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After weathering an early storm in its goalmouth, the two-time champion Harps made it three Bronx Women’s Soccer League titles in a row Saturday with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over the Parlour Moms at Van Cortlandt Park.

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

Galway are through to the All-Ireland football championship quarterfinals following last Sunday’s fourth-round victory over Cork in the qualifying series at Croke Park. So all is well way out west? In fact, despite this victory, manager John O’Mahony and his players are worried men. Ten points clear at one stage, but pegged back to just a single score in the second half, unconvincing is a polite description of Galway’s stuttering passage.

"We were very poor," admitted a bewildered O’Mahony, "and that sort of performance simply won’t be good enough when we start meeting the big boys in the championship."

Whether O’Mahony was referring to Roscommon, his team’s next opponents in a re-run of their Connacht clash, was not clear, but he, and everyone in the county, knows major improvement is needed.

Cork’s total eclipse in the first half, following their Munster final loss to Kerry, was if anything, even more puzzling. A massive 1-7 in arrears before they realized this was the lastchance saloon for the summer, Larry Tompkins’s men finally woke up to mount a courageous challenge, but they had left themselves far too much to do.

Fionan Murray’s point made it 1-10 to 1-9 with six minutes remaining and the comeback of the season still had some momentum. However, Galway managed to steel themselves for one last push and they picked off four scores through Padraic and Tommy Joyce, to add to a couple of late points by impressive substitute Matthew Clancy.

While Galway had no excuses for their mid-game slump, Cork’s preparations had been marred by tragedy. A brother of substitute Kieran Daly was killed in a car accident just hours before the match and both Kieran and his Ilen Rovers clubmate, Fachtna Collins, who was also due to be on the bench, left the panel and returned to Cork immediately the news was delivered.

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"It was all very upsetting and it put things in perspective in a big way," said Tompkins. "We desperately wanted to win the game for Kieran and his family, but early on we made elementary mistakes. I was proud of every one of the lads after their second-half performance, but we were lackluster and I don’t know why because we were certainly up for the game."

So too were Galway in an extraordinary opening 20 minutes. Points rained in on the Cork defense from every angle as Michael Donnellan, Padraic Joyce and Jarlath Fallon hit their best form. And when Sean Og de Paor intercepted a loose pass by Brendan Jer O’Sullivan to dribble through and steer the ball into the net soccer style, storm clouds were gathering over Cork’s summer.

But their revival was soon sparked by a well-taken Murray goal and with both Ciaran O’Sullivan and Micheal O’Sullivan picking up some possession around midfield, Cork were making inroads into Galway’s lead. But apart from several good moments, there were too many wides and Joe Kavanagh twice had goal chances which he disappointingly failed to convert.

"Had we been playing Kerry or Meath, we’d have been beaten by seven or eight points," admitted Padraic Joyce. No one in the Galway camp was disagreeing.

Dublin 3-17, Sligo 0-12

Sligo have had it good this season and last Sunday, in this novel fourth-round qualifier pairing, they had an opportunity to build on their historic Croke Park win over Kildare. Except Dublin had other ideas, and after the Connacht county had run into a firestorm of scoring early in the second half, their glory days were over.

Ahead by just a point at the interval, Dublin were somehow transformed on the restart. With a lethal burst that left, the Sligo defense wondering what had hit them, Dessie Farrell and Ciaran Whelan both smacked home goals and there was also a couple of quick points from Declan Darcy and Coman Goggins. In the space of five minutes, the margin had ballooned to nine points and the visiting supporters’ thoughts had begun to wander to the contents of the bar on the train back home.

In those highly impressive moments, the fears that Dublin might have carried overbearing self-doubt into the game were washed away; the Leinster final defeat by Meath consigned to history. "We didn’t sulk during the week," said manager Tom Carr. "This performance was bit of a backlash. I know a lot of teams have struggled having to play six or seven days after a defeat, but we didn’t buy that. We’ve always been fit enough to play two games in a week."

