League Success for St John’s U-12s

Kilclief 2-09 v St. John’s 3-07 Sun 5th Sept 2004

A stirring second half performance brought St John’s to the narrowest of victories in this thrilling contest. St John’s didn’t show up for the first period, but this was a game where no-one was leaving before the final whistle.

The first half would have been largely forgettable had the Johnnies played better. As it was the lacklustre performance may give the management sleepless nights. Perhaps the players had eyes on a potential league final, perhaps they were complacent having beaten Kilclief here earlier in the year (5-14 to 5-08) in another exciting game, perhaps they lacked match practice after a series of postponements. Whatever the reason, the reality was that St John’s didn’t compete for the ball. And the fault was there to be seen all over the field.

Although St John’s got the opening point from Philip Brennan they allowed Kilclief to boss the rest of the period. For the next 25 minutes the hosts dominated totally and fully deserved the 1-06 they scored without reply. Then Chris Feenan pulled off a fantastic double save to fingertip the ball away from the goal line before Neil Magorrian finally cleared the danger (and suffered in doing so). Chris’s save boosted the rest of the team and St John’s staged a late rally to get two points and reduce the margin to 1-06 to 0-03 at half time.

Kilclief pointed first in the second period but St John’s put two over the bar in reply. Then Ruairi McGlynn netted to reduce the margin to two points. But just as the players sensed that the comeback was on Kilclief began to press again. They too found the back of the net and added a couple of points to increase the margin to 7 points again. They also fired 4 wides and won two 45s during this spell. And Chris Feenan pulled off another terrific save. But St John’s weren’t deterred and upped their performance again. Darren Burns netted; Chris McKay netted from an angle on the right. Suddenly it was back to a 1 point game with 8 minutes left on the clock.

Darren Savage pointed to bring the sides level. Kilclief pressed forward but could only manage a wide. St John’s pushed onwards but Kilclief put in some terrific blocks to stop the ball getting into scoring range. The clock ticked away into injury time, but St John’s couldn’t get the score they needed. Then Philip Brennan won good possession, beat his marker and was running through on goal – only to be toppled as he crossed the 13m line. Outside said the referee – only a free not a penalty. Conor Morgan stepped forward and, when the pressure was really on, he split the posts. One point ahead – would there be enough time for Kilclief to reply? St John’s put pressure on the kick-out and won possession but shot high and narrowly wide. But it was enough to see out the last seconds of overtime. The bus home would be a happier place than anyone would have predicted at half-time.

St John’s team: Chris Feenan; Ryan Gordon, Harry McMullan, Neil Magorrian; Martin Keenan, Conor Morgan, Joe Milligan; Daniel McKay, Darren Savage; Joshua Wells, Darren Burns, Hugh Flanagan; Ruairi McGlynn, Chris McKay, Philip Brennan. Anthony Doran, Kevin Keenan, Jamie Artt, Conor Gilmore, Michael Keenan, Patrick Keenan.

Scorers for St John’s: R McGlynn 1-01, D Burns 1-01, C McKay 1-01 (1f), D Savage 0-02, P Brennan 0-01, Conor Morgan 0-01 (1f).