Connacht Gold Roscommon MFC Division One final
Pádraig Pearses 2-16 Roscommon Gaels 2-12 (after extra-time)
Kevin Egan at Ballyforan
The lights in Ballyforan had to go on long before the end of Friday evening’s county minor final, but it felt like there was no need to waste the increasingly valuable kilowatts, because from the very first few minutes this game was illuminated by the brilliance of John Price.
The wiry and elusive centre-forward, who marked himself out as a hugely promising prospect when he picked up player of the match honours in last year’s Connacht minor final win over Mayo, produced another majestic display of scoring to set Pádraig Pearses on their way to their fifth ever Roscommon MFC title and their first since 2015.
Roscommon Gaels had the greater balance, they had impact off the bench, they had more possession and they had a greater array of different ways to attack Pearses, but none of that could compensate for Price’s ability to make something special happen and bend the game to his will; most importantly for his second goal, scored with eight minutes to play in normal time.
At this stage Roscommon Gaels were on a run of 1-5 unanswered, with substitute Sam Hannon transforming their fortunes and helping push the town side six points clear.
The screw was turning, but one wonderful moment was about to transform this contest. Seán Finneran and Aaron O’Connell both did incredibly well to work the ball up the right-hand sideline from Niall Doran’s kickout, but Price still had three defenders to beat when he took the ball on at full speed. He kept two very sticky defenders in Daniel Fleming and Eli Okambawa at bay while getting his shot off just as Adam Killian came sprinting across to try and execute a block.
From a tight angle on the 13m line, Price’s strike was inch-perfect, fired low across Andrej Anic into the bottom corner. Once Aidan Óg Gallagher followed up with the next point, the momentum of the tie had well and truly shifted back in Pearses’ favour.
Two Daniel Goode frees, the second of which was awarded for a trip on Price, levelled the game and despite a couple of hairy moments for both defences, extra-time was on the cards.
Noah Glennon and Seamie Carthy traded points at the start of overtime but Price once again stepped up approaching half-time in extra-time, striking two frees, one from outside the arc, to give Pearses a little bit of breathing room.
The Gaels were unlucky to lose Adam Killian to injury at that stage as the joint captain had been pivotal to their play, but they also can look inwards when they conduct their post-mortem as they just left too many chances behind them, while Pearses also fared much better at addressing the weaknesses that materialised in the opening half. In contrast, the fires that were burning a hole in Roscommon Gaels’ chances of winning were allowed to blaze away.
A sensational start where Price kicked a point off either foot and then intercepted a high-risk lateral sideline ball from Daithi Kelly to slam in a goal gave Pearses five points worth of breathing room, but by half-time it was Roscommon Gaels who led a low-scoring encounter, and they were full value for that narrow advantage.
Killian, Darragh Killeen, Daithi Kelly and Michael Byrne were all pulling their weight and more in the kickout battle, with Niall Doran only able to connect with a red jersey when he opted for short restarts. On most occasions when he did that, the ball was turned over before it found its way through to the dangermen at the other end.
Cian Kiernan was an excellent ‘out ball’ for Roscommon Gaels close to goal but the real cheat code was the towering presence of David King on the edge of the Pearses square. The attacker, who had deceptively good hands and feet to go with his altitude, scrambled in a goal and generally caused carnage when the right ball was sent his way, and this became one of the problem areas that Pearses had to address.
The decision to switch Seán Finneran and Jason Carty worked well in at least stemming the tide as Finneran fared much better on King – albeit the rangy forward still ended up with 1-4 – while Carty helped to balance the scales in the middle when he got stuck into breaking ball skirmishes.
Euan Kelly and Donnacha Monaghan were others who were throwing themselves into the fray to try and give Pearses a bit more possession, and four of the first five points of the second half went the way of the boys in red.
Price landed a two-point free that was awarded for a foul on Enda Browne, but while the Roscommon county wing-back showed flashes of his running ability, it was still patently clear that he wasn’t at full strength while he played his first competitive football match since the All-Ireland quarter-final against Derry.
Meanwhile Roscommon Gaels kept Sam Hannon in reserve, and once he was introduced, his impact on the game was immediate.
Fellow sub Eoin Naughten got the Gaels back to within a point from a tricky angle on the right wing, then Hannon hoisted over a two-pointer before sending in another high ball that yielded a point for King.
In the space of 20 seconds Roscommon Gaels turned a save from Andrej Anic at one end into a goal for Hannon at the other, facilitated by Daniel Nerney’s pinpoint long ball and Cian Kiernan’s slick turn and pass to set up the rolling finish. With a six-point cushion, it was going to take something truly special to prevent the Gaels from taking over from Castlerea as county kingpins at this age grade.
Fortunately for Pádraig Pearses, a truly special player was on the cusp of delivering a truly special moment that would definitively change the course of this final.
Pádraig Pearses: Niall Doran; Keelan Doran, Jason Carty, Patrick Barrett; Seán Finneran, Euan Kelly, Enda Browne; Emmet Killeen, Jack Brooks; Donnacha Monaghan, John Price (2-9, 2tpf, 0-1f), Aaron O’Connell; Noah Glennon (0-1), Aidan Óg Gallagher (0-1), Daniel Goode (0-5f). Subs: None.
Roscommon Gaels: Andrej Anic; William Godfrey, Conor McNeill, Eli Okambawa; Daniel Fleming, Adam Killian, Daniel Nerney; Darragh Killeen (0-1), Michael Byrne; Daithí Kelly, Seamie Carthy (0-4, 1tpf, 0-1f), Cathal Nerney; Cian Kiernan, David King (1-4, 0-1m), Sam Walsh. Subs: Sam Hannon (1-2, 1tp) for Walsh (37), Eoin Naughten (0-1) for Kelly (42), Walsh for C Nerney (64), Jack Finn for Killian (HT in ET), Darragh Donoghue for McNeill (79), Ronan O’Donnell for Kiernan (79).
Referee: Mark Grehan (St Brigid’s).
Stat Attack
Wides: Pádraig Pearses 7; Roscommon Gaels 15
Red cards: 0
Black cards: 0
Yellow cards: Pádraig Pearses 1 (Brooks, 58); Roscommon Gaels 2 (Fleming, 27; Carthy, 74)
Player of the Match: John Price (Pádraig Pearses)
