SFC
BURREN
BURGLERS!
Burren
1-10 Rostrevor 1-9
By Colm Fitzpatrick
A
towering point from Burren sub Glen
McMahon five minutes into added time
crowned the most amazing championship
come back most of us have ever seen in
front of a huge crowd in Hilltown on
Sunday evening.
UNLIKELY
It
is difficult to credit just how unlikely
such an outcome had appeared just twenty
minutes beforehand. Forty minutes into
this championship showdown, Burren were
“out on their feet”, athing of shreds
and tatters, held together only, it
seemed, by the sheer will-power of Sean
ward.Rostrevor led by 1-9 to 0-3 and it
was ascoreline which flattered Burren.
RIPPED APART
They had been ripped apart by the
blinding pace of Martin Doran in the
Rostrevor attack.Doran had hit two super
points in the first half, as well as
laying on two more for Jarlath Austin
and Lloyd Parr. At the other end of the
park the Rostrevor full-back line was in
scintillating form. Kevin McGrath twicw
surged over the halfway line to lay on
points for Fintan McBreen and Conor daly.
Joe Fegan and Conor Daly also
contributed points to a 0-8 to0-3
interval lead which should have been
much greater, for Martin Doran had burst
onto an eighth minute pass from Fintan
McBreenonly to drill the ball inches
wide of the far upright
ANONYMOUS
Burren had been largely anonymous in
that first half, their three points
having come from PJ McAlinden in the 5th
minute, a Gavin Murdock free and a
fisted effort from Aidan McGivern in
added time. And it steadily got worse
for them.Jarlath Farrell started the
move which saw Sean Farrell shoot
Rostrevors ninth point in the 33rd
minute, and in their very next attack,
Martin Doran swooped in from the blind
side to knock a Gary Farrell probe to
the back of the Burren net. But for,
careless smattering of wides, Rostrevor
could have moved more than a dozenpoints
clear by this stage.And while an element
of nonchalance did creep into their
play, it didn’t really seem to matter.
LAZARUS, ARISE!
A
40th minute free from James
McGovern didn’t seem that significant at
the time, but within sixty seconds,
Burren capitalisedon a degree of
confusion attendant on the substitution
of Reds midfielder Fintan McBreen, and
Declan Rooney penetrated deep into the
Rostrevor defence before placing PJ
McAlinden, who turned to whip a vicious
shot past Padraig Mulholland! By the end
of the third quarter, an Eamon McGovern
solo had reduced the gap to four points,
but Rostrevor still looked secure
enough; martin Doran got through again
in the 50th minute, and when
his shot was blocked on the goal-line,
he still managed to work the ball back
to Joe Fegan, who fired over the
crossbar. But that score was disallowed
by the rreferee; a fact which eluded
many Rostrevor fans, who waited
patiently for the scoreboard to be
adjusted until the full horror of their
situation finally made itself known to
them ten fateful minutes later!
GENETICS
It
still did not seem to matter. James
McGovern did manage to convert a free in
the 53rd minute, but with
only three minutes of scheduled time
remaining, Reds were still 1-9 to 1-6 in
front. Then genetics kicked in! Eamon
McGovern kicked a glorious point from
the left and Brian Murphy came up to hit
another in the 60th minute.
Four minutes of added time had elapsed
when, to the loud elation of the Burren
support,
Kevin Mckernan struck a sweet 45 which
seemed to have earned them a replay
against all the odds! And there was
still a twist left! Reds won the kick
–out and speedster martin Doran raced
deep into the Burren goal area; but this
time he was crowded out and
dispossessed, and Burren worked the ball
patiently up over the half way line to
where Glen McMahon launched an ambitious
missile from some 55 yards out. Up and
up it went, then down and down, and the
roar rose in thethroats oif the Burren
support as the ball squeezd over the
crossbar for the score which sent their
side into the quarter finals.
DEFIES ANALYSIS
Burrens dramatic recovery defies
analysis. For forty minutes or more they
were completely outplayed by a sharp and
confident Rostrevor.Only the broad
shoulders of Sean ward prevented them
being totally submerged under a Red
tide. It was pure pride which enabled
them to turn the game around in the last
twenty minutes, pride most passionately
expressed by the efforts of James
McGovern and Brian Murphy at half back,
and by Declan Rooney and Eamon McGovern
in the half forward line. But they were
still three points down with less than
three minutes left on the clock, and had
to reach deep into their clubs
magnificent championship tradition in
order to dig out this memorable win.
STUNNED
Rostrevor will still be stunned by the
time they read this. They produced their
best form of the season on Sunday and it
still wasn’t enough. Kevin McGrath and
Jarlath Farrell were inspirational in
defence, while young Gary Magee never
put a foot wrong on his senior
championship debut. Fintan McBreen gave
solid support to JarlathAustin at
midfield while up front Mrtin Doran ran
the legs off the Burren defence. Conor
Daly and Niall Farrell also had good
games, but in the end of it all, it was
the Burren fans who went home to turn a
wake into a party; disbelievingRostrevor
folk wandered out of the ground in a
trance. That is the championship for
you.
Burren scorers; PJ McAlinden [1-1];James
McGovern [0-2]; Eamon McGovern [0-2];
gavin Murdock [0-1]; Aidan McGivern
[0-1]; Brian Murphy [0-1]; Kevin
McKernan [0-1]; Glen McMahon [0-1].
Rostrevor scorers; Martin Doran [1-2];
Conor daly [0-2]; Lloyd Parr [0-1]; Joe
Fegan [0-1]; Jarlath Austin [0-1]; Sean
Farrell [0-1]
Burren team; Marty Rocks; Garnet
McFerran, Daniel McCartan, Ronan
McGovern; James McGovern, Christopher
Mcgovern, Brian Murphy; Sean Ward, Conor
McCann; Kevin Mckernan, Declan Rooney,
Eamon McGovern; gavin Murdock, PJ
McAlinden, Aidan McGivern.
Subs used; Kevin McGivern for G.McFerran;
Glen McMahon foe G.Murdock
Rostrevor team; Padraig Mulholland;
Kevin Mcgrath, Paul magee, Jarlath
Farrell; Eddie Magee, Martin Cole, Gary
Magee; Fintan McBreen, jarlath Austin;
Sean Farrell, Conor Daly, Niall Farrell;
Martin Doran, Lloyd Parr, Joe Fegan
Subs used;gary Farrell for Fintan
McBreen; Colm Murney for gary Farrell;
Turlough Murphy for Niall Farrell.
Referee; S. O’Hanlon [Kilcoo]
Man
of the match; Martin Doran [Rostrevor]
