Boston Northeast GAA

Tight marking by both teams at the start of any Football match is usually a good indication of the quality football in store for most spectators. True in this case for the first half at least. Shannon Blues opened the scoring after two minutes with a quality point. Cork were gifted a chance for goal shortly afterwards but were denied when they shot wide. The first fifteen minutes saw a Cork defence who underwent constant pressure from a very active Blues half forward line, but the Rebels dealt with it very well for a time. Conor Smith showed great vision on a number of occasions for Cork. The Blues grit denied the opposition a goal chance when goalkeeper Eddie O’Driscoll judged correctly to punch the ball away from danger. Declan Kearns made a brave dash out from the line to block the ensuing attack and ensure safety in the house of the Cork defence. Cork’s obvious plan to carry the ball from the back line through midfield and then pump it in long to their full forward line was effective enough to ensure their lead at the break. The second half saw a wide awake Shannon Blues team emerge from their half time talk. Blues took full advantage of a penalty awarded with a well placed kick by Trevor Wallace . Blues’ Colm McGee operated a fantastic diagonal run from half way up the field which ended in a superbly taken score for him. Cork, in fairness, were chasing the leaders for much of the second half. Some individual displays from Conor Smith, Kieran Connolly and Mark Cahalane helped the Rebels cause No team likes to be told they went to sleep in any match, but seconds from the end of the first half it would be fair to say that Cork were caught snoozing when Ulick Leanard capitalized on a inside move by his cohorts and goaled for Blues. A well blocked effort from Blues defenders sent Tomas Barrett’s strong shot back out into play and into Blues hands who duly used two passes to score their next point.. On the Blues’ side Stephen O’Mahony, Ken Killeen and Trevor Wallace served their team well. A nice point from a difficult angle added to Cahallane’s contribution. It effectively ended a Cork drought that looked like continuing henceforth. The scoreline certainly did not do justice to the work rate on the field by both teams. Cork trailed by nine points after the Blues opened the floodgates early on in the second half. What began as a decent game of Football to watch ended up as a target practice for Shannon Blues. A blatant pull down in the Blues’ goal area gifted Michael Lyons with a penalty that hit the post , however the resulting rebound met a tap in to add some semblance of hope to the Rebel’s  scoreline. The show was over for Cork by this stage. There will be some planning to be done before they can repair the banks of the Lee.

Shannon Blues, D Hawes, S Kelly, T Wallace, S Sinnott, B Driscoll, B Maloney, B Murphy, P Murray, K Killeen, S O’Mahony, G Henry, C McGee, U Leanard, Subs; M Green, N Murphy
Cork, E O’Driscoll, J Leonard, K O’Sullivan, C Smith, C Caffrey, D Kearns, K Connolly, M Noonan, S Keeney, P Mannix, R McAuley, M Lyons, T Barrett, Subs, J Curtain, A Flemins, B O’Loughlin.
Man of the Match  Stephen O’Mahoney (Shannon Blues)

Any mention of a match between Galway and Mayo in any part of the World will always receive a special amount of attention, and their meeting on Sunday at Canton did just that.
Adrian Kelly opened the score sheet for Mayo pointing superbly from twenty yards out. It was a sign of things to come from Mayo. A brief schemozzle ten minutes in forced Referee Tadgh Lucy’s authority onto the proceedings and precedents were set. An eager Mayo will rue an early chance at goal but will also enjoy the relief that came seconds later when Paudi Shivers capitalized on Galway’s mistake. Ten minutes of constant bombardment inside Galway’s 14 yard line held many rewards for Mayo throughout. That aside, neither team look overly menacing fifteen minutes in but change was around the corner. None of the midfield quartet were on high alert in a game which took on twists and turns as it developed. A rightfully awarded penalty in Galway’s favor saw Finnian Everard’s boot veer wide. This boost for Mayo resulted in their almost instant response when Murt Hunt’s effort was converted. Finnian Everard redeemed himself somewhat with a superbly taken free from the 45 on nineteen minutes.  More Mayo movements were in the works and a well worked ball found it’s way to the Galway net compliments of Paudi Shivers. Points followed in trickle formation for Galway leaving us at the half with a scoreline of Mayo 3-01, Galway 0-04.
Mayo will certainly ask questions about their ability to only convert one point in the first half. Other teams will relish playing them if this statistic becomes habit. Galway showed better movement in the second half and brought their haul of points to six early on. An unnecessary ‘handbags’ event clouded the by line and all players involved must surely be thanking their God that the referee didn’t reach for his red card. As mentioned, Mayo will rue their first half low point tally even though they scored five in the second half . Galway will know their first half was a dismal attempt compared to the second half comeback which brought them from 4 points into double digits. A few wasted chances from a team who seemed to approach the game with a mission to try to wear down Mayo backfired on Galway. Mayo’s fitness was on full charge at the final whistle. A deserved win.

Man of the Match Paudi Shivers (Mayo)