With Enda Sheehy and Declan Darcy introduced to strengthen the right flank, and with Shane Ryan producing the goods at corner-back, for once Dublin appeared to have the right shape about them. Farrell too was in vintage form, picking off a total of 1-4 and generally making life difficult for his marker, Philip Gallagher. Sheehy struck for a third goal midway through the second half and for the first time this season it was easy to sense the optimism oozing out of Hill 16.

Sligo’s resistance was epitomized by the excellence of Paul Durcan at midfield, while Dessie Sloyane kicked five frees. But once Dublin got into their stride, Peter Ford’s team had no answer. Ford had told his players that Croke Park was a great place to win but a horrible place to lose. At least this summer, they’ve experienced both feelings. As for Dublin, their thoughts now turn to the old enemy Kerry.

Westmeath 1-14, Mayo 0-16

(after extra time)

If anyone sees fit to criticize the new qualifier system, they can’t have been at Hyde Park last Saturday to witness a sensational Westmeath success in extra time. Substitute Damien Gavin landed the killer punch with a fisted point with two minutes remaining and Mayo had to endure the pain of another defeat in the dying seconds.

If Roscommon’s late goal to clinch the Connacht title had been hard to enough to swallow, this was more heartbreak for Mayo. But, significantly, it was never-say-die Westmeath who finished the stronger to score the last three points of this memorable contest.

As for Gavin, who captained the county minors to the 1995 All-Ireland title, he showed admirable composure as he soloed from the half-back line. As Mayo’s jaded defenders afforded him too much space, Gavin could have panicked and gone for goal, but to his credit he calmly sent over the decisive point. Praised by manage, Luke Dempsey for waiting patiently on the bench until his chance came, Gavin’s dramatic score has already gone into Westmeath sporting folklore.

"We kept plugging away," Dempsey said. "We didn’t know if we’d be able to overturn a two-point deficit, but that shows the spirit in the group."

Westmeath didn’t look as if spirit was needed as they raced into an early five-point lead with Ger Heavin once again leading the way. So far with a grand total of 1-24 to his name in the championship, Heavin must surely now be nominated for an All-Star and he was given marvelous support by Rory O’Connell, who had an outstanding game in midfield.

Heavin set Michael Ennis up for a goal and Westmeath were 1-6 to 0-6 in front at the break. However, Trevor Mortimer and Kieran McDonald at last began to find their form, and the winners had to rely on a couple of late scores by Paul Conway and Heavin to send the game into extra time.

"We’re bitterly disappointed; this is the second time in three weeks that we’ve lost a close game," said Mayo’s manager, Pat Holmes. "But we didn’t get far enough ahead to win, but what can you do, that’s sport. There’s no county who’ll fancy meeting Westmeath now."

Meath are next in the quarterfinals, and if that is to be the end of the line for Westmeath, this has already been an epic journey.

Derry 1-14, Cavan 2-7

Predictable? Yes, in a word. Overwhelmed by Derry’s lightning fast start, Cavan’s second goal came with a couple of minutes before full-time at a stage when they were already well beaten. In fact, this fourth-round qualifier at Clones was effectively over after a quarter of an hour, by which time the winners had laid down a marker. From then on, the resistance was sporadic and ultimately futile.

During their high moments, Derry were irresistible as Anthony Tohill rediscovered some of the form that once made him among the best footballers in Ireland. Ahead by six points before Cavan could muster a decent shot, a watching Kerry manager, Paidi O Se, could have have upped and gone home because the pattern of dominance had been established.

Once they drew breath, Cavan were able to mount several promising attacks, but their forwards found Sean Martin Lockhart in an uncompromising mood at the heart of Derry’s defense.

"It was really all over after 20 minutes, we’d done enough by then," said manager Eamonn Coleman. And any lingering hope of a Cavan revival ended at the start of the second half when Tohill surged through for a goal his performance richly deserved. "For me, he’s the best player in the country," Coleman said.

Anthony Forde, at center-back, and midfielder Dermot McCabe fought the good fight for Cavan, but they were simply outclassed and the four-point margin was extremely flattering. Knocked off course by Tyrone in the Ulster championship, Derry are now plotting revenge in the quarterfinals.

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