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Doonbeg 0-7 Shannon Gaels 0-6
Three points up at half-time and unlucky not to have been a few more ahead, Shannon Gaels looked to be on their way to the county senior football semi-final half an hour into this game with Doonbeg at Kilmihil on Saturday evening.
However, they failed to maintain their first-half form into the second half against a much-improved Doonbeg and when the final whistle sounded, they were a point in arrears, having failed to raise a flag in this period.
While credit must go to the Magpies for the manner in which they improved, Shannon Gaels will wonder where it all went wrong. They did have some opportunities in the second period but an apparent lack of confidence and a lack of experience proved costly.
Some half-time switches by Doonbeg helped their side to get a grip on proceedings. These included the move of Frank O’Dea to midfield and the placing of team captain Colm Dillon at centre-forward. Both players did much better in the second half, when the play of Enda Doyle played a huge part in the winners’ success.
The Cusack Cup finalists made most of the running in the first half and took the lead through defender Cathal O’Neill as early as the third minute. The lead lasted for five minutes until David Tubridy, who was picked up on the evening by Tomás Madigan, kicked the leveller in the eighth minute.
Within a minute, the Gaels were back in front thanks to an excellent effort from John Paul O’Neill and Barry Toner quickly doubled their advantage with a good score. The Armagh man should have added to his tally from a 30m free but his effort rebounded off the upright. A David Tubridy effort from an acute angle cut the margin to the minimum by the end of the opening quarter.
The Gaels were clearly enjoying the better of matters throughout the field and Michael Coughlan put them two clear again when he scored from a tight angle before Brian Cunningham saw his effort turned over the bar by Doonbeg goalie Nigel Dillon.
Before the break, Tubridy from a free and Noel Kennedy exchanged points, leaving Shannon Gaels ahead by double scores, 0-6 to 0-3.
The winners stepped up matters considerably at the start of the second half but while they now held the upperhand, they failed to turn this into scores and David Tubridy, in particular, was guilty of some bad misses.
The half was nine minutes old before the first score came and it was a Doonbeg point scored by Shane Ryan. At the mid-point of the half the margin was back to one after Tubridy had converted a 40m free. Two minutes later, Shane Killeen landed the equaliser and confidence amongst the Doonbeg players grew.
Both sides made a number of changes in the final quarter but the only score of this period came with seven minutes remaining when substitute Jamie Whelan gave Doonbeg the lead. It proved to be the winning score on an evening when Shannon Gaels captain John Paul O’Neill saw a late effort go narrowly wide.
Enda Doyle excelled for the winners on a day when Pádraig Gallagher and Conor Whelan, along with Colm Dillon and Frank O’Dea in the second half, did well.
Cathal O’Neill, the Berminghams, Francis Cleary, Michael O’Donoghue and Michael Coughlan were best for the losers.
