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Junior 1s versus Fingallians - Sun, 4 Jul 2004

St Brigids 1-10 Fingallians 2-8

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Two Fingallians goals in the space of a minute undone the Junior A footballers of St. Brigids in this intriguing Adult Division Five clash last Sunday morning.

Brigids looked comfortable when leading by 1-7 to 0-6 after 50 minutes of action at Russell Park, before the Swords outfit hit 2-2 in a four-minute spell to turn the contest on it?s head.

Dara O'Murchu began the scoring spree for the visitors by rolling home on the rebound after Damien Smith?s save, and Fingallians were celebrating further just sixty seconds later when Tommy Reillys speculative effort hit the inside of the Brigids post and found the net.

The Swords men now had all the momentum, and they dissected the uprights twice in the following two minutes to lead by 2-8 to 1-7 with seven minutes to play.

To their credit, the shell-shocked Saints responded through points from Ciaran McFuil, Sean Duignan and John Baxter, but the clock proved to be their greatest enemy and Fingallians held on for a slender one-point victory.

The final outcome was somewhat harsh on the hosts, who?d dominated for long spells and always looked to have the beating of their opponents.

They enjoyed much the better of the opening exchanges and led by 0-5 to 0-3 after twenty minutes with McFuil (2), Duignan, Baxter and Brian Fogarty scoring, but they would have been further clear if it weren?t for some wayward shooting that saw their wide tally mount.

Nevertheless, as the likes of McFuil, Enda Lynch, Vincent Bruin and Dermot Reidy mopped up most of the loose ball around the middle of the field, Brigids continued to enjoy the territorial advantage, and a Duignan strike on the stroke of half-time handed them a commanding lead (1-5 to 0-4).

It was an extremely well-taken goal, as Baxter produced a glorious pass to pick out Duignan, who took advantage by blasting to the roof of the net.

The opening ten minutes of the second half saw some well-contested play and the sides claimed two points apiece with midfielders Reidy and Bruin claiming the scores for Brigid?s (1-7 to 0-6).

Fingallians pushed forward in the ensuing exchanges as they tried to close the gap, but had no joy as the Brigid?s defence bolstered by the impressive half-back line of Lynch, Mick McGovern and Damien Dempsey  stood firm.

However, the sixty seconds of madness that changed the game arrived with ten minutes to play, as first O?Murchu closed the gap to one point by rolling to the net after Smith had saved.

And it got better for the visitors in the following moments, as Tommy Reillys long-range effort crept home and two further Fingallians points arrived to leave the Swords outfit four points clear (2-8 to 1-7).

Brigids kept battling and hit three late scores, but it was too little too late and Fingallians held on for a slender win.

ST. BRIGIDS: D Smith; C Kelly, J Boyle, M Furlong; M McGovern, E Lynch, D Dempsey; V Bruin, D Reidy; J Baxter, C McFuil.

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