REDS SCRAPE HOME IN MEMORABLE MINOR
FINAL
MFC “A” Final
WATT A LET-OFF!
REDS SCRAPE HOME IN MEMORABLE MINOR
FINAL
Rostrevor 1-11 An Riocht 0-13
We were promised something special. And
we got something special. Not perhaps,
the smooth classic many had hoped for,
but an epic struggle nonetheless, and a
final which will be remembered for a
long time after this eventful season has
drawn to a close.
GRANDSTAND FINISH
What made it special? You can take your
pick! Rostrevor fans may opt for the
maturity with which their team kept
their composure after going behind to a
rampant An Riocht in the 57th
minute, and patiently exploited their
extra-man advantage to come up with an
equalising point from a Colm Clerkin
free in the 59th minute, and
the eventual winner struck by the
impressive Ryan Watt almost two minutes
into added time.
EPIC FIGHTBACK
If you were a Kingdom fan, or , indeed,
a neutral, you will have been more
captivated by the magnificence of An
Riocht’s fightback in the second half.
Stricken by the withdrawal of James
Colgan before the start, and shattered
by the controversial dismissal of the
brilliant Martin Clarke just before half
time, An Riocht found themselves
trailing by five points midway through
the second half against a Rostrevor team
which seemed to be making full use of
their numerical advantage, yet they made
light of the absence of those two
talismanic figures to storm back and
actually go in front with little over
two minutes remaining in the game!
DISMISSAL
Or, if you are primarily a
controversialist, you may find the game
most memorable for the incident which
led to the dismissal of the best player
on view, Martin Clarke, just before the
half time whistle. Clarke had been in
sizzling form for the previous thirty
minutes, and, indeed, could have been
said to have almost single-handedly kept
his side in contention against a
Rostrevor team which really ought to
have been significantly ahead by the
interval. With the scores tied at 1-3
to 0-6, he won possession again out near
the halfway line, on the An Riocht left
wing. He was fouled, was awarded a
free, and then, apparently, was impeded
as he went to take it quickly. It seemed
to me that there may have been a split
second loss of control by the frustrated
An Riocht star, and it took place under
the noses of both the referee and the
linesman. Technically, it was a red card
offence, but we have certainly seen more
lenient decisions made in similar
circumstances. Referee Sean Flynn opted
for the letter of the law on this
occasion, and out came the red card.
That one decision shaped the remainder
of the game. It certainly affected
Kingdoms confidence in the third
quarter, and, quite clearly, their
scoring power in the final minutes when
they were overrunning the champions all
over the field. But it could just as
easily have been said to have drained
Rostrevor’s approach of the urgency
which had marked it for most of the
first half!
MUCH TO ADMIRE
But controversy apart, there was so much
to admire about the play in this game,
and especially about the individual
contribution of Martin Clarke in the
thirty or so minutes when he was part of
the game.In the very first minute for
example, he took the ball superbly on
the run, burned off the attentions f a
couple of Rostrevor defenders and
rattled his shot of the Crossbar. Sean
Clarke picked up the rebound for a
consolation point. In the fourth minute
he again surged past two markers to
shoot a point himself. Nine minutes
later he was twice involved in a move
which ended with a foul on Paul Sherry,
and went over himself to convert the
free. In the 15th minute he
once more bamboozled the Reds defence to
make the score 0-4 to 0-0, and
immediately after Conor Mackin had
opened Rostrevor’s scoring from the
penalty spot, he split the Rostrevor
defence with a glorious through pass
which left Sean Clarke with a genuine
goaling chance. Sean shot too high,
however, and a point was the outcome.
ROSTREVOR PRESSURE
This may give the impression that the
first half was all one-way traffic. It
was not indeed. If anything, the traffic
was much more in the direction of the An
Riocht posts, Unfortunately for
Rostrevor, it was only in the general
direction. They hit ten first half wides
to An Riocht’s two, and remained
scoreless right up until the 17th
minute, despite some scintillating
attacking football. Seven of those wides
came in the opening quarter, the most
astonishing one from the normally
impeccable boot of young Sean Mackin,
who actually side-stepped goalkeeper
Ruairi Doran, only to screw his shot
wide of the unguarded goal! It was his
older brother, Conor, who called an end
to the nonsense, engineering an opening
for Collie Clerkin in the 17th
minute, and then lashing the penalty to
the net after the full forward had been
pulled down en route to goal.Conor’s
sniping bursts through the middle were
one of the features of Rostrevor’s play.
Another was the enterprising play of
Ryan Watt, who complemented Eamon
McConvilles industry to give the
champions a clear edge in the midfield
exchanges. Watt pushed forward for
Rostrevor’s first point in the 20th
minute, and three minutes later came the
long overdue equaliser, when Collie
Fearon’s adventurous running out of
defence issued in a fisted point for
Collie Clerkin.The busy Conor Mackin had
had a part in both these points, and he
was also involved in the score which put
Rostrevor in front, Collie Clerkin’s
free punishing a foul on Anthony Donnan.
Kingdom showed they had still plenty to
offer when Paul Sherry came up to tie
the scores again in the 27th
minute, but then came the Clarke
dismissal, and the half ended in
something approaching chaos, with
players having to be separated as the
made their way to the half time dressing
rooms in a state of some turmoil.
