22-7-19 gaa championship
GAA SUPER 8S
KERRY 1-20 1-20 DINEGAL
MURPHY MAKES
ANYTHING HAPPEN
Patton’s kick-outs were on the money, while Shane Ryan
struggled with his restarts at the other end, but for all that, it was Kerry
who eased into a two points lead at the start of the second quarter, thanks to
the dash and finishing of Stephen O’Brien (0-2) and Paul Geaney (0-3).
But the Ulster champions were never found wanting when it
came to posting a response, with Murphy providing the assist for a couple of
McHugh scores, and powering through for a brilliant point himself as he traded
passes with McBrearty.
McBrearty brought the sides level for a seventh time, but
Geaney and O’Shea restored the two points cushion, and late in the half, both
sides lost players to black cards, Kerry’s White and Donegal attacker Niall
O’Donnell ordered from the field.
A hugely entertaining first half ended with O’Shea
converting his third free for a slender 0-10 to 0-09.
Hugh McFadden had been providing valuable protection to the
Donegal defence until forced off injured early in the second half. But Murphy
drove two 50 metre frees between the uprights at the Canal End to put them back
in front on 42 minutes.
But three minutes later Paul Geaney exploited a mix-up in
the Donegal defence to pick up a loose ball and dart through to beat 'keeper
Patton with a low finish to the net.
Donegal teenager Oisin Gallen came off the bench to test the
Kingdom defence with pace and trickery, hitting a delightful score and winning
a free that McBrearty despatched.
And the Ulster side were awarded a penalty for O’Brien’s
foul on Daire O Baoill, which Murphy drilled to the bottom corner of the net.
The intensity and pace never waned as both sides threw
everything possible into the positivity of attack, with O’ Shea, O’Brien,
Killian Spillane and Clifford landing memorable Kerry scores, only to be
cancelled out by points from Murphy, McBrearty and Michael Langan.
Late on it was defenders Paul Murphy and Jason Foley who
pressed forward to hit the points that looked to have got the Munster champions
over the line, but they lost substitute Tomas O Se to a straight red card, and
the game had slipped into its 76th minute when Murphy held his nerve to convert
a 40 metre free.
MY OPINION
This was a battle that I thought
could go either way and it had the sense of going back and forth but
understanding both teams mentality this could lead to a loss in the final week
so both teams will have to find a way to get up for it
MAYO 2-17 0-14 MEATH
O CONNOR ON FIRE
The sides were level four times throughout the opening half
and finished up locked on 0-07 apiece at the interval.
Chris Barrett, Kevin McLoughlin and Fergal Boland were all
late additions to the Mayo lineup and both McLoughlin and Boland got on the
score-sheet in the first-half.
Ultra experienced Barrett picked up rising Meath star James
Conlon who put in the hard yards but was held to a solitary point.
Ethan Devine was influential in the Meath attack and forced
a turnover that led to a Bryan Menton point before he split the posts himself.
Cillian O'Sullivan and Seamus Lavin closed out the first-half
with Meath points to tie it up at half-time though the loss of Mickey Newman
just before the interval with a leg injury robbed them of their key forward.
Walsh, who has just completed his Leaving Cert, came on for
Newman and proved to be a reliable replacement, taking over the free-taking
duties and slotting five of them.
He also won a 56th-minute free from a nice angle on the left
but his kick wasn't convincing and dropped short.
From the resulting play, Mayo engineered an attack and Colm
Boyle slotted a point to put them 0-13 to 0-12 ahead.
It was a see-saw encounter that possessed all the drama of a
knock-out tie with the sides level three times in the opening 20 minutes of the
second-half.
Mayo brought all their big game experience to bear on the contest
in the closing minutes, stretching the gap with points from Lee Keegan and
James Carr before McLoughlin's killer goal.
It came from a Meath kick-out that was turnover and the
excellent Keegan picked out McLoughlin who fired home from close range.
It was all over when Mayo won a penalty deep into
injury-time and O'Connor, despite the initial shot being blocked, struck to the
net with his follow up.
MY
OPINION
Mayo need to get this win in
order to stay I the competition and that they did but Meath should have saw
this as this as their chance to reach the semis. Meath should look at this campaign
with a sense of pride
DUBLIN 2-26 0-14
ROSCOMMONN
RUN AT ROCK
Colin Compton kicked a point and might have had a goal from
the game’s first attack, Diarmuid Murtagh sent over a spectacular kick from the
right wing and Conor Cox nailed a 45 metre free, though at the other end they
struggled to compete with the pace and movement of the Dublin attack and
conceded three frees to Dean Rock.
Dublin’s first point from play came in the 11th minute when
Con O’Callaghan made a stunning high catch and immediately turned and fired it
over from 25 metres, and from that moment they slipped into top gear and
utterly blew Roscommon out of the water in every area of the field.
