Annacurra versus Tinahely – Match report

Summer came to Annacurra on Friday the 25th of May 2012 when Annacurra and local rivals Tinahely faced each other in the Wicklow Senior Football League under a blazing sun in Joey Doyle park Annacurra.

Only a point separated the teams in the league table, Annacurra on 6 and Tinahely on 5, so this was going to be a crucial match in the lower half of the division for both parishes as they work hard to retain their division one statuses and put daylight between themselves and the bottom of the table.

Tinahely opened the scoring in the second minute when one of their midfielders found himself free in the Annacurra large rectangle and blasted the ball into the back of the net to put them a goal to no score up and cast a cloud over the sunlight in Annacurra for the local supporters.

Annacurra fronted up to their opposition though and by the 18th minute of play had established a 2 point lead after having two decent opportunities to respond to Tinahely in kind with goals of their own. First, Patrick Moules shot from an acute angle into the village end goal narrowly missed the mark and then a rasper from Michael O’Brien which struck the crossbar will surely lead to someone having to check the woodwork for any damage. Tinahely’s goal may have cast a shadow over the scoreline in the park but the efforts from the Annacurra men were beginning to burst them through the clouds.

Step in Ian McDonald to brighten the already stunning day for Annacurra when he opened the scoring for Annacurra on the 5th minute with a well taken free from a difficult angle. He then popped up on the 10th minute to chase a ball that was going towards the end line and hooked it over the bar with a fantastic right footed effort from the ground with an acute angle for the score of the match.

Ian continued his good work on the 10th and 12th minutes with two more points from play and a free respectively to put Annacurra a point to the good. Vincent Flaherty then increased the margin with a superb run from his position at centre back through the heart of the Tinahely defence to score a point. Tinahely responded with a point on the 20th minute to reduce the margin back to the minimum with a scoreline of 6 points for Annacurra to Tinahely’s 1 – 1.

Martin O’Brien then got the first of his two points of the match only for Tinahely to respond with 2 points of their own on the 28th and 29th minutes to leave the minimum in it again and so it stayed at half time. As happened the last day out against AGB in the dogtrack Annacurra lost the championship minutes, the 5 minutes before and the 5 after the interval. Annacurra came out the worse over that period of the match by 2 points to no score. This is somewhere that the lads and management may want to look to for improvement in what was otherwise a shining display of attractive football by the Derry men.

When play resumed after the interval Martin O’Brien popped up on the 35th minute to get his second point of the game and pave the way for the Annacurra ascendancy in the match. Martin had a very good game in the half back line. Breaking up much of the oppositions attack and winning many important balls and breaks. His two points came at important junctures in the game to keep the Annacurra scoreboard ticking over and his distribution of balls into the forwards was excellent.

Martin was ably assisted by Jack O’Sullivan in the opposite wing back position whose man didn’t have the best of days due to the attention Jack was paying him. Jacks run’s into the forwards looked dangerous and were threatening to the Tinahely defence. Sandwiched between Martin and Jack was Vincent Flaherty at centre back. Vinny was one of the contenders for the AnnacurraGaaClub man of the match award but was very narrowly pipped at the post by one of his fellow defenders. Vinny showed for every ball that came his way and dominated the essential centre back ground. Very little if any at all ball made it through the middle to threaten the Annacurra line and the point Vinny scored capped off an excellent performance.

Annacurra are blessed to have two stalwarts in the form of Liam Moules and Shane McAllister in the corner back positions. I don’t think there was a ball that either man went for that they didn’t win convincingly. Liam was the AnnacurraGaaClub.com man of the match, he was responsible for winning crucial ball close into the Annacurra goal at important stages to snuff out Tinahely offensive moves and his darting runs out of defence set up many of Annacurra’s scoring oppurtunities. His performance was capped by a well taken ball fisted over the Tinahely bar as the game closed out for the icing on his cake.

Shane also made a major contribution to what was a good day for Annacurra by being steady at the back as usual and cutting off many Tinahely attacks while also getting a well deserved point. He moved out onto the wing in the second half and his distribution of ball into the forwards and his actions in defence were the equal to those he had put in in the first half at corner back. Between Liam and Shane Ciaran Byrne lined out at full back where he had an excellent game as the linchpin of the defence. The fact that Tinahely had to make changes to bring a player on into the full forward position because of the game Ciaran was having summed up his performance. But probably more prescient was the fact that Ciaran kept anyone on him scoreless was a testament to his performance.

Robert Fitzgerald lined out in goal for the Green and Gold and again Annacurra were in good hands. His kick outs were excellent and once again he plucked balls out of the air in the second half that could have as easily crossed under Annacurra’s bar.

