, as they were now 7 points down. Crucially, it was Fenagh whom responded with a terrific 45 yard point from Patrick Guckian followed by another point from Ciaran Duignan in the 26th minute. This left the half time score as 1-07 to 0-05 in favour of Allen Gaels.

Second Half:

The half time talk did the trick as Fenagh completely dominated the second half cutting Allen Gaels scoring to only two points. By the 15th minute the men of the red and black had the score reduced to 2 points at 1-08 to 0-09. Veteran T.P. McLoughlin entered the game 5 minutes later and this introduction further spurred Fenagh on as he responded with a lovely point on 25 the 25-minute mark. Allen Gaels seemed to realise their precarious situation and like Champions struck back with their second point of the half by Gareth McWeeney on 28 minutes to bring the gap back to 2 points. However, Fenagh grabbed hold of the game and responded immediately with a point by Ciaran Duignan.

One point in it and the clock ticking Fenagh threw everything they had into attack. The crowd sensed an equaliser and after some lovely play an opportunity arose for Fenagh on 30 minutes, but the fisted attempt went wide of the upright. Into injury time and still Fenagh fought and in the 32-minute were awarded a free from just over 50 yards out from the Allen Gaels goal. Up stepped Ciaran Duignan, who placed the ball on the ground. The Fenagh supporters prayed, the resulting kick was just long enough as it crept over an outstretched Allen Gaels hand and over the bar for a dramatic equalising point. Fenagh supporters rejoiced and their hearts beat again.

A worrying factor for Fenagh was their number of wides. Fenagh St. Caillins had 12 wides to Allen Gaels 6. Something to work on for the Fenagh side as they find themselves with a deserved second shot at last years County Champions.

Team: Francis Duignan, Bobby O'Rourke, Killian McLoughlin, Joseph Conefry, Ray Tubman, Johnny McGovern, Padraig Flynn (0-01), Niall Flynn (0-02), Peter Guckian, Dara Barden, Donal Leydon, Brendan Flynn (0-02), Patrick Guckian (0-01), Raymond Greenan, Ciaran Duignan (0-05). Subs: T.P. McLoughlin (0-01) for Barden, Anthony Gill, Gerry Butler, Peter Honeyman, Paul Gill, Paul Conefry, Joe McDermott.