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Junior Hurlers Force Draw with Naomh Barrog in Exciting Champo Final - Thu, 18 Dec 2008

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St Brigid's 1-7 Naomh Barrog 1-7

A 60th-minute point from Cillian McCann was enough to earn St Brigid's a deserved draw in the Dublin JHC Final against Naomh Barróg at a chilly Balgriffin. Barróg will consider themselves unfortunate not to add the Dublin title to the Leinster Junior Championship they achieved last week, especially as they led by five points with eight minutes remaining on Sunday afternoon.

However, St Brigid's deserve immense credit for their stirring comeback, and McCann's glorious point from the right-flank was the culmination of a spirited final-quarter performance in a match of high endeavour but few periods of sustained quality. St Brigid's played with a slight breeze at their backs in the first half but fell behind to an Emmet McCabe free after two minutes.

With nerves clearly evident on both sides, there were prolonged passages of scrappy play before Mick Galvin levelled the sides with a sublime point from midfield on seven minutes. The Russell Park men had their noses in front four minutes later when Bernard Duggan eclipsed Galvin's earlier effort with another beauty from out the field. The first half became increasingly fractious and a period of nine scoreless minutes ensued before Naomh Barróg struck for the game's opening goal when a McCabe free deceived Brigid's goalkeeper Willie Burke to fly untouched into the net. A Paul Garbutt free increased Barróg's lead to three points in the 23rd minute, and Garbutt's contest with Mick Cussens was a fascinating microcosm of the afternoon's main struggle.

Brigid's raised their performance for the remainder of the half but, despite a wealth of possession, they only managed two points through a Galvin gem and a long-range free from Cussens and they trailed by a point (1-2 to 0-4) at the break. The second half was a marked improvement on the first-half fare, and a McCabe free had the Kilbarrack side up and running just a minute after the resumption.

The talismanic Sean Duignan soon replied for St Brigid's with a trademark turn and snappy point, but the following five minutes were owned by Naomh Barróg as they hit four unanswered points in as many minutes. Firstly, McCabe capitalised on Eoghan Costello's intelligent delivery to hit a cracking point from the right sideline before Garbutt did likewise from the other flank. Goalkeeper John Flood then hit a monster free and by the time the hardworking Paul Ryan gained reward for his selfless endeavours with a tidy score of his own in the 40th minute, Barróg led by double scores (1-7 to 0-5).

St Brigid's showed tremendous resolve to play themselves back into contention and they received a lifeline when Mick Fitzsimons' point attempt landed over Flood's head in the 54th minute to reduce the arrears to just two points. Within a minute, Flood atoned for his earlier mistake with a courageous save from Pat Rohan's point-blank shot, but Cussens stroked over the resulting 65, and McCann's point with two minutes remaining ensured St Brigid's another day in the sun.

Team mentor Ciaran O'Reilly had mixed emotions at the final whistle, saying: "We're disappointed that we didn't play anywhere close to our full potential, but obviously we're happy that we live to fight another day." Naomh Barróg's Dudley Costello felt that his side had let the match slip from their grasp, saying: "I felt we threw it away, so I'm very disappointed. We can't expect to win conceding so many frees."

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