TWO INJURY-TIME POINTS were enough for Glenswilly to win a first ever RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta Senior Reserve Football Championship this afternoon.
Glenswilly 1-8 Ardara 0-9
“This one’s for Finbarr,” shouted Glenswilly captain Patrick McFadden as he lifted the John Gallagher trophy in remembrance of the former club chairman and manager of team manager Adrian Glackin, the late Finbarr, who passed away in August.
It was an emotional triumph for the side from Foxhall and even though they’ve won senior championships and played in Ulster finals, this victory was as special as the rest of them.
Photo caption: Glenswilly celebrate their reserve championship win after today’s RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta Senior Reserve Football Championship final. Photo: Evan Logan
And at the end, it could’ve gone either way as Ardara made a stirring comeback.
Just when they looked at their most susceptible having seen a five-point lead slip away, Glenswilly summoned one last effort and mounted an attack from which Ryan McLaughlin was fouled and Shane Carberry edged Glenswilly in front by the minimum.
The margins were thin and time was even more so. When an Ardara attack broke down, Glenswilly picked their moment and Christopher McMonagle’s point with the outside of his boot made sure of the win.
The start seemed an awful long time beforehand.
Daniel McConnell, the Glenswilly centre-back, opened the scoring with the type of score a team could take inspiration from, with a booming effort in the first minute. Then, five minutes later, Ciaran Gibbons popped over a point from an angle on the right and Glackin’s team, it appeared, had settled.
That wasn’t the case however and although got back to level at 0-2 to 0-2 with Paul Watters and Peter McHugh on the mark, the first half was a tale of missed chances. There was a gulf of 21 minutes without a score.
By half-time those who were keeping tabs on wides were much busier than those keeping the scores. Glenswilly had eight to Ardara’s six.
The stage in the game where Glenswilly got traction was in the third quarter. By its conclusion they had turned a 0-2 to 0-2 game into a 1-6 to 0-4 lead.
Carberry, who saw a chance come and go at the end of the first half, was the recipient of a long ball in from McMonagle on 34 minutes and slammed what proved to be the only goal of the game on 34 minutes.
In a contest that was so tight, a goal was always going to be massive.
Here’s the scene from the sky following the RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta Senior Reserve Football Championship final this afternoon. Photo: Martin Gallagher
Glenswilly opted not to stand back and admire it, they pushed for more. Brian McDaid popped up from corn-erback to score and when Ryan Diver and Caoimhin Marley scored, Glenswilly were 1-6 to 0-4 in front and – dare you say it – perhaps even comfortable.
But Ardara, who saw Noel Gallagher and Stephen Gildea open their second half accounts, weren’t out of the running with less than 15 minutes to play.
Two more points from Gildea, with Paul Watters and Johnny Herron meant it was just a one-point game.
Glenswilly howled in protest late in the game when Barry Molloy was penalised for overcarrying when he appeared to be fouled in front of his own posts. Gildea popped over a free to level it and right then, it was anyone’s game.
It was Glenswilly who made sure it was theirs.
Glenswilly: Frank Carberry; Brian McDaid, Paddy McFadden, Mark McAteer; Ciaran Gibbons, Daniel McConnell, Barry Molloy; Padaig Boyle, Christopher McMonagle; Charley Bonner, Caoimhin Marley, John McFadden; Ryan Diver, Dermot McGinley, Shane Carberry. Subs: Paddy Diver for Boyle (51), for Ryan McLaughlin for McFadden (52), Ryan Toner for McGinley (56), Ciaran Hunter for Bonner (57).
Ardara: Patrick Gavigan; Nocholas Breslin, Patrick Gallgher, Sean McLochlann; Kelvin Slowey, Francis Boyle, Johnny Herron; Johnny McGill, Eoin O’Donnell; Kyle Gallagher, Peter McHugh, Paul Watters; Gerard McCabe, Stephen Gildea, Jack Brennan. Subs: Lorcan O’Donnell and Noel Gallagher for McCabe and K Gallagher (half-time), Kevin Byrne for Boyle (36), Killian Boyle for Gallagher (41), Joe Melly for McLochlann (54).
Referee: Ryan Walsh (Bundoran).
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