IN
WHAT must surely be one of the club's most magnificent hours the Shamrock
Gaels Under-21 team gave a dazzling display to defeat St. Mary's in
the County semi-final played in Ballymote on Saturday last.
Supporters who were hoping for a repeat of last year's thrilling final
were not disappointed. This game more than lived up to expectations.
All the skills of Gaelic football were on display with no trace of rancour
or petty fouling. While both teams deserve the highest praise for sportsmanship
and entertainment value this was really the Gaels' day.
Inspired by a brilliant display from Gaels Man of the Match Gerry Ballantine
and his partner Paul Corcoran, the whole team rose to the occasion in
splendid fashion.
Full marks to the Gaels selectors, who placed Cormac Kearns at centre
half forward and Tommy Deignan at full forward. Kearns always had the
edge on Tommy Brehony and full back Martin Keaney found Deignan too
hot to handle. Both players made full use of their pivotal positions
with brilliant ball distribution.
Wing half forwards Johnny Kenny and Brendan McKenna posed many problems
for the Mary's defence as did corner forwards J. O'Connell and Michael
Galvin.
The Gaels defence also played magnificently. A rock solid Benny Deignan
in goals contributed greatly to the victory with his intelligently placed
kick outs. James Kearns at full back had a great hour as had corner
backs Fergal White and Finian Carroll. At centre halfback, Sean McKeon
did nothing wrong and was helped by great covering from Toss McDermott
and Kieran Conlon.
The foundation of the Gaels win was at centre field where Ballantine
and Corcoran reigned supreme for most of the game and were also to be
found in defence or attack as occasion demanded.
A pointed free from an awkward angle by Ballantine set the tone for
the game. Following this Corcoran fielded brilliantly to score two fine
points. A David Cummins point was to be Mary's only first half score.
Gerry Ballantine had another great score from a sideline kick and further
points followed from J. O'Connell, C. Kearns and Ballantine again to
leave the half time score seven points to one.
As was to be expected, St. Mary's came out for the second half full
of determination. Martin Keaney was moved to full forward where he posed
a menacing threat but was well contained by James Kearns.
With D. Conlon and B. Gilligan beginning to get more possession at centre
field, Mary's mounted some dangerous attacks but three wides was the
only reward and it was a Ballantine pointed free which opened the second
half scoring.
T. Deignan added another after a defence splitting run before M. Keaney
got Mary's second point midway through the half.
A determined Mary's siege followed and it took trojan defence work to
keep the attackers at bay. Two points from Downes reduced the deficit
to five points before the Gaels swept back in control.
Three brilliant Gaels moves brought two great points from C. Kearns
and a final point from G. Ballantine. With time running out D. Cummins
came back to score a point for Mary's and the same player got the game's
only goal on the stroke of time.
All in all this was a game which saw the Gaels live up to the potential
they have often promised and maybe not always delivered in the past.
It was a team display above all with no trace of the over elaboration
which has so often bedevilled them.
St. Mary's, while well beaten on the day can also be proud of their
display. Even though they were always behind, sometimes by as much as
seven or eight points, they never admitted defeat and right up to the
end fought with their traditional courage and could never be counted
out. .
Their best player was Declan Conlon, who ran himself into the ground
in his efforts to inspire his team. A. Burke and D. Downes were -always
dangerous and D. Eames had a good day in goals.
Shamrock Gaels: B. Deignan, F White, J Kearns, F Carroll, K Conlon,
S McKeon, T McDermott, G. Ballantine, P.
Corcoran, J. Kenny, C. Kearns, B. McKenna, J. O'Connell, T. Deignan,
M. Galvin.
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