Kiernan Cup Final 2008 - St Mary's 2-5 Calry/St.Joseph's 0-10 (By Gary Dillon)

St Mary’s captured the Kiernan cup by the slimmest of margins at Grange’s
Monsignor Hynes Park on Friday evening last (May 23rd). Conditions were perfect as
local rivals St. Mary’s and Calry/St.Joseph’s faced each other for the
third time in three weeks. Both teams shuffled around their starting 15
with St Mary’s moving their captain David Caffrey into full forward and
Michael Hanley into midfield in place of Mark Bulter, Calry on the other
hand brought Benny O’Reilly and Keith Raymond into the half forward line
with Alan Maguire and Dermot Horan going into the full forward line.
St Mary’s were first to score a minute into the match when full forward
Caffery received the ball before turning inside his marker Brian Hynes and
firing over the bar from close range. Caffery had another effort soon after
but this time his shot went wide. Calry got their first score after 4
minutes through lively forward Alan Maguire. Maguire got the ball after
some fast passing from Calry and put the ball over the bar from 25 yards.
Calry added another score a couple of minutes later when Benny O’Reilly was
brought down and his brother Brian had no problem putting over the
resulting free from an acute angle out on the left. Calry were forced to
bring on Barry O’Boyle after centre half back Fiachra Coyne went off with a
calf injury. Calry were starting to get going and after 9 minutes Benny
O’Reilly got his teams third point of the game after a shot from 40 yards
dropped short and bounced over the St Mary’s crossbar. St Mary’s were
marking tight and making Calry work for their scores. Brian O’Reilly was
unlucky to see his attempt from a free go wide midway through the first
half but made up for it a minute later with a great effort from 50 yards
out from his hands. Mary’s got a timely boost when Johnny Lynch took a
quick free and found the unmarked Caffery, Caffery had only one thing on
his mind and hammered the ball into the back of the Calry net. The teams
were now level and both putting in a huge effort. Calry went ahead again
through two frees converted from Brian O’Reilly before Marys got one back
through their captain Caffery. With five minutes left in the first half
Calry were ahead by a point but Johnny Lynch got a good score from 30 yards
out to once more level the sides. Benny O’Reilly then put over a free from
the right hand side to give his team a slight advantage going into the
final stages of the half. Mary’s had the Calry backs panicing soon after
when a Johnny Lynch free dropped short which resulted in a goal mouth
scramble,Calry however managed to get the ball away when Vincent Nally
bravely punched the ball away. At half time the score was Calry/St.Joseph’s
0-7 St Mary’s 1-3.
With everything to play for in the second half both teams started at a fast
pace. Calry moved dual player Keith Raymond into full forward as a target
man. Calry had the first chance of the second half when Benny O’Reilly took
a quick free finding Alan Maguire, Maguire read the bounce well which
bounced over his marker. Maguire who was through on goal decide not to pick
up the ball and volleyed the ball goal ward but Brian Collery pulled off a
great save to keep the ball out. St Mary’s brought on Conor Maye to liven
up the attack. Caffery got another score for Mary’s and was leading by
example. Things were a lot tighter in the second half and Calry had to wait
until the 14 minute of the second half to get their first score of the half
after a great run by Damien O’Boyle who opted to hand pass the ball over
the bar. Calry were unlucky not to get a goal when Fergus Horans effort
came back off the crossbar, over two Calry forwards but the St Mary’s backs
managed to scrambled the ball away. St Marys brought on Johnny Martyn and
Donnacha Gallagher with ten minutes left. Gallagher made an immediate
difference when he slotted over the equalizer from the right hand side.
With five minutes left the game was a tense affair with both teams hoping
to get that vital score to give there team the edge. With four minutes left
St Mary’s got their big break when a Calry attack broke down, St Mary’s
moved the ball fast to Neil Smyth who feed Conor Maye. Maye who came on as
a sub in the second half held his nerve and put the ball past Colin Feehily
in the Calry/St.Josephs goal. This was a big blow to Calry/St.Joseph’s as
the game now looked over as a contest but to their credit they never gave
up. With the game nearing an end Calry got a free on the left hand side and
Brian O’Reilly made no mistake in converting the free. Calry kept pressing
St Marys looking for the vital scores they needed. With time running out
right half back Ciaran Coyne came forward and after getting past a
couple of Mary’s back he drove the ball over the crossbar to leave Calry a
point down. Referee Anthony Mc Gowan blew the final whistle soon after as
time ran out for Calry to try and get an equaliser. Both teams meet again
in championship on the 8th of June which promises to be another exciting
and close encounter. Final score St Mary's 2-5 Calry/St.Joseph's 0-10

Calry/St.Joseph’s: C.Feehily, Cormac Coyne, B.Hynes, L.McGuinn, Ciaran
Coyne, Fiachra Coyne, M.Gilmartin, V.Nally, D.O’Boyle, Benny O’Reilly,
F.Horan, K.Raymond, Brian O’Reilly, D.Horan, A.Maguire Subs used: B.O’Boyle