AS PREDICTED
The departure of the Kingdom star seemed
to have decided the outcome of this
county final. Certainly there was no
inkling of what was to come as Reds
regally moved clear with five unanswered
points in the opening seven minutes of
the second half. Ryan Watt was central
to three of these. He scored one himself
following a skillful exchange with Sean
Mackin, and repaid the compliment by
setting one up for the corner forward a
few minutes later. Two points came from
Collie Clerkin frees and the remaining
score was booted over by Reds fine
corner back, Conor Magee.
NO WAY BACK
There seemed to be no way back for
demoralised Kingdom; even the scoreboard
was doing them no favours, apparently
denying them that perfectly good point
by Paul Sherry late in the first half.
Even before this injustice had been
rectified, however, Kingdom had begun to
fashion their own justice. There was no
easy way into the game for them; they
had to rely on sheer hard work. Both
corner backs began to push forward, for
example, in a bid to nullify Rostrevor’s
extra man. All around the field,
everyone began to work twice as hard .
Christopher Killen worked a good point
in the 40th minute. The
hard-working Darren Cunningham added
another .six minutes later. That was
covered when a typical Ryan Watt surged
exposed the Kingdom defence and extra
man Patrick Mooney was in space to make
it 1-9 to 0-8 in the 47th
minute. But Kingdom were undaunted.
Padraig Mulholland had to be sharp t tip
a Darren Cunningham shot over the
crossbar, and a marvellous long range
point from James Cunningham really lit
up the An Riocht support. Cunningham
struck again with seven minutes
remaining, and with five minutes to go,
Mourne and neutral fans alike roared
their acclaim of Christopher Killen’s
equalising point!
And still they came on!! With 57 minutes
played, the undreamed-off seemed to be
within reach when sub Noel McArdle
booted over the lead point from out on
the left wing. But just as they hd in
the first half, Rostrevor delivered
their best play when they were under
pressure. Eamon McConville started
turning the ball over again, and a
patient build-up down the left ended
with a foul on Collie Clerkin and a
levelling point from the same player.
And with the game in it’s 61st
minute, Ryan Watt found space inside the
An Riocht cover to take a pass from
Collie Clerkin and shoot the winning
point. There was still time for one last
An Riocht attack, and a free some 45
yards from goal to the right of the
posts. Inside Martin Clarke’s range,
perhaps, but not within that of ordinary
mortals. The shot drifted wide, and
Rostrevor had retained their title.
TO KINGDOM THE GLORY
To Rostrevor, the trophy, perhaps, but
to Kingdom the glory. Despite the truly
impressive achievement of Reds in
winning their third successive minor
double, this final will be remembered as
the one which An Riocht nearly won
against all the odds! What will abide in
the memory of most people who watched
this is the magnificent spirit of the
Kingdom lads in those final twenty
minutes. They were heroes all when the
challenge was put up to them, though
none more so than Conor Walsh, Conor
McVeigh, Paul Sherry, Darren Cunningham,
James Cunningham and Christopher Killen.
And for the thirty minutes in which he
was in the game, Martin Clarke was a
class apart.
STILL A POINT TO PROVE?
Rostrevor will be nonplussed by the way
it turned out. They may wonder why they
did not get proper acclaim for their
outstanding achievement in winning a
third minor clean sweep in a row. They
may wish to point out that on Saturday,
they were clearly the better team for
forty of the sixty minutes, that they
should have been much further clear at
the end but for their tally of fifteen
wides[ against An Riocht’s six].And they
can point to the fine individual
performances from Collie Clerkin, Conor
Mackin, Eamon McConville, Ryan Watt,
Conor Magee and Gareth Clarke. But to no
avail. In the popular mind, there will
always be a shadow over this historic
win. If that aggrieves them, then the
remedy is still in their hands. In just
over four weeks time they commence the
defence of their Ulster club title.
Rostrevor scorers; Colm Clerkin [0-5] 4
frees; Ryan Watt [0-3]; Conor Mackin
[1-0] 1 penalty; Paddy Mooney [0-1];
Conor Magee [0-1]; Sean Mackin [0-1].
An Riocht scorers; Martin Clarke [0-3] 1
free; Darren Cunningham [0-2]; James
Cunningham [0-2]; Christopher Killen
[0-2]; Sean Clarke [0-2]; Paul Sherry
[0-1]; Noel McArdle [0-1].
Rostrevor team; Padraig Mulholland;
Conor Magee, Colm Murney, Gareth Clarke;
Collie Farrell, Patrick Mooney, Gary
Magee; Eamon McConville, Ryan Watt;
Anthony Donnan, Conor Mackin, James
Clerkin; Brian Keenan, Colum Clerkin,
Sean Mackin.
Sub used; Richie Reynolds for Brian
Keenan.
An Riocht team; Ruairi Doran; Michael
Rodgers, Conor Walsh, Conor McVeigh;
Gareth Small, Paul Sherry, Fergal Doyle;
Darren Cunningham, Pearse Cunningham;
James Cunningham, Martin Clarke,
Christopher Killen; Declan Ross, Sean
Clarke, Conor Sloan.
Subs used; Paddy Cordell for Conor
Sloan; Noel McArdle
Referee; Sean Flynn [Newry Mitchels]
