Leinster Club SF Championship semi-final/Tyrrellspass 1-7 Moorefield 0-7:This was winter football in its purest form. A Leinster club semi-final already pushed into mid-December by the ever problematic GAA disciplinary process produced very little entertainment until a gripping endgame.
With eight minutes remaining, Martin Flanagan conjured up a point to put Tyrrellspass 0-6 to 0-5 in front. Moments later his speculative shot fell short but Moorefield goalkeeper Thomas Corely made a complete mess of the ensuing few seconds of possession.
First he almost flipped the ball into his own net, duly inviting Keith Scally and Denis Glennon to close down his remaining options. Overcarrying in the small square resulted in referee Cyril Doyle awarding a penalty. Glennon buried it to the top-left corner for a four-point cushion.
"I don't know but our lads were very disappointed with the decision," said the Moorefield manager, Des Brennan. "I wasn't near enough to call it but it was a hard decision. He's a good referee but I felt we could have done with a bit more added time."
The defending Leinster champions came back downfield, Niall Hurley-Lynch walloping the crossbar on the next play, and they were still pressing in injury-time, although Glennon's third point of the afternoon left them chasing a goal to force extra-time.
By that stage Tyrrellspass were down to 14 men, having lost defender Shane Arthur to a second yellow card.
There was plenty of media attention leading up to this game because of the suspensions of the Moorefield wing backs Kevin Murnaghan and James Lonergan for fighting in the quarter-final victory over Dromard.
The Central Appeals Committee threw out their case last Friday, which also ensured the loss of home advantage.
"It was hugely disruptive but I'm not going to blame that," continued Brennan. "Our lads are big lads, they are tremendous players and they were great Leinster champions. They went down battling today and I'm not going to say anything controversial.
"Nobody can deny that we battled 100 per cent today. So did Tyrrellspass. It came down to the penalty and that's about the size of it."
"It's understandable to see where they are coming from," said Tyrrellspass manager Pat Flanagan. "They are proud Leinster champions. They wanted a full squad out there. It's hard enough to win a game with a full squad. Last year we played three games in a row before we played Moorefield and we had a lad suspended so I know exactly how they feel. They wanted to go out and give a good account of themselves."
In the end it all evens out. Tyrrellspass came into this match after a four-week lay-off while the Kildare champions played four out of the last five weekends.
The 2,160 crowd froze through a poor-quality opening half, shared three points apiece, with Tyrrellspass looking in serious trouble after losing David Glennon to a hamstring injury after seven minutes. The game's seminal moment seemed to arrive midway through the second half when the home defence lifted a siege to finally put Denis Glennon in a one-on-one scenario with marker Ian Lonergan. He skinned his man before blasting over a point.
Moorefield came back but they will rue the several chances they missed before Patrick Murray finally drew them level. Cue the Martin Flanagan cameo and decisive penalty.
TYRRELLSPASS: D Quinn; T Newman, B Murphy, T O'Brien; S Arthur, TJ Gonoud, P Sheridan (capt); A Corcoran, D Murphy; K Connell, G Hoey, K Scally; David Glennon (0-1), M Flanagan (0-3), Denis Glennon (1-3, 1-0 penalty). Substitutes: R Dunbar for David Glennon (7 mins), J Corcoran for Dunbar (40 mins), C Daly for Connell (53 mins), R Sheeran for Scally (57 mins).
MOOREFIELD: T Corely; D Barry (0-1), K O'Neill (capt), P O'Flynn; I Lonergan, G Naughton, L Callaghan; R Glavin, D Flynn; M Tracey, R Sweeney (0-1), R Delaney; P Murray (0-4, three frees), J Philips, C Kelly. Substitutes: F Hanniffy for Philips (temp, 21-23 mins), Hanniffy for Delaney (40 mins), N Hurley-Lynch (0-1) for Kelly (55 mins), K Duane for Tracey (59 mins).
Referee: C Doyle (Wexford).
Leinster officials are to investigate an incident after the game when the match referee is understood to have been struck by a supporter after he had gone through the tunnel leading from the playing area to the dressingrooms.