St Mary’s: B.Collery, P.Curley, D.Martyn, D.Carroll, C.Carroll, C.O’Grady,
R.Carter, S.Burns, M.Hanley, N.Smyth, J.Lynch, D.Cawley, G.Melly,
D.Caffery, G.Monaghan Subs used: J.Martyn, C.Maye, D.Gallagher
 

Calry/St.Josephs 0-12 Tubbercurry 0-7

Calry Topple Tubber
By Gary Dillon
Calry/St.Josephs pulled off a great win against Tubbercurry in Hazelwood on
Saturday evening last. Tubbercurry who are in a battle with
Coolera/Strandhill for top spot in division 1B would have been firm
favourites going into this match. Calry will feel that they have not done
themselves justice this year by letting match’s slip in the closing stages
of games but on this performance they will have hoped that they have turned
a corner.
Calry started this match with real intent and were first to score with Sligo
Minor Brian O’Reilly converting a free in the opening minute of the game.
Soon after Calry’s Alan Maguire added another when he pointed from 35 yards
out on the right hand side after some good passing from the Calry forwards.
Tubbercurry were working hard and they got their first score of the match
after 6 minutes when Colm Mc Gee converted a 45. The work rate from both
sets of players was impressive in the lashing rain with both teams not
giving an inch to the opposition. Brian O’Reilly knocked over another point
from a free but Tubbercurry replied soon after with a well taken score.
Approaching midway through the first half Calry were ahead by the slimmest
of margins but soon after Calry captain Benny O’Reilly put over a free from
an acute angle to extend Calrys lead. O’Reilly then got his second of the
match 30 seconds later with a superb effort from 45 yards out near the
sideline which sailed over the crossbar. Brendan Mc Donagh was working hard
at midfield for Tubbercurry and he got his reward with a great long range
score after shrugging off two tackles from the Calry half backs. Calry hit a
purple patch after that and
Tubbercurry failed to score for the last 15 minutes of the half. Brian
O’Reilly converted a 45 with ten minutes left on the clock. The towering
corner forward then got his first point from play after Keith Raymond broke
threw the Tubber midfield and laid the ball off to O’Reilly and he made no
mistake with his long range attempt. Tubbercurry looked shell shocked and
just before the break Donncha Mullen added to Calrys lead after a good run
from his own half. At the interval Calry lead Tubbercurry on a scoreline of
0-8 to 0-3. In the second half the rain eased off but Calry kept the
pressure on . Conor Nally started where Calry left off at the end of the
first half with a well taken score after some great work from Benny
O’Reilly. There was an interesting battle going on at midfield all through
the match with Fergus Horan and Damien O’Boyle for Calry and Brendan Mc
Donagh and Barry Brennan for Tubbercurry fielding some great balls. Brian
O’Reilly had a chance to extend Calrys lead with a 45 but his effort dropped
short into Daniel Mc Donaghs hands in the Tubbercurry goal, Mc Donagh then
tried to pass the ball out of the danger area but he was blocked down by
dual star Keith Raymond who laid the ball into the path of Donncha Mullen
who got Calrys tenth score of the game. Tubbercurry never gave up and never
let their heads drop to their credit. Brendan Mc Donagh got his second score
of the day for Tubber with another great score from a free 45 meters out.
Brian Hynes was bursting out of his half back position for Calry and was
causing Tubbercurry some trouble. Hynes was then fouled around the centre of
the park and Fergus Horan took a quick free which he played into the
advancing Alan Maguire who turned towards goal and calmly slotted the ball
over the Tubbercurry cross bar. Calry and Tubbercurry both missed some
scoreable chances during the game but the conditions played a big part in
some of the misses. Going into the last ten minutes of the game Tubbercurry
would of needed to get goals to get back in the match but Calry defended
well and kept Tubber from getting a sight at goal. Corner backs Ciaran
Coyne and Damien Gannon kept the Tubbercurry corner forwards relatively
quiet throughout the match and Tubbercurry were forced to shoot from
distance in the last 10 minutes as Calry started to get bodies behind the
ball. Desmond Haran pulled one back for Tubbercurry going into the last five
minutes. Brendan Mc Donagh continued his master class of long range shooting
getting two points in the closing stages of the match, the first was from
45 yards out and the second was a snap shot after showing some great
strength but Tubbers late surge wasn’t enough as Calry/St.Josephs ran out
easy winners in the end with five points to spare. Tubbercurry will surely
bounce back from this defeat and if Calry keep working as hard as they did
in this match they are surely going to climb up the table.
Final score: Calry/St.Josephs 0-12 Tubbercurry 0-7

Teams on Duty
Calry/St.Josephs : D.McGuinn, Ciaran Coyne,
E.Kelly, D.Gannon, Cormac Coyne, B.Hynes, L.McGuinn, F.Horan, D.O’Boyle,
K.Raymond, D.Mullen, A.Maguire, Brian O’Reilly, Benny O’Reilly, C.Nally

Tubbercurry : D.McDonagh, D.Curran, B.Murphy, J.O’Hara, P.Brennan, M.Boland,
S.Gilmartin, B.McDonagh, B.Brennan, D.Haran, P.Severs, B.Kilcoyne, C.McGee,
D.Walsh, L.McDonagh