The one fact that best illustrates the herculean efforts of the brave men in the green and gold back division was that Tinahely failed to score at all in the second half. This was not however for a lack of possession or chances of scores created by the hard work and diligence of the men in red and white. They had a large number of wides and while Annacurra backs were constantly hassling and pressuring them when they went for their scores they will still be disappointed that they didn’t get a better rub of the grass and and a few more scores on the day. Had they managed to do so it would have been a much tighter game and anything could have happened. Annacurra won’t be as fortunate with an opposition as unlucky as Tinahely were on the day again when it comes to taking scoring chances they set up.

Peter Clancy was available for selection again and lined out in the number 8 jersey at midfield with Paul McDonald as his partner. Peter had to come off during the second half as he took a very hard knock during the game and hopefully he will be ok for Annacurra’s next match. While on the field though Peter made a great contribution to the game winning clean ball in the middle third and setting up many breaks for the half backs and forwards to run onto. He was ably assisted by Paul McDonald who was the engine room in the middle putting in the hard miles of running to cover between the two boxes as usual. The Annacurra midfield duo were in control for much of the match and the springboard for the bright day in the Green and Gold.

Shane O’Keefe, Clive Horan and Michael O’Brien lined out in the half forward line and all played well. Clive scored 4 of Annacurras’ points, three free’s and one from play. All came during the second half and that they contributed half of Annacurra’s eventual winning margin show’s how important his efforts were. The men on either side of him also had outstanding games. Shane as usual put himself about the field making dangerous runs and spraying threatening ball around the park while also popping up in defence at crucial junctures to ensure the opposition had no breathing space. Mick won any of the man to man competitions with his marker to assert his supremacy at half forward and dominate possession in the middle third of the field much to Tinahely’s detriment.

The inside forwards of Patrick Moules, Ian McDonald and Stephen Doyle saw less of the ball in the second half than in the first half and this is probably why they did not do even more damage to Tinahely. Ian had an outstanding first half scoring 5 points, two from play and as was already mentioned one was so good it is a contender for score of the season. Both Patrick and Stephen were replaced in the second half and this was probably more of a representation of the lack of ball going into them than anything. Stephen’s touch and distribution of the ball were as usual very effective and threatening to the opposition as he set up scoring chances. Patrick was just opening up to make and impact on the game when he was taken off so was probably a little unlucky in that.

James Fitzgerald and Nevan O’Sullivan came on relatively late in the game and did not have much of a chance to make an impact on the game unfortunately. Neil Henry replaced Peter Clancy when he had to come off injured and played well in the backs clearing up much important ball and disrupting the Tinahely attack. A bright proposition for the future.

While Martin O’Brien kept the scoreboard ticking over Clive Horan put daylight between Annacurra and Tinahely by scoring the next 4 points, 3 from free’s, to put Annacurra 12 points to 1 – 3 up on the 51st minute. The two talisman’s at corner back, Shane McAllister and Liam Moules, then slotted over the final two points to close out the game to Annacurra’s joy.

Tinahely have suffered greatly at the expense of the recession with so many of their young players having had to emigrate but they should still take positives from their game. They were unlucky to miss a high number of scoring chances that they earned by having a large share of the possession during the game. Stand out players for Tinahely included both of their wing backs, Anthony Darcy and Padraig Nolan, (I think that was his name, my apologies if that is incorrect). Both their half backs had outstanding games for Tinahely, garnering much possession in their half back line while breaking up many of the Annacurra attacks. They also menaced threateningly into the Annacurra half on many occasions to put Annacurra under threat.

As with every game Annacurra have room for improvement, the repeated loss of the championship minutes again and the luck they needed to not concede more scores to Tinahely are areas that more knowledgeable and experienced men than I might want to give some consideration to. However they ran out deserved winners after a strong performance by all who lined out in the green and gold and now sit in 9th place in the league with 8 points after 8 games played. Hopefully this will provide the platform they require to maintain their deserved division one status.

Full time score
Annacurra 0-14 – Tinahely 1-3

AnnacurraGAAClub.com Man of the match: Liam Moules

Annacurra team
Robert Fitzgerald, Shane McAllister, Ciaran Byrne, Liam Moules, Martin O’Brien, Vincent Flaherty, Jack O’Sullivan, Peter Clancy, Paul McDonald, Michael O’Brien, Clive Horan, Shane O’Keefe, Patrick Moules, Ian McDonald, Stephen Doyle

Subs:
James Fitzgerald (for Patrick Moules), Neil Henry (for Peter Clancy), Nevan O’Sullivan (for Stephen Doyle), John O’Neill, Jack Keenan, Colm Maher,

Annacurra scorers
Ian McDonald 5 points (2 frees), Clive Horan 4 points (3 frees), Martin O’Brien 2 points, Vincent Flaherty 1 point, Shane McAllister 1 point, Liam Moules 1 point.