Annacurra faced Arklow Geraldine’s Ballymoney, (AGB), in the championship qualifier in Aughrim on Friday the 9th of August, for the winner there was place in the last 12 of this years championship, the losers faced the Keating Cup and the prospect of having to fight for their place in the senior championship next year. Needless to say there was a lot at stake and with the recent spate of injuries only having been compounded by the loss of Paul McDonald to a serious injury that will keep him out of football for several weeks. Get well soon Paul.
So with the lynchpin of the defense in Paul McDonald out of the fullback position that he had won the man of the match accolade from AnnacurraGAAclub.com in the last match, Ciaran Byrne had to step up and move back to the position he had won an IFC medal in. Luckily Ciaran was well up to the task and along with remainder of the full back line they held their men quite for most of the match. Liam Moules looked particularly hungry with several darting runs up the field to try and get on the ball and will have been disappointed that he did not make more inroads due to the man-marking role he had to fill. Sean O’Neill also made his return to senior championship football and put experience to good use and had a good game being unlucky to be replaced by Shane McAllister. Luckily Shane found his old form though and did an excellent job when he came on.
Annacurra however squandered several chances in first half but managed to rally close to the break and went in a point down at half time at a score line of 5 points to 4. AGB had the better of the opening exchanges and were ahead by a couple of points at one stage. Annacurra were finding it difficult to make traction in the forwards and while they had much of the possession the scores simply weren’t coming when they were wanted. Towards the end of the first half though Annacurra stepped on the accelerator and started to peg the Ger’s men back. While they went in a point behind they would have been the happier at the break.
Clive Horan is probably responsible for the majority of the scores int he first half that kept the men in the green and gold within reach of AGB. Also notable in the first half were Stephen Murphy who played as a spare man around the half back line hoovering up much of the breaking ball and distributing intelligent and threatening balls into the forwards. Alan Byrne also imposed himself on the game, with decisive interventions, (with one of particular note just before the game finished that if it had of gone to an AGB man could have changed the outcome), and biting runs up field that always threatened AGB and lead to Alan picking up several knocks as the opposition struggled to contain his dangerous presence. Alan was aided in the half back line by James Keenan and Jack O’Sullivan who both also put in hard working days at the coal face and shut down their respective wings to the opposition and distributing the ball well up the field.
The highlight of the first half though came when Michael (Nitch) Doyle, the man between the sticks for Annacurra pulled off two vital saves one straight after the other when Arklow threatened to nab a goal and set Annacurra back. Nitch had cat like reactions to stop the first shot and immediately get back to his feet and stop the second effort as soon as he was half back to his feet. Without that vital intervention it is hard to envisage that Annacurra would have been able to win the match.
The second half started equally but Annacurra then took control and started to turn the screw. Once again Clive Horan was instrumental with this and scored several skillful points, particularly well after the hard work of the forwards paid off when Annacurra turned over AGB possession in the oppositions half and converted it into quick scores. Here Michael and Martin O’Brien were of particular importance, putting AGB under pressure in their own half to ensure that there were no easy options for the AGB men.
AGB fought back but mid way through the second half but an exemplary shift from Alan Horan at midfield helped Annacurra to stay in the lead once they had gained it. Annacurra then took back control when Ian McDonald moved to midfield winning vital possession and and Robert Fitzgerald moved to center forward where he was a serious threat to AGB with two massively important points from play aswell as long distance placed ball efforts. Nevan O’Sullivan was also a serious danger to Arklow in the Annacurra half forward line and made good use of the multiple possession’s he had as usual.
Once again though in the second half the burden fell on the goal keeper to make the difference and thankfully Nitch did not shirt his responsibilities when again he made two vital saves in the second half. The first came when a high ball was looping into the square and he had to get something onto it to knock it onto the bar to prevent a goal. And again his cat like instincts were tested when he pulled off another fantastic reaction save towards the close of the game to keep us in it. For those vital interventions we had no option but to give him the man of the match award, it was fully deserved.
Annacurra will be happy with the result as they ran out worthy winners. This will now give them a bit of vital momentum as the face Hollywood in the next round in two weeks, with a place in the quarter finals at stake. Lets hope for the best. Well done lads.
We would also like to take this opportunity to apologise that the game could not be covered live on twitter due to a lack of reception in Aughrim.
Final Score: Annacurra 0-14 Arklow Geraldine’s Ballymoney 0-12
AnnacurraGAAclub.com Man of the Match: Michael (Nitch) Doyle
We would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Michael on the professional recognition he has received from the Irish Insurance Industry Trade Magazine. Well done Nitch!
Team: Michael Doyle, Liam Moules, Ciaran Byrne, Sean O’Neill, James Keenan, Alan Byrne, Jack O’Sullivan, Alan Horan, Robert Fitzgerald, Nevan O’Sullivan, Michael O’Brien, Stephen Murphy, Clive Horan, Ian McDonald, Martin O’Brien
Subs: Shane McAllister (for Sean O’Neill), unused: Pierce O’Brien, John O’Neill, James Fitzgerald.