GAA Roundup Eire Og, Kilmacud draw again in Leinster

By Mark Jones

As the clubs once again dominated the GAA program, provincial football titles were up for grabs in Leinster, Connacht and Munster last weekend. The end product was a fixture headache for officials with Ballina Stephenites the only outright winners and replays the order of the day elsewhere.

Eire Og 0-7, Kilmacud Crokes 0-7

Eire Og of Carlow and Dublin’s Kilmacud Crokes are certainly getting intimate in Leinster as their replayed Leinster final finished level once more. This time it was 0-7 apiece at a sodden Tullamore where the Eire Og faithful had to wait until the fourth minute of injury time before Anthony "Muckle" Keating lofted over a dramatic equalizing point.

Extra-time had been scheduled but the combination of a treacherous playing surface and rapidly fading light meant that the second replay was eventually fixed for Jan. 31 at Newbridge.

Kilmacud supporters must have felt that the title was on its way to south Dublin when Ray Cosgrove pointed in the closing stages. However, in an uncanny rerun of the first decider when Keating had leveled matters with a late free, he came off the bench to repeat the performance.

Neither team was to blame for a dour contest as the game was played on what looked more like a swamp, and despite the tardiness of Keating’s priceless score, a draw was probably the fairest result in the circumstances.

Doonbeg 1-8, Moyle 2-5

In Munster, Doonbeg of Clare and the Tipperary champions, Moyle Rovers, couldn’t be separated on a scoreline of 1-8 to 2-5. If Leinster had its share of drama, this was a thriller right until Doonbeg’s Francis McInerney struck for a sensational equalizing goal with the last kick of the game.

Moyle Rovers’ supporters had already begun their celebrations at the Gaelic Grounds when Declan Conway started a move down the left which was finished in style by McInerney, who unleashed an unstoppable shot past Moyle’s goalkeeper, Seamus Delahunty.

In a nerve-tingling last quarter, Doonbeg had looked well beaten when they trailed by 5 points with just 6 minutes left. Their full-back Kieran O’Mahony had been sent off for a foul on Moyle dangerman Declan Browne, who had already accounted for 1-3 of his side’s total, but, incredibly, they fought back to wipe out the deficit.

First, Paul Hehir found the range with a free, then Senan Hehir kicked a point to narrow the gap to 3 before McInerney pounced for the score that left Moyle Rovers in a state of shock.

Ballina 1-10, Roscommon Gales 1-10

At least there was a clear-cut result in Connacht, where Ballina Stephenites took the title for the first time in their history with an emphatic 1-10 to 0-6 victory over Roscommon Gaels.

Ballina made their intentions clear right from the start and at the end of a blistering opening 20 minutes they had run up 1-5 without reply. On a soaking Ballina day when scores were hard to come by, some of the winners’ football was first class. When Paul McGarry blasted his shot into the top corner of the net, Roscommon were in serious trouble.

Prompted by Liam McHale and Brian McStay, who was making his fifth return journey from Boston of the club season, Ballina had matters under control despite the best efforts of Alan Nolan and Clifford McDonald for Roscommon.

There was a poignant moment when Ballina’s captain, Brian Heffernan, lifted the newly constituted Shane McGettigan Memorial Cup, named after the 21-year-old Leitrim footballer who was killed in a construction accident in Boston during the summer.

County finals

The appalling weather couldn’t prevent two county football finals from going ahead and Round Towers triumphed in Kildare, 2-8 to 0-4, over Clane, while Stradbally got the better of The Rock in the Laois decider on a scoreline of 0-8 to 0-5.

Kilkenny prevails

With intercounty action limited to just one game in Div. 2A of the National Football League, Louth made a few rare headlines when they went to the top of the division with a 3-14 to 1-2 victory over Kilkenny at Drogheda.

Rathnure 1-13, Portlaoise 1-6

If last weekend’s countrywide downpour made it difficult for the footballers, then spare a thought for the hurlers of Rathnure and Portlaoise, who slugged it out in the Leinster club final at Nowlan Park.

Not surprisingly, it was no occasion for silken skills, but the famous Rathnure club of Wexford weren’t too bothered as they pocketed the title for a record sixth time, 1-13 to 1-6.

Portlaoise were in touch at the interval, trailing by only 1-7 to 1-4 after Austin Codd and Brian Bohan exchanged goals, but Rathnure pulled away during the second half as Paul Codd made the difference with five frees in succession.