Moycarkey Borris hold off late Golden siege to claim U17B county football title

County U17B Football Championship Final

Moycarkey Borris 2-7

Golden Kilfeacle 1-7

Moycarkey Borris banished their demons from the recent hurling final loss to finally claim county honours as they withstood a late Golden Kilfeacle resurgence to win this year’s County U17B Football Championship title in Templemore on Saturday afternoon.

It would have been the perfect Christmas present for this group to pull off the win here, having lost the hurling decider to Newport at the same grade in devastating fashion back in October, but they showed a huge will and resilience to win this game, leading from start to finish are were deserving champions come the final whistle.

Golden Kilfeacle will feel that they never produced their best on the day and they struggled far more to find their way to goal with just two points coming from play for the west side throughout the game; in direct contrast to Moycarkey Borris who scored all of their 2-7 from play with the impressive Tom Ryan pulling the string all game long.

To be fair to Golden, despite playing beneath themselves they did put their shoulder to the wheel in the final quarter to salvage the game as they trailed 2-6 to 0-4 by the 43rd minute and looked all but dead and buried, scoring four times in succession to bring the game back to two points going into added time.

However, Moycarkey showed great experience and composure under pressure to take the sting out of the game for the final five minutes of added time and they were clearly elated to have gotten the job done after the game.

A slow start to the game was nearly expected at this time of the year, with the heavy pitch in Templemore along with early nerves playing their part in the contest and it took 11 minutes for the first score to be registered with Darragh Peterson the provider for Moycarkey Borris, reacting to a short 45 to spin and slice over the point off his right boot.

That sparked the game into life and Golden wasted no time in response to that opener with Cian Lonergan punting over a well-taken score to equalise three minutes later as Golden were looking to find their range after a slow start in front of goal.

Tom Ryan was prominently featured in the game at this point and he showed his quality in the danger area in the 17th minute, with young Eamon Ryan providing a swift hand pass under a heavy tackle on the 21 to the elder Ryan, who swivelled passed a defender before curling a class finish to the top corner past a flailing Cillian Burke on the Golden goalmouth. A moment of class.

Indeed, it was to get worse from the resulting play for Golden as Moycarkey swiftly added to that goal with a classy effort from the outside of the boot by Louis Coughlan just grazing the side of the right-hand post to go over, making it 1-2 to 0-1 after 19 minutes.

Named in the programme at full-back, Golden’s Cian Lonergan was proving to be his side’s sole threat in attack and added a second to his and his team’s total in the 21st minute with a well-taken left-footed effort close to goal, but it did little to stunt the Moycarkey energy and further strikes from the impressive Tom Ryan and a first of the day for Killian Cantwell had the mid champions in control coming up to the half-time break.

It was proving to be a half dominated by the men in red and yellow but Golden did give themselves a filip before the break with the final two scores of the half coming courtesy of placed ball efforts from Charlie and Sam Hall to give the scoreline a healthy complexion at the break from a Golden viewpoint having been largely outplayed in the first 30. Moycarkey ahead 1-4 to 0-4.

This game was still there for either side and a strong start to the second half was needed for both to get them going in the right direction, and it proved to be a disastrous start from a Golden Kilfeacle perspective as their best player from the first half - Cian Lonergan - was black carded in less than 15 seconds after dragging down David Costigan from the throw-in. Ten minutes in the bin and a man down now for Golden in the following ten minutes.

Full advantage was taken by Moycarkey in this time too, with a second point of the game by Costigan being quickly followed by a crucial goal; Conor Donnelly the provider of this major as his mis-hit point effort from near the 14-yard line just deceived Burke in the Golden goal to hit the underside of the crossbar and hit the net. Moycarkey now firmly in control.

David Costigan’s energy and drive in possession made it tough for Golden to cope with the numerical disadvantage and the midfielder made more hay in the scoring department in th 43rd minute with his second of the day, with Golden now in massive trouble, trailing 2-6 to 0-4 with time swiftly running out.

Whatever about their performance on the day, one thing that can’t be thrown at this Golden team is their attitude as they continually put in the work even down by eight points and that is what helped them back into the game in the final quarter, with a fortuitous Sam Hall free somehow finding its way through the hands of three Moycarkey players on the line to gift Golden a way back into the game in the 47th minute.

That good fortune was capitalized on well by the boys in green and three frees in succession on the next ten minutes - up to the 58th minute - had them within two points of their opponents as the Moycarkey Borris energy started to falter in the face of this Golden resistance.

Five minutes of extra time were indicated by match referee Daniel Long as Golden came looking for the scores they needed, but Moycarkey’s game management in that time was brilliant, holding onto the ball well and wearing down time in the Golden half.

Golden had a few chances to break up the field before the end but Moycarkey were well set defensively, pressing high and turning over possession on more than one occasion and the final play of the game came from Killian Cantwell with his huge right-footed shot from the 45 flying over the bar to confirm victory for Moycarkey Borris who were deservedly crowned U17B champions for 2023.

Moycarkey Borris: Odhran Lanphier; Ethan Dawson, Cathal Clancy, Daniel Hayes; Cillian Doran, Killian Cantwell (0-2), Mark Drohan; David Costigan (0-2), Louis Coughlan (0-1); Sean O’Dwyer, Tom Ryan (1-1), John Fitzgerald; Conor Donnelly (1-0), Eamon Ryan, Darragh Patterson (0-1).

Subs used: James Danagher for Donnelly (53); Richie Maher for Patterson (57).

Golden Kilfeacle: Cillian Burke; Daniel O’Dwyer, Ciaran Byrne, Conor Marnane; Iobhar Ryan, Sean White, Harry Fogarty; Cian Lonergan (0-2), Kevin Hogan; Charlie Hall (0-2f), Sam Hall (1-3f), James Finn; Jack Donnelly, Jamie Moloney, James McLaughlin.

Subs used: Evan Ryan for O’Dwyer (39); Cian Ryan for McLaughlin (39).

Referee: Daniel Long (Moyle Rovers)