Brave Mohill effort falls just short against St Brigid's

Mohill midfielder Conor Quinn catching the ball ahead of Ruaidhri Fallon and Eddie Nolan. Looking on is Mohill's Alan Armstrong. Pictures: Willie Donnellan

placeholder image — Mohill midfielder Conor Quinn catching the ball ahead of Ruaidhri Fallon and Eddie Nolan. Looking on is Mohill's Alan Armstrong. Pictures: Willie Donnellan

By PJ Leddy in Dr Hyde Park, Roscommpon

After what was the bravest of performances and a magnificent all round effort Mohill had to settle for a two points defeat by 2013 All-Ireland club champions, Roscommon's St. Brigid's at Hyde Park in Sunday's nail biting and full value for money Connacht club senior football championship semi-final.

Aided by the breeze Mohill outplayed St. Brigid's in the first half and managed to go in with a one point advantage at the interval, which should have been more, after the Leitrim men registered five wides against St. Brigid's two over the opening 30 minutes.

Mohill's first half work rate, game plan and excellent defending put favourites St. Brigid's on the back foot.

Despite going down to 14 players as the second quarter got underway for what was a very harsh black card decision against Domhnaill Flynn, Mohill adjusted admirably to the situation and curtailed St. Brigid's who only scored one point in this ten minute spell.

After the restart St. Brigid's with a strong wind advantage upped their game and put Mohill under an avalanche of consistent pressure, particularly in the third quarter.

But Mohill still coped well in this period when they were forced to play second fiddle with St. Brigid's only managing to level matters and then gain a one point advantage in this period when the Leitrim side was held scoreless.

Early in the final quarter a quick St. Brigid's up-field break dashed Mohill chances of making it to the Connacht final when the Roscommon side managed to work the ball to an unmarked Ciaran Sugrue close to Leitrim men's posts.

Sugrue scrambled the ball past Mohill goalkeeper Padraig Tighe to the net for what proved to be the score that would put St. Brigid's through to next month's Connacht final against Corofin.

Despite this setback and after going five points adrift at this stage Mohill continued to battle on to the end when throwing everything into the fire as they gamely tried to turn the tables on St. Brigid's.

The fact that Mohill shot three unanswered in approximately the closing eight minutes which reduced St. Brigid's winning margin advantage to just two points when the final whistle was sounded clearly demonstrates that the Mohill men left it all out on the field when this Connacht semi-final's curtain finally came down.

From the start of Sunday's Hyde Park encounter Mohill set out their stall clearly and deservedly grabbed an early lead when Keith Beirne after good build up play by his teammates fired over a well taken third minute point.

But St. Brigid's made it level pegging when Bobby Nugent tapped over a free.

Mohill responded well and won a free outside the 45 metre line some four minutes later from which Keith Beirne clinically split his opponent's uprights to get his side's noses in front.

However St. Brigid's Bobby Nugent made it even Stephen again when he pointed a 13th minute placed ball. Two minutes later Keith Beirne got Mohill back in front for a third time when registering his first point from play.

But then Mohill's rhythm was certainly upset four minutes later when referee James Molloy adjudged that a collision between Domhnaill Flynn and St. Brigid's Alan Daly was a black card violation, which reduced the Leitrim team to 14 players for a ten minute spell.

However Mohill deployed their 14 players effectively in the circumstances and managed to stretch their lead when Jordan Reynolds fired over after Reynolds was put through following a Keith Beirne hit outfield free was sent in to the St. Brigid's 13 metre line.

St. Brigid's managed to reduce the Mohill advantage when Ben O'Carroll put over a 28th minute free. Prior to the break St. Brigid's Robbie Dolan was shown yellow and when the short whistle was sounded Mohill enjoyed a fully deserved 0 – 4 to 0 – 3 half-time lead.

After the restart Ronan Stack got St. Brigid's on level terms when he floated over a 36th point. Over the next seven minutes Keith Beirne was narrowly wide with an effort and he also dropped another shot short into St. Brigid's goalkeeper Cormac Sheedy's hands.

Brian Derwin got St. Brigid's in front for the first time in the game when fisted over a 44th minute point. A Jordan Reynolds Mohill shot in the following minute dropped narrowly wide.

The game's turning point came a minute later when Brian Sugrue finished to the Mohill net from close range.

Mohill's Domhnaill Flynn answered with a well taken 48th minute point. St. Brigid's surged over the next four minutes in response to Flynn's score with sub John Cunningham firing over and Bobby Nugent tapping over a free.

After that Mohill staged a gallant final rally when they hit three unanswered points in the contest's closing proceedings.

In this period when Mohill's Sean Harkin saw yellow, Conor Quinn spectacularly hit the target from midfield while Ciaran Kennedy, in his final game for his side, also split the St. Brigid's posts and Keith Beirne scored deep in added time.

ST. BRIGID'S

SCORERS: Ciaran Sugrue 1 – 0; Bobby Nugent 0 – 3, 3f; Ronan Stack, Ben O'Carroll f, Brian Derwin & John Cunningham 0 – 1 each.

TEAM: Cormac Sheedy; Luke Griselain, Sean Trundle, Pearse Frost; Ruaidhri Fallon, Ronan Stack, Paul McGrath; Eddie Nolan, Shane Cunnane; Conor Hand, Ciaran Sugrue, Robbie Dolan; Ben O'Carroll, Alan Daly, Bobby Nugent. Subs: Brian Derwin (0-01) for Trundle (h-t), John Cunningham for Hand (50), Mark Daly for Sugrue (56), Brian Stack for Nugent (60).

MOHILL

SCORERS: Keith Beirne 0 – 4 f; Jordan Reynolds, Domhnaill Flynn, Ronan Kennedy & Conor Quinn 0 – 1 each.

TEAM: Padraig Tighe; James Mitchell, Sean Harkin, Ryan Bohan; Alan Tuthill, Shane Quinn, David Mitchell; Domhnaill Flynn, Conor Quinn; Keith Keegan, Keith Beirne, Ronan Gordon; Ronan Kennedy, Jordan Reynolds, Evan Harkin. Subs: Alan Armstrong for David Mitchell (37), Eanna Madden for Gordon (41), Tadgh Mulligan for Evan Harkin (50), Caillin Canning for Tuthill (52).