Super Strokestown conquer Connacht!

 

AIB Connacht Club IFC final

Strokestown 4-11 Kilmeena 0-14

 

Seamus Duke at MacHale Park, Castlebar

 

Producing a performance that far surpassed anything that we had seen from them this year, Strokestown swept to a historic Connacht IFC title triumph in swashbuckling style at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park last Sunday.

Indeed the nine-point winning margin does not flatter Strokestown at all as they dominated this game throughout, with some scintillating attacking football from pillar to post.

Criticism of their previous displays in the middle of the field clearly stung. On this occasion, Strokestown dominated that sector from the first whistle with Fionn Cusack and Colm Neary rampant. They overwhelmed the highly rated Kilmeena midfield duo of inter-county star Jack Carney and Kevin Ryder and it gave them a platform from which to provide their attack with plenty of ammunition.

But this was a real team performance from the black and amber. Niall Curley was superb when needed between the posts. The half-back line of Davy Neary, Sean Mullooly and Colin Compton drove their team forward brilliantly throughout.

In the forward-line, the Strokestown attackers were out in front of their men from the start. Kilmeena just couldn’t cope with Strokestown’s teamwork and accurate passing. The Roscommon champions scored some superb points and bagged four goals into the bargain, and it could have been six or seven were it not for some heroic last-ditch Kilmeena defending.

On a bitterly cold, breezy day, Strokestown played with the aid of the wind in the opening half. The early exchanges were evenly contested and by the 11th minute Strokestown led by 0-4 to 0-3. Mikey Kavanagh had kicked two points from distance, while the other Strokestown points came from Diarmuid McGann and Shane McGinley (all from play).

Strokestown were getting on top, particularly around the middle third, and the goal they were threatening to score came in the 13th minute. Shane McGinley took a quick free and released Stephen Tighe who sold a brilliant dummy to his marker before passing to the inrushing Colin Compton, with the Strokestown captain making no mistake.

Less than five minutes later, Strokestown were in for their second goal. Kilmeena goalkeeper Paul Groden miscued an attempted clearance, sending the ball straight to Colm Neary, who found Diarmuid McGann. A Kilmeena defender knocked the ball free, but Shane McGinley was there to fire the loose ball to the net.

Points from Kevin Finn (free) and Stephen Tighe added to the Strokestown lead by the 22nd minute. Kilmeena answered with points from John McGlynn (free) and Liam Moore, but Strokestown were very much in command.

Just before the break Kevin Finn was black-carded for a foul on Jack Carney. John McGlynn pointed the subsequent free. Strokestown went in at half-time leading by 2-9 to 0-8.

There was a blow for Kilmeena as their Mayo senior star Jack Carney was not able to take the field for the second half due to an ankle injury (he had collided with a teammate three minutes before the half-time whistle).

It could be argued that Strokestown won this final in the ten minutes after half-time. Down a man and facing into the strong wind, Pearse McGinley’s side held on to possession brilliantly and denied Kilmeena any time and space on the ball. In fact KIlmeena did not score at all when Strokestown were down to 14, and Keith Murphy’s point in the 38th minute added to their lead.

A two-pointer from Stephen Staunton and a fisted point from Colm Hastings suggested a brief revival from the Mayo side, and by the 44th minute the score was 2-10 to 0-11.

But back to their full complement, Strokestown turned on the afterburners and pulled away again. In the 48th minute Colin Compton released substitute Cathal Lavin, and although his shot was parried by Groden, Lavin recovered possession and set up Stephen Tighe who fisted to the net.

Strokestown were coasting now and in the final minute of normal time Shane McGinley, who turned in his best performance of the championship, smashed a piledriver off the crossbar. Sub Evan Moran was following up and made no mistake from close-range for his side’s fourth goal.

Kilmeena added a couple of points in injury-time and indeed Niall Curley made two fine saves to keep his clean sheet intact before referee Ronan Hynes blew the final whistle.

So another Sunday, and another super performance from a Roscommon club team against Mayo opposition. In the preview to the game in this newspaper last week we suggested that if Strokestown found their ‘A’ game they were well capable of winning this Connacht title. They certainly did that.

They now face Ulster opposition in the All-Ireland semi-final and on the evidence of this display it will take an exceptional team to defeat them. Colin Compton raised the Gene Byrne Cup in the stands at MacHale Park on Sunday to the delight of the big Strokestown following. Gene was a great Roscommon GAA man. He would certainly have approved of what we saw last Sunday.

Teams & scorers

Strokestown: Niall Curley; Dillon Casey, Dylan Owens, Timmy Gibbons; David Neary, Sean Mullooly, Colin Compton (1-0); Fionn Cusack, Colm Neary; Mikey Kavanagh (0-2), Kevin Finn (0-2, frees), Shane McGinley (1-3, 1 2p); Diarmuid McGann (0-2, 1 free), Keith Murphy (0-1), Stephen Tighe (1-1). Subs: Cathal Lavin for Murphy (42), Seanie McDonnell for Finn (48), Cian Corcoran for Cusack (48), Luke Kelly for Kavanagh (52), Evan Moran (1-0) for Tighe (55).

