Picture Courtesy Mark McDonagh
WHITEHALL COLMCILLE 0-12
TEMPLEOGUE SYNGE STREET 1-8
Whitehall Colmcille claimed the Go-Ahead Ireland Senior 2 Football Championship title when overcoming a brave Templeogue Synge Street by a single point at Parnell Park on Saturday afternoon.
The contest seemed destined for extra-time but Cormac Costello stepped up in the fifth minute of injury time to calmly convert the all-decisive free, leaving Synge Street crestfallen by the final whistle.
By winning their semi-finals a fortnight previously, both teams had already achieved their primary objective of a return to SFC1 but there was still a keen edge to proceedings in a contest that went right down to the wire.
Despite failing to ignite initially, Templeogue Synge Street carried a marginal 1-4 to 0-6 advantage into the interval with Killian O’Gara netting at the second attempt in the 21st minute.
It was Synge Street that opened the scoring through a 2nd minute free by Niall Scully before Adam McDermott restored parity with a smart effort on the turn five minutes later.
A Cormac Costello free edged Whitehall in front soon after as they began to enjoy more than their fair share of possession and territory, allowing Costello the chance to double his team’s lead with another free in the 11th minute.
Colmcille’s pressure yielded another Costello free three minutes later with most of Templeogue’s best work been done in defence as they coped relatively well with the pressure being placed upon them.
This allowed them to gain a foothold through Scully’s second free of the half in the 19th minute following a foul on Lorcan O’Dell and they gained further traction two minutes later as they pounced for the game’s opening goal, albeit in fortuitous circumstances.
There was nothing lucky about O’Gara’s sharp turn that saw him bear down on goal but with Stephen Lawless reacting bravely to repel his initial effort, the ball ricocheted off O’Gara to nestle almost apologetically into the empty net.
Whitehall lost their way to a degree in the ensuing minutes, conceding points from play to Scully and O’Dell but they finished the half strongly with a brace of Costello scores reducing their deficit to the bare minimum by half-time.
Any momentum that those points might have generated was eroded within four minutes of the restart as scores by Fintan Dignam and Max Fitzgerald (free) helped restore Synger’s three-point buffer.
However, O’Gara’s needless black card in the 38th minute handed Whitehall a numerical advantage that they availed of through unanswered points by Matt Moran and Costello (free).
The full-back line of Cathal Murphy, Conal Cunningham and Conor McKiernan excelled throughout for Synge Street, forcing numerous turnovers, while at the opposite end, O’Dell was fouled off the ball, allowing Scully to convert the most straightforward of frees.
Costello made light work of two trickier frees to level matters by the 54th minute and while O’Dell was on hand to clip over a sublime point in the 58th minute, Costello replied with another levelling score in the 63rd minute to prompt a thrilling conclusion.
Both teams had chances in the dying stages but it was left to Costello to separate the teams as he showed great composure to kick his tenth point of the contest, a match-winning contribution by the end.
Scorers – Whitehall Colmcille: C Costello 0-10 (8f); A McDermott, M Moran 0-1 each. Templeogue Synge Street: N Scully 0-4 (3f), K O’Gara 1-0; L O’Dell 0-2; M Fitzgerald (f), F Dignam 0-1 each.
Whitehall Colmcille: S Lawless; D Wherley, J Thorp, T Kellett; D Scanlon, E Moran, R Kerins; M Moran, S Foran; A McDermott, K Campbell, O Murray; T O’Sullivan, C Costello, L McCarthy. Subs: S Gannon for Murray (29), F Swaine for McCarthy (51), H McInerney for Campbell (51), C Ashmore for O’Sullivan (58).
Templeogue Synge Street: M Fitzgerald; C Murphy, C Cunningham, C McKiernan; G Holian, D Murphy, A O’Toole; B Waldron, S McCormack; C Curran, N Scully, K Hughes; F Dignam, L O’Dell, K O’Gara. Subs: J McCormack for O’Toole (half-time), E Sheehan for Hughes (44), S McConnell for Curran (55), L O’Brien for O’Dell (58).
Referee: Eamonn Drumgoole English (Cuala).
