It may be a 2020 title but the first
victory of 2021 in Sligo fell to Coolaney / Mullinabreena who emerged
victorious from the long- awaited replay of the 2020 Connacht Gold Sligo Junior
B Championship Final at Markievicz Park on Monday afternoon.
The sides renewed rivalries some 36
weeks after their thrilling drawn encounter of September last when a spirited
Coolaney/Mullinabreena comeback had overcome an eleven-point first half deficit
to finish 1-14 apiece
This time around, after an opening
Mattie Conlon free for the winners in the 2nd minute, both sides
showed signs of the long lay-off with a number of early wides.
Conlon added a point from play before
top scorer Shane Feeney opened the St Farnan’s account with two points from
play. The winners went in to the water
break one point ahead following a fine point on the run from full forward
Cathal Davey.
The pace picked notably after the
refreshment with St Farnan’s midfielder Keith Lang notching an excellent point
from play to level matters after 22 minutes.
Coolaney /Mullinabreena had the better
of the remaining minutes of the first half with the surging runs of centre
forward Paul Connolly very much to the fore.
His side took the lead from another Conlon free and he then set up
captain Alan Duggan for a neatly taken point from an acute angle to put his
side two up on the stroke of half time, 0-5 to 0-3.
The second half burst into life straight
from the throw in with a rapid exchange of passes by St Farnan’s from defence
into attack putting centre forward David Culkin through on goal only to be
denied by an excellent Cian O’Dowd challenge, conceding a ’45.
The sides then swapped scores with
Cathal Davey cancelling points from Shane Feeney and a Keith Lang free before Lang
reduced the margin to the minimum again with a fine point from play at the end
of a sweeping move.
The introduction of the experienced
Barry Kivlehan from the bench sparked a spell of Coolaney / Mullinabreena
dominance around the middle of the park that eventually produced the first goal
of the game.
The move started with an interception
inside his own 45 by corner back Keith Kirrane which led to a quick catch and
lay off from Cathal Davey to Mattie Conlon who put Connolly through to find the
net.
The West Sligo side wasted no time in
responding, working the ball patiently up field before finding Declan Cawley
who somehow squeezed the ball into the net through a crowded defence to bring
the margin back to a point just before the second half water break.
It was all to play for in the last
quarter as play swung from end to end. Connolly and Shane Feeney swapped points
and the prospect of a second draw loomed large when Feeney levelled things up
with his fifth point of the day and only four minutes left on the clock.
Coolaney/Mullinabreena however took
control from then on and two well worked long range points by wing forward
Brian Marren and midfielder Conor Feely left St Farnan’s needing a goal as the
game entered its final minute.
The Coolaney/Mullinabreena defence stood
firm however and when O’Dowd broke down a final attack on goal, the resultant
move upfield ended in a free kick at the other end which Conlon converted with
the last kick of the game to leave the margin at three.
Coolaney / Mullinabreena:
Lorcan Callaghan; Keith
Kirrane, Shane Marren, Cian O'Dowd; Sean Walsh, Pearse Gorman, Eamon; Sean
Doyle, Conor Feely (0-1); Shane Kivlehan, Paul Connolly (1-1), Brian Marron
(0-1); M. Conlon (0-4, 2f) Cathal Davey (0-3), Alan Duggan (0-1)
Subs: Michael O’Dowd for
Sean Walsh (35), Barry Kivlehan for Shane Kivlehan (40) Danial Davey for Shane
Marren
St Farnan’s:
Simon Mullarkey; Mark Culkin, Padraic
Culkin, Oisin Connolly; Declan Cawley (1-0), Niall Hunt, Stephen Feeney; Kieran
Kilgannon, Keith Lang (0-3, 0-1 f); Evan Kilrehil, David Culkin, Shane Neary;
Shane Feeney (0-5), Andrew McMunn, Karl Hannon
Subs: Daragh Gillen For Karl Hannon (16
inj), Gary Hannon for Evan Kilrehil (47),
Niall Creann for Oisin Connolly (57)