Stars win eventful U20 final

U20 Division 2 Football Championship final

Kingscourt Stars 2-9

Cootehill Celtic 1-11

On Friday night last on the 3G pitch Cootehill and Kingscourt not only had to battle each other but they also had to fight the driving wind and rain a December match can bring. The game had the good, the bad and the ugly with some great passages of play mixed with a sprinkling of mistakes and a late melee that showed too much of the ugly.

As a contest the game was always close and could have gone either way right up to the final whistle with Cootehill holding a single point lead at the break before Kingscourt rallied to hit four unanswered points in the final quarter to win. With the strong winds blowing into the town end, neither side managed to master the weather as wides with the breeze were frequent.

Cootehill, playing with the wind in the first half, opened the scoring with a Kian Cooper point after an initial shot hit the post. After Kingscourt squandered three scoring chances, Cootehill doubled their lead with a Jake Whyte free which he won after being fouled off the ball.

On the 11th minute Whyte sent over his second free with his trusted left foot to give Cootehill a three-point advantage. Kingscourt hit their first score a minute later when a shot for a point dropped short and as Conor Ward competed for the ball with the Cootehill keeper and a defender in the air, he gathered possession between them, landed, turned, and tapped the ball into the open net.

Cootehill soon restored the lead with a beautifully hit long-range point from Ben McGahan with the wind meaning he had plenty of distance to spare. Damien McCormack levelled matters as the second quarter began with a left-footed point after a dummy from his right.

With 11 minutes remaining in the half, Caoimhín Magee’s speed and excellent ball control saw him transition the ball from the Kingscourt defence to attack in a heartbeat. As he approached the Cootehill 20-metre line he slipped a pass to Michael McKeon who tucked the ball into the back of the net.

Now trailing by three, the Celts wasted no time in their comeback effort with Whyte pointing his third less than a minute later. Christian Hennessy curled over a long range point for the green and whites and when McGahan blasted over a monster, it had taken Cootehill less than three minutes to cancel out the Stars’ second goal.

Michael McKeon edged Kingscourt back ahead with a close-range free on the 24th minute but a sweetly-hit point from 40 metres on the left foot of Eli Argue squared matters for the fourth time. With the game in first half injury-time, Kian Maguire, Hennessy and Argue combined to set up Whyte for a point before Padraig Sheridan sounded the half-time whistle.

The would-be winners opening the second half with a point inside 30 seconds when the powerful Cormac Yore split the posts. Conor Ward did the leg work for Michael McKeon to edge Kingscourt into the lead with a point on his left foot after two minutes. McKeon, now playing with confidence ,flicked the ball up with his right foot on the run before being taken down. The free on the 20-metre line a yard off the right sideline was judged to perfection by McKeon’s left foot.

Cootehill, now having to run the ball against the wind, were finding it hard to break down the Kingscourt defence. A shot from Christine Hennessy dropped in on the 13 meter line and when the ball broke Eli Argue had judge the break best and flew in on goal to place the ball low to the back of the net giving Cootehill back the lead.

With 11 second half minutes played Cootehill took a two point lead when Hennessy blasted a shot into the wind to raise a white flag. Kingscourt, having looked to have mastered the wind in the first five minutes of the second half, lost the blueprint and added a flurry of missed chances before Joe McCormack ended a 14-minute wait for their sixth point.

Cootehill almost bagged a second goal when midfielder Mark Farrell shot but Tom Martin got a hand to the ball to force it off the crossbar and back into play. Kingscourt immediately went on the counter-attack and levelled the sides through a Damien McCormack point.

With less than a minute of ordinary time remaining, Aaron Shekleton took advantage of half a yard of space given to him to convert a close-range shot to give Kingscourt back the lead for the first time since the eighth minute of the second half.

With the game well into injury-time a skirmish broke out in front of the stand with a lot of players and some extras getting involved. It took a couple of minutes to calm things down before referee Padraig Sheridan sent off Michael and John McKeon from Kingscourt and Adrian McDonald and Garreth Gilbert from Cootehill ,leaving just 22 players on the field to finish the game.

With almost eight minutes of injury time played, Cootehill were awarded a penalty after some great work by Mark Farrell. With two points separating the sides, Whyte stepped up knowing a goal would win the game for Cootehill but his shot went marginally over the bar. With the ball in the air from the resulting kick-out, the final whistle sounded with Kingscourt a single point ahead.

Kingscourt Stars: Tom Martin, Lorcan Gogarty, Michael Pienaar, Ryan Carolan, Aaron Shekleton(0-1), Caoimhín Magee, Cormac Yore(0-1), Damien McCormack(0-2), Liam Sherlock, Conor Ward(1-0), Joe McCormack(0-1), Paddy Power(0-1f), Michael McKeon(1-3,2f)

Subs: John McKeon for L Sherlock, Noah McCormack for J McCormack

Cootehill Celtic: Adrian McDonald, Garreth Gilbert, Aaron Comiskey, Kian Maguire, Rian Delaney, Christian Hennessy(0-2), Ben McGahan(0-2), Mark Farrell, Eli Argue(1-1), Kian Cooper(0-1), Callum O’Reilly, Evan Maguire, Jake Whyte(0-5,2f,1p)

Subs: Hubert Koziol for C O’Reilly, Zak Sherlock for E Maguire.

Ref: Padraig Sheridan