Kilmeena: Paul Groden (0-1, ’45); Luke Durkan, Ciaran Kilcoyne, John Ryan (0-1); Colm Hastings (0-1), Stephen Staunton (0-2, 2p), Jack Mulchrone; Jack Carney (0-1), Kevin Ryder; Cormac O’Malley, Darragh Slattery (0-1), Ronan O’Donnell; Darragh Keaveney, John McGlynn (0-3, frees), Liam Moore (0-2). Subs: Daniel Kelly for Carney (h/t), Conor Kelly (0-1) for O’Malley (38), Brian Durkan (0-1) for McGlynn (41), Aaron Murray for Staunton (54), Conor Feehan for L Durkan (58).

Referee: Ronan Hynes (Sligo).

Stat Attack

Red cards: 0

Black cards: Strokestown 1 (Kevin Finn, 30); Kilmeena 0

Yellow cards: Strokestown 1 (Dillon Casey); Kilmeena 1 (Luke Durkan)

Wides: Strokestown 4 (1, first half); Kilmeena 8 (2, first half)

Attendance: Approx. 2,000

Man of the Match: Shane McGinley (Strokestown)

‘Players wanted it and gave it everything’

 

Seamus Duke

 

Strokestown manager Pearse McGinley wore the grin of a very contented man as he reflected on the celebrations at MacHale Park after a superb display from his team in last Sunday’s Connacht IFC final.

“Oh I’m absolutely thrilled with that. That was the best performance of the year by a mile. We knew coming in here we were ready, the players wanted it and they gave it everything.”

The manager said that recent criticism of the way his team were playing at midfield was not accurate.

“Everybody was writing that we weren’t playing well in midfield but we have huge work rate in midfield. We might not be catching the cleanest of ball but the work rate of our lads was brilliant.”

Pearse said that Strokestown had serious focus when they came out for the second half with a player less than their opponents – and also facing into the wind.

“The big thing coming out was that the lads said ‘we will control the first 10 minutes of the second half’. Control it and keep the scoreboard ticking… and we ended up getting two more goals in that second half.”

Indeed Strokestown’s goal-scoring prowess in this provincial final was key to their victory.

“We were in a couple of times and could have got more, but they were outstanding to a man today. They deserve everything they get” their manager said, adding that the work put in by the players this year has been “phenomenal.”

‘Today it clicked’

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Seamus Duke

 

Strokestown captain Colin Compton felt that although they had won the Roscommon Championship and qualified for the provincial final, there was still a big performance due by the team.

“We felt that even though we won the championship, we mightn’t have hit top gear. I don’t know why, but it didn’t quite click up to now – but today it clicked.

“It was coming. We knew it was coming but we just had to be patient. We said on Friday night that if we turned up we would come out on top and that is what happened.”

Colin said that it was a very disciplined performance from his team.

“I thought we managed the game very well. We were tidy in our play. It wasn’t perfect but I thought we were very efficient in what we were doing. We were solid defensively and we were disciplined. We didn’t give much away and then when we got the goal chances, we stuck them (away).”

Colin had a special word of praise for midfielder Colm Neary.

“When you have Colm Neary fetching ball, running and tearing everything up, it takes about three men to stop him, so when you have a player like that and you are down to 14 or 13, you can give him a ball and he can get you out of bother at any given stage.

“We had the quality to tackle the challenge and we were able to manage that 10 minutes (after half-time) quite well and it gave us a psychological advantage when Kevin (Finn) was coming back in. It stood to us in the end” he concluded.

Neary reflects on ‘unbelievable’ win

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Seamus Duke

 

One of the linchpins on the Strokestown team is experienced defender Davy Neary. When he spoke to the media in the aftermath of Sunday’s big win, he suggested that the team’s midfield partnership had received a lot of unfair criticism in recent months.

“I thought that our midfield today was absolutely unbelievable. There was a lot written about them and said about them. Last week we felt in midfield we were on top. We won 60 per cent of the kickouts and people were still writing them off, but Colm (Neary) and Fionn (Cusack) absolutely dominated there today and laid the foundation for us so I am just so happy for the two boys.”

Davy said that they were determined not to let Kilmeena establish a lead early in the second half, at a point when Strokestown were down a man.

“We spoke about that at half-time and how big of a psychological blow it would be if we could keep our lead. We didn’t even need to extend it, we just said if we could keep it at arm’s length and not let them pull anything back on us. I am very happy with how we managed that.

“We could have got a couple more scores, looking back on it. I’m delighted to come away with a nine-point win. You can’t ask for any more than that.

“That is our first Connacht title at adult level as a club” Davy reflected, noting that a lot of the Strokestown players had won a minor Connacht title a few years ago.

“So to be able to go and add one at adult level is unbelievable. It is just so good” he concluded.