Their control of the ball was immaculate as Roscommon found
themselves completely unable to effect turnovers, and almost every Dublin
possession ended in a shot on goal.
Roscommon did well on their own kickout, albeit going short
more often than not, but they struggled to move the ball into scoring
positions, and when they did, only Conor Cox was able to make any inroads on a
consistent basis.
Dublin also dipped into their deep reservoir of skills to
produce some magic moments that entertained the packed Hill that they played
into.
Paul Mannion produced a pass of precision and vision to set
up an easy finish for Rock, then a flowing move saw the Ballymun player palm in
their first goal, with Ciarán Kilkenny and Con O'Callaghan both playing quick
and inch-perfect handpasses to take defenders out of the game.
Rock continued to build up his tally from dead balls,
O’Callaghan and Mannion struck some magnificent scores, and perhaps the biggest
shock of all was Dublin’s failure to register a second goal.
O’Callaghan struck the post and blasted the ball over in a
one-on-one situation, Paul Mannion seemed to have stepped past Darren O’Malley
but the Roscommon goalkeeper recovered brilliantly to keep his shot out, but he
could do nothing about the steady stream of shots that flew over his crossbar.
Dublin’s 1-15 to 0-7 half-time lead was no more than a fair
reflection of their dominance, and as if the task facing Roscommon wasn’t
daunting enough, Conor Daly’s accumulation of a yellow, black and thus a red
card in the space of three minutes just before half time pointed to the strong
possibility of a real landslide.
A stunning solo goal from Michael Darragh Macauley in
between three points from Rock (2) and Jack McCaffrey pushed the lead out to
17.
store, but their side showed some of the steel that was
their hallmark in the Connacht championship, and kicked five of the next six
points, with three coming from defenders (Niall Daly, Conor Hussey and Seán
Mullooly) pushing forward to join the attack.
In total Dublin added just one point between the 39th and
62nd minute as they went through an uncharacteristically fallow period of
shooting, dropping several scoreable chances short while adding bringing their
wides tally for the game up to 10, but they found their groove in the closing
minutes again as Paddy Small, Kevin McManamon and Niall Scully all added their
names to the scoresheet
MY
OPINION
Dublin look unstoppable at the
moment and are ready for anyone that comes near them they could probably play a
development side and win against some of the teams that they have played but
the real tests will begin now as they play teams who can compete but will they
have the nous
CORK 2-12 2-15 TYRONE
CAN CONELLY BECOME A
CLASSIC
Tyrone recovered their composure for Cathal McShane and
Peter Harte to slot over scores, and as they channelled players back deep into
their own half, the challenge was thrown down to a Cork side – could they find
the key to unlock a famous defensive structure.
he answer was an emphatic 'yes’, as they dominated possession
and moved the ball patiently, waiting for pockets of space to open up, and they
were in.
Taylor sent over a point, Mark Collins converted a free, and
midway through the half, they struck for a second goal.
It was substitute James Loughrey, playing at corner back,
who came charging through to pick up Ruairi Deane’s pass and smash the ball to
the roof of Niall Morgan’s net.
Trailing by seven points, Tyrone had to come out, and they
dis push more men forward, but Cork had their number in filtering players back
and frustrating the Ulster men, with Thomas Clancy keeping in-form full forward
Cathal McShane in check.
Conor Meyler and Harte did pull back scores, but at the
break, it was the Munster side which led by five, 2-4 to 0-5, after Luke
Connolly swept a free kick sweetly between the posts.
Mickey Harte made a treble substitution in a bid to breath
fresh life into his side’s challenge, but Cork stretched their lead through
Sean White.
Tyrone reverted to the long ball approach they had abandoned
in mid-season, with Harte and skipper Mattie Donnelly joining target man
McShane in the inside line, and they crafted a 43rd minute goal that
brought them right back into it.
Donnelly combined smartly with Michael McKernan, who fisted
to the far post for an unmarked McShane to palm to the net.
Three minutes later they were in front, a second goal
smashed home from the penalty spot by Harte, after Niall Sludden had been
hauled down by Taylor as he bore down on goal.
Cork were now facing a Tyrone team baring its teeth for the
first time in the contest, but survived a spell of pressure to pull back scores
from Luke Connolly and sub Michael Hurley (2) to go level in the 59th minute.
But with Morgan now getting more joy from his restarts and
Frank Burns effective in breaking from deep, Tyrone pushed forward with
purpose, and Donnelly used his strength to put his side back in front, with
substitute Tiarnan McCann easing them two ahead.
Cork were forced to commit men forward, and while they had
scores from Connolly, Hurley and John O’Rourke, the Red Hands had it in the
bag, with McShane and Donnelly nailing the scores that saw them through.
MY
OPINION
This is another close win for Tyrone
which makes me think that if they do the right experimentation with the Dublin
match to come in the future I feel that Tyrone have got a shot at doing some
real damage. They can learn about Dublin.
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