Battling Lough Allen College undone by Castlerea

A battling and fully committed Lough Allen College gave their all in last Friday's Mezzino Connacht PPS Senior F Championship Final but eventually the greater class and scoring power of a wasteful Castlerea Community School proved too much in the University of Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome.

The Drumkeerin school competed manfully for every ball and battled as if their lives depended on it from the first whistle to last. Coached by Damien Butler, Lough Allen College got everything they possibly could out of themselves - unfortunately, it wasn't enough against a Castlerea side brimming with talent but without a clinical finishing edge.

The  Roscommon school, who featured three dangerous forwards in Dara, Kaylum & John Curran, created a succession of goal chances but poor finishing, finishing that was replicated in a litany of wides and misplaced passes, meant that the dominance they enjoyed out the field was not reflected on the scoreboard.

Credit Lough Allen College for quite a bit of that - they never gave up, got back in big numbers and clogged up the attacking lanes. They did, admittedly, live on the edge at times with a couple of intercepted kickouts not being punished, but the Leitrim school made a lot of their own luck.

A disciplined and fully committed Lough Allen hung on in this game through sheer force of will but they couldn't overcome the sheer volume of chances the Roscommon school created throughout the contest. The Drumkeerin lads certainly tried and made life difficult but there was just too many chances before the dam broke.

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Given the size of the school and their pick, even by Leitrim standards, it was a remarkable achievement by the Drumkeerin based school with their players drawn from three Leitrim clubs in Drumkeerin, St Patrick's Dromahair and Ballinaglera and one sole Roscommon representative from St Ronan's. 

A battling Lough Allen College had quite a few players who impressed - wing-backs Jamie Gallagher and Luke Fitzmaurice, full-forward Oisin Conlon, Niall Torsney but it was hard to look beyond Gavin Gallagher as a player of real quality. For a wasteful Castlerea, Liam Finneran, the three Currans in attack, Cormac Beatty and Jamie Dowd stood out for the winners

The game was originally fixed for Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada but was moved over concern for the pitch and that didn't help the Drumkeerin school who arrived 20 minutes before the throw-in time

Oisin Conlon got Lough Allen College off to a flying start with a fine score on the turn after just 10 seconds but the tone of the game was soon set as Castlerea saw a Cormac Beatty shot saved. Drumkeerin were creating chances with Gavin Gallagher putting a shot wide, with a touch for a fifty before Conlon saw his effort blocked.

John Curran opened Castlerea’s account with a good point on five minutes after an intercepted Drumkeerin kickout but Gavin Gallagher replied with a point after good work from Jamie Gallagher.

The Lough Allen College team defeated by Castlerea CS

Castlerea had four wides but also two points from Cormac Beatty, a goal possibly on, and John Curran before Luke Fitzmaurice burst through for a fine point after a lovely dodge from Gallagher on 15 minutes.

But the Roscommon school were finally beginning to find their shooting boots with Dan Curran firing over two good points. Gallagher stopped the rot for Lough Allen when his dangerous free was tipped over the bar by an alert Abdul Sattar in the Castlerea goal.

Castlerea began to make their dominance pay with two points from Kaylum Curran and one from John Curran but they could have rued a missed goal opportunity from John Curran when he intercepted a Drumkeerin kickout and drove the ball inches wide with the goal at his mercy.

It looked a bad miss when Luke Fizmaurice’s shot broke in the area and Niall Torsney drove low and hard to Castlerea net to leave Lough Allen College trailing 0-7 to 1-4 at the break despite the Roscommon school dominating proceedings.

Oran Doogan had an early second half shot blocked before Dara Curran extended the Castlerea lead. Lough Allen almost broke through for a second goal but Sattar advanced off his line swiftly to stop Oisin Conlon’s shot, albeit with a footblock that landed him a yellow card and a converted Conlon free.

Dara Curran then missed two attempts for points and had a shot saved by Lough Allen keeper Ben Harte but he made amends when Castlerea broke up a Drumkeerin move, broke at speed and found the number 10 who finally breached the Lough Allen last line of defence.

Kaylum Curran fisted over on 12 minutes to extend the lead to five points and despite a well worked point from Jack Hession for the Leitrim school, Castlerea began to put a bit of daylight between the teams with two points from Jamie Dowd.

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John Curran missed another goal chance for the Roscommon school before a point from Kaylum Curran and a fabulously executed goal from Cormac Beatty put the game completely beyond Lough Allen College’s reach with less than nine minutes to go. Luke Fitzmaurice did put the ball in the Castlerea net but was penalised for two hops on his way through before Oisin Conlon converted a free. John Curran and Conlan swapped points, the Dromahair youngster’s shot tipped over by Sattar.

Cormac Beatty finished his team’s scoring with less than two minutes to go. Credit Lough Allen College for refusing to lie down, Gallagher seeing a free punched out with a Conlon follow-up saved by Sattar at the expense of a fifty. From that poorly hit fifty, the ball came to Conlon who finished well to the net for an injury time consolation goal.

LOUGH ALLEN COLLEGE

Scorers: Oisin Conlon 1-4, 2f; Niall Torsney 1-0; Gavin Gallagher 0-2, 1f; Jack Hession & Luke Fitzmaurice 0-1 each

Team: Ben Harte (Dromahair), Tadhg Fallon (Drumkeerin), Adam Davis (St Ronan's), Danny McGreal (Ballinaglera), Jamie Gallagher (Drumkeerin), Niall Torsney (Drumkeerin), Luke Fitzmaurice, (Dromahair) Callum McTeigue (Drumkeerin), Alan Drugan (Drumkeerin), Oran Doogan (Drumkeerin), Gavin Gallagher (Drumkeerin), Cuan O’Tonra, Jack Hession (Drumkeerin), Oisin Conlon (Dromahair), Daithi McPadden (Dromahair). Subs: Dean McTiernan  (Drumkeerin) for O’Tonra (48); Daniel McTeigue  (Drumkeerin) for McPadden (56); Oisin Kelly (Dromahair) for Harrison (59)

CASTLEREA CS

Scorers: Dara Curran 1-3; Cormac Beatty 1-2, 1f; Kevin Curran & John Curran 0–4 each; Jamie Dowd 0-2, 1f

Team: Abdul Sattar, James Hawkshaw, Daniel Diggins, Ross Flynn, Dillon Keane, Liam Finneran, Shane Larkin, David Higgins, Jamie Dowd, Dara Curran, Cormac Beatty, Kevin Hester, Kaylum Curran, Sean Vaughan, John Curran. Subs: Jack Dolan, Ciaran Kilkenny, M Keane, Daniel Woods, Eoghan Soares