All County Minor Football C'ship - Kickhams Vs Cargin
ACMFC Final
19 September 2008
Kickhams Creggan 0-14
Cargin 1-09
Creggan Minors claimed their first All County Minor Football Championship against local rivals Cargin under the lights of Casement Park on Friday night.
This was a great match and it turned out to be the correct decision to postpone the original game due to poor weather conditions as it deserved a perfect night and pitch to showcase the talents of both these sides.
Cargin got off to a good start as they won the throw in and raced up the field and converted a free kick to take the lead. Creggan leveled the game from the boot of Hugh McNulty when he slotted the ball over the bar to get Kickhams off the mark.
Disaster struck though shortly after when the Creggan back line was exposed when a long ball in was missed and the Cargin number 14 found the net. The heads could have dropped then, but instead Creggan regrouped and Odhran McLarnon pointed a free to bring them back to two points.
Cargin were still always dangerous and continued to employ their tactic of kicking it in high to their full forward which was reaping rewards early on. They put three points back between the sides when they converted a free.
Cathal Small and Odhran again punished indiscipline in the Cargin defence by firing over a brace of great free kicks to chip away at the deficit. The men from Toome struck back however when they converted two more points of their own.
Slowly but surely Creggan began to get the upper hand of the match mid way through the half. In doing so they were rewarded for their good work by firing over four unanswered points. Odhran McLarnon getting another three and Cathal Small claiming his second which put Kickhams ahead for the first time on the night.
Cargin, sensing this Green and Gold surge, needed a response and they got one when the Toome men pointed twice more to re-take the lead.
Paul Nelson had to go off injured when he hurt his already damaged Achilles when clearing a dangerous ball that looked destined for the net. Paul was replaced by Ciaran Russell but the side was not weakened in the slightest with Ciaran having a great game.
The last act of the first half was left to Conor McCann who split the posts to leave the teams all square at the short whistle.
Half Time, Kickhams Creggan 0-09, Cargin 1-06
The second half didn’t produce the same amount of score taking as the first but it was no less intense or exciting. Both teams were desperate to win this match that every ball was fought for with everything these young lads had.
Creggan got off to a flyer at the start of the second period when they raced out of the traps to shoot four points on the bounce. Whatever J.A. and the two Sean’s said at half time must have worked, as Odhran and big Hugh shared two points each to put considerable daylight between the teams.
Play and possession ebbed and flowed with both defences on top and most of the action was centred around the middle third of the pitch. At this point Damian McLarnon was replaced by Michael Sweeney who just wasn’t having the same affect as he did in the Semi Final but put in no less of an effort.
Cargin kept themselves within touching distance of Creggan by pointing two frees, and the tension was mounting both in the stands and on the field by the second as the clock steadily ticked away. Cathal Small put three points back between the sides when he slotted over a brilliant free kick from way out on the touchline and from about 35 yards out.
Cargin though refused to give up and they themselves converted a free of their own to keep the match alive to the end. Just when it looked like Creggan would see out the remaining minutes by retaining possession of the ball, drama erupted when Paddy McAuley was adjudged to have fouled Cargin’s number 14 in the small square and the ref awarded a penalty. This was a cruel finale to endure but fortunately for Creggan, the resulting kick was put wide of the goal and Creggan held on for the final minute to win the match and the Minor Championship Final.
This was a great match played between the best two minor teams in the county and all of the Creggan squad deserves the plaudits for securing the win. They claimed part one of three finals involving the two sides but they won’t care about the other two too much as this was the big one and the one they wanted the most.
The win qualifies the young lads for a crack at Ulster and who knows where the journey will end….
……to be continued.
Kickhams Team – Aidan McKeown, BJ McKeown, Ricky Johnston, Paul Nelson (Ciaran Russell), Aidan Maguire, Martin Johnston, Fergal McGrenaghan, Paddy McAuley, Seamus Allen, Cathal Small (0-03), Conor McCann (0-01), David McGuckian, Damian McLarnon (Michael Sweeney), Hugh McNulty (0-03), Odhran McLarnon (0-07).
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