Gavin O'Shea, Dr Crokes, and Ciarán Quinn, Errigal Ciarán, in AIB All-Ireland Club SFC Semi-Final action at Cedral St Conleth's Park in Newbridge, Kildare. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
AIB All-Ireland Club SFC Semi-Final
Errigal Ciarán 2-18 Dr Crokes 1-18
By Kevin Egan at Cedral St Conleth's Park
There were lingering traces of snow and ice visible in the hedgerows and ditches on the way to Newbridge, but there was no doubt, the thaw had come. Moreover, the pristine playing surface at the newly refurbished Cedral St. Conleth’s Park was ideal for this AIB All-Ireland senior semi-final.
The soil had warmed up, and for those who were privileged enough to either be there or to tune into TG4 for live coverage will have found their hearts grow warmer still after this magnificent encounter.
In Ballygawley, this will be forever remembered as a magical day for the Errigal Ciarán club, while the heartbreak in Killarney will be the overwhelming emotion for a long time to come – but both clubs can be immensely proud of the thrilling sporting spectacle that they produced.
This was the perfect example of two elite club sides each forcing each other to raise their game as the contest progressed, and two clubs digging deep to find ways to meet the challenges that were laid down in front of them.
Errigal Ciarán were a little bit more predictable, but for Dr. Crokes, it was one thing to know that the game plan was to get the ball into Ruairí and Darragh Canavan, it was quite another to be able to counteract that. The two brothers were in mercurial form throughout, picking off an array of elegant scores. In the first half in particular, the word ‘flawless’ could reasonably be deployed. Eight shots yielded eight points, three each from play and two frees from Ruairí, both of which were awarded after he drew fouls from Crokes defenders.
On the Dr. Crokes side, Micheál Burns was arguably as effective as either of the two Canavans, though his power came from a place of indefatigability, as opposed to stylish elegance. He was the heart and soul of the Crokes attack, with Tony Brosnan adding the surgical touch of accuracy, both in his playmaking and his dead ball shooting.
0-8 to 0-7 in favour of the Ulster champions was the state of play at half-time, while Errigal will wonder what might have been if Tiarnán Colhoun hadn’t stumbled at just the wrong time on a fast break out of defence in stoppage time, forcing Peter Harte to delay his pass and draw an overcarrying call when Dr. Crokes were in disarray defensively.
A secondary positive effect to the Canavans playing so well was that it forced Gavin White and Fionn Fitzgerald to concentrate on their defensive marking duties, restricting their influence as driving forces going forward. However, Crokes looked that bit stronger at midfield in the second half, kicking three of the first four points of the period to take a narrow lead with a little over ten minutes played.
Cue another moment of sheer magic, with Ruairí Canavan playing an immaculate pass over the heads of the Errigal defence into the path of Darragh, whose finish was so precise that it would have squeezed through a basketball hoop right in the top corner of the Dr. Crokes goal.
A two-point lead with such a potent breakaway threat should have been the sign for Errigal Ciarán to control the game from there, but they didn’t reckon with the relentless grit of Dr. Crokes, who were soon back on terms, 1-9 to 0-12 with 10 minutes to play.
What remained was an enthralling finale to the hour, with one side and then the other taking the lead, climaxing when Burns shot a score under pressure that was worthy of winning any game, only for Peter Óg McCartan to go one better than his Ulster final winner when he hoisted over a sensational equaliser from outside the 40m arc with the last kick.
Nobody wanted it to end, but neither did either side deserve to lose. It felt appropriate then that in extra time, the winner was decisively better. Joe Oguz spotted a gap in traffic and picked out the top corner of the net for the decisive score, with Darragh and Ruairí Canavan, Mark Kavanagh and Ben McDonnell also on the mark to stretch the lead out to six.
Charlie Keating drove a low shot through a crowd of legs to make sure no-one‘s heartrate dropped for the last 60 seconds, but a final hit-and-hope was collected and cleared by Aidan McCrory, confirming Errigal’s incredible, momentous win and their passage to Croke Park.
Scorers for Errigal Ciarán: Darragh Canavan 1-6, Ruairí Canavan 0-7 (2fs), Joe Oguz 1-1, Pádraig McGirr 0-1, Peter Óg McCartan 0-1, Ben McDonnell 0-1, Mark Kavanagh 0-1.
Scorers for Dr. Crokes: Tony Brosnan 0-8 (7fs), Micheál Burns 0-5 (1f), Charlie Keating 1-0, Brian Looney 0-2, Cian McMahon 0-1, Mark O’Shea 0-1, David Shaw 0-1.
Errigal Ciarán: Darragh McAnenly; Cormac Quinn, Aidan McCrory, Ciarán Quinn; Tiarnán Colhoun, Niall Kelly, Peter Óg McCartan; Ben McDonnell, Joe Oguz; Ciarán McGinley, Peter Harte, Thomas Canavan; Ruairí Canavan, Darragh Canavan, Odhran Robinson.
Subs: Mark Kavanagh for T Canavan (44), Pádraig McGirr for Robinson (53), Ronan McRory for Colhoun (60+4), Eoin Kelly for McCartan (70), Dermot Morrow for Quinn (70), Peter Óg McCartan for McGinley (78).
Dr. Crokes: Shane Murphy; Maidhci Lynch, Gavin White, Fionn Fitzgerald; Evan Looney, Michael Potts, Brian Looney; Mark O’Shea, Charlie Keating; Micheál Burns, Gavin O’Shea, Tom Doyle; Tony Brosnan, David Shaw, Cian McMahon.
Subs: Kieran O’Leary for Doyle (39), Daithí Casey for McMahon (47), John Payne for Keating (48), David Naughton for Cox (53), Alex Hennigan for Shaw (60+1), Cian McMahon for Burns (69), Michael Potts for B Looney (73), David Shaw for G O’Shea (74).
Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare).
