St Brigid's (Dublin) 2-16 Portlaoise (Laois) 1-15:SOME TIME, you figure, St Brigid's will go to the well once to often and find no replenishment. Not yet, though. Yesterday, the Dublin champions defied tiring limbs on a soggy pitch and very game opponents to somehow claim a victory at Parnell Park that for long patches seemed beyond them.
For sure, the Saints from the sprawling suburb of Blanchardstown have character in abundance, as they’ve shown virtually week-in and week-out for the past two months in their march through Dublin and now in the provincial campaign.
And this examination was the toughest of the lot, with progress affirmed only at the death of a match that finished 1-13 apiece at the end of regulation time and finally swung their way in extra-time where a late flourish put a gloss on the final scoreline.
A four-point end game was unjust on Portlaoise, who yet again fell to a bogey team from the capital. In recent campaigns, Kilmacud Crokes and St Vincent’s have usurped them and this time Brigid’s proved a nemesis.
That it went right to the wire, with a Philly Ryan goal in the 80th minute at the end of extra-time the act that put this match out of their reach, won’t provide any solace to the Laois men. Winning is what matters.
For much of this game, Portlaoise – playing the slicker football on a leg-sapping surface and deprived of captain Craig Rogers until late on due to illness – were the side who looked most likely to progress to the provincial final.
St Brigid’s industry and doggedness, however, proved to be the more important ingredients, with Seán Murray epitomising their spirit and determination with ball-winning catches and powerful runs out of defence that proved inspirational to his team-mates.
Murray’s performance was a tour de force, as team captain Shane Supple – who himself made a couple of important saves, particularly in the first-half – acknowledged afterwards.
“This team never knows when it is beaten. We had to dig deep again and there’s no better way to do it. There were 15 or 20 men-of- the-match (performances) but Seánie probably pipped a few people. He’s brilliant, has a great presence and reads the game so well,” said Supple.
The match had a marvellous intensity from the start, with Portlaoise claiming four-point leads on two occasions in the first half only to be hauled back each time.
The Portlaoise goal arrived in the 12th minute when Colm Parkinson got on the end of a slick move involving Brian Glynn, Brian McCormack and Barry Fitzgerald that split open the Brigid’s defence to put them 1-3 to 0-2 in front.
That advantage lasted only four minutes, before Paddy Andrews – Brigid’s most impressive forward – fired home a goal of his own to reduce the deficit to a point.
But Portlaoise reacted to that blow by firing over successive points from Adrian Kelly and two frees from Paul Cahillane to regain a four-point cushion.
Yet, demonstrating their resilience, Brigid’s response was to hit a sequence of four unanswered points (from Andrews, two from John O’Loughlin and a Ken Darcy free) to square the match at half-time.
The second-half of regulation was a high-tempo affair, with Portlaoise seemingly having the upper hand after three wonderful points in succession from the right boot of Adrian Kelly nudging them into a two-point lead.
It didn’t last long, though. Indeed, the nip-and tuck nature of the half was encapsulated by some wonderful scores and a couple of bad misses, one by Portlaoise’s Glynn and another by Brigid’s Ryan. And, for good measure, there was referee Cormac Reilly’s decision to overturn what seemed a perfectly good point by Ryan which was initially flagged over by the umpire.
If that could have proved a potentially controversial act, with Portlaoise’s Barry Fitzgerald equalising affairs four minutes into injury-time to leave the sides locked at 1-13 apiece, St Brigid’s took matters into their own hands in extra-time.
ST BRIGID'S:S Supple; A Daly (0-1), Martin Cahill, G Norton; C Freeman, S Murray, G Kane; B Cahill (0-1), J O'Loughlin (0-2); C Mullins (0-1), P Andrews (1-4), Mark Cahill (0-2, frees); K Kilmurray, K Darcy (0-4, three frees), P Ryan (1-0). Subs: L McCarthy (0-1) for Freeman (33 mins), O McCann for Kilmurray (45 mins), D Plunkett for Mark Cahill (74 mins).
PORTLAOISE: M Nolan; T Fitzgerald, K Fitzpatrick, B Mulligan; K Lillis, C Healy, C Boyle; H Coghlan (0-1), B Glynn; B McCormack (0-4), A Kelly (0-4), C Parkinson (1-0); P Cahillane (0-3, frees), B Fitzgerald (0-1, free), B Smith. Subs: C Rogers (0-1) for Parkinson (42 mins), E Bland for Fitzgerald (55 mins), I Fitzgerald (0-1) for Smith (58 mins), Parkinson for Kelly (61 mins).
Referee: C Reilly (Meath).
