Round Tower 4-7 v Trinity Gaels 3-11, Monastery Road, 28th November
Tommy Keogh pictures of the action can be viewed here.
Monastery Road was lit up on Thursday evening as our Minor Footballers and Trinity Gaels finished their season with a high scoring and very entertaining MFL3 clash, writes Mick McGlynn. Unfortunately a last minute goal denied our Minors a victory on the historic occasion as a talented Trinity Gaels side netted two late goals to overcome a defiant comeback by Towers.
It was the first occasion a Towers team had taken to Monastery Road to play competitively under the bright lights and our young lads wasted little time in bringing the occasion to life as they netted after two minutes. Micheál Walsh embarked on a pacey run from the half forward line and he drew defenders before hand-passing to Alan Gavin who slotted it calmly low beyond the advancing keeper. But the opposition responded and took control of the game. Their quick movement with the ball caused problems for the Towers defence. They kicked five points without reply and for a few Towers were guilty of giving away possession, resulting in them conceding. Our lads went 22 minutes without a score before Walsh showed excellent leadership to kick a score. Again he attacked from the half-forwards and he played a one-two with Davey McCarthy and ran at the home side with pace. He had three defenders surrounding him when he kicked the score from the 21. Gavin, Walsh and McCarthy worked passes quickly between them and it led to Adam Clarke being fouled. Joey Murphy’s free dropped on the box and a Towers flick saw it come back off the crossbar. Towers then levelled on 29 minutes when McCarthy played crossfield to midfielder Shane Boland who ran with pace onto the pass and kicked the equaliser. But we conceded just before half-time. An overhit pass when we were comfortable in possession was punished with an excellent score from distance to leave it 1-2 v 0-6 at the break.
The first attack of the second-half brought another Gaels score and an excellent score from the right pushed us three points behind. Within three minutes the margin was six, when Gaels netted their first goal. Towers needed a response and again Walsh proved the talisman. He started the attack with a pass to centre-half-back Fergus Callely and he released McCarthy on the right. He beat his defender and his dropping ball across the box to the back post was palmed to the net by Walsh. The visitors kicked another two points to stretch their lead to five and Aaron Soady then came from half-back to kick a score under pressure. Shane Boland kicked a point with his left from the half-forwards in response to another Gaels score. With Towers now trailing by four with ten minutes remaining, the game was turned on its head within a three minute spell. A mix-up between the visitors keeper and full back saw the alert Walsh pick possession and cooly sidestep the last line of defence before rolling into the empty net. Walsh then notched a superb third goal when a he palmed from a tight angle a high ball over the keeper to leave Towers now two ahead, 4-4 v 1-11. Substitute Ciaran Brennan played a key role in the build-up when blocked Gaels from clearing. Walsh again played a key role in the next score when his run off the ball was found with an inside pass from Boland and McCarthy was set-up to kick an excellent score from the right from distance. Another score was quickly registered and then Alan Gavin kicked from long range to leave Towers 5 clear with four minutes remaining, 4-6 v 1-11. But this was a very talented Trinity Gaels side and they refused to be beaten. Their full forward struck for goal from just inside the 21 that finished to the roof of the net. With time almost up they needed a goal and from the resulting kick-out the visitors worked the ball inside with quick movement before it was slipped under keeper Eoghan Heffernan. There was time for no more and meant our lads lost by the finest of margins on another momentous night for Monastery Road and Round Tower GAA Club.
Round Tower: Eoghan Heffernan, Padraig Fitzpatrick, Thomas Ankers, Sean Flynn, Aaron Soady, Fergus Callely, Alex Whelan, Shane Boland, Michael Cleary Burns, Alan Gavin, Joey Murphy, Aaron Whelan, Davey McCarthy, Micheál Walsh, Adam Clarke. Used subs: Ciaran Brennan, Kevin Nolan.
