Seniors Through To County Semi Final

Heavy rainfall during the day did not presage well for this Dublin Senior County Championship  quarter final tie at Parnell Park.  The underfoot conditions were heavy but by and large the rain held off. 

With the aid of the wind, Crokes pointed after fifteen seconds when Conor Clinton set up Kevin O’Loughlin.  In the second minute the corner forward elected to point from a penalty to make it 0-2 to 0-0.  The teams then exchanged six wides (equally) and four points to leave it 0-3 each with 5/6 of the game remaining. In the twelfth minute a MacDara O’hOgain free was broken by full forward Shea Gillen to James Burke.  A point resulted.  Within a minute Brigids restored parity.  They followed with two wides to Crokes one.  Two overs from Kevin O’Loughlin, one a free, edged the Stillorgan side clear only for Brigids to pull one back immediately from the puck out for the second.  With five minutes in the half left the northside team were level.  Two O’Loughlin frees gave Crokes a 0-8 to 0-6 interval lead.

Within five minutes of the restart Brigids had the gap at the minimum, 0-10 to 0-9.  An O’Loughlin free regained a two point advantage.  Brigids brought it back to one on thirty nine minutes.  A fifty metre free from O’Loughlin and a point from play from the same player made it 0-13 to 0-10 four minutes later.  During this period the losers pressed but could register just two minors.  With seven minutes to go Crokes led 0-13 to 0-12 and were finding it very difficult to shake off the opposition.    Then the already impressive Kevin O’Loughlin truly put his stamp on the game when he won a Hugh Gannon ball thirty metres from goal beat his man, advanced twelve metres and shot low to right corner of the net (see video highlight above).  This gave Crokes a four point cushion.  Brigids pulled a point back almost immediately only for O’Loughlin to convert a thirty minute free within a minute. 

Sixty seconds on Brigids pointed.  The drama wasn’t over.  Within a minute a last gasp sweep off the line by Ronan Walsh was required to prevent Brigids levelling (see video highlight below).  Closing points from Conor Clinton and Barry O’Rorke, the latter as a result of Kevin O’Loughlin’s hard work, sealed the deal at 1-16 to 0-15.

The winners’ starring cast was led by Kevin O’Loughlin, ably assisted by Shane O’Rorke, brother Rob, who grew into the centre back position as the game progressed, and second half substitute Hugh Gannon.

Team:

MacD O’hOgain, S O’Rorke, N Corcoran, G McMorrow, R Walsh, R O’Loughlin, J Doughan, B O’Rorke (0-2), C Clinton (0-1), A de Paor (0-2, f-1),Ross O’Carroll, J Burke (0-1), S McGrath, , S Gillen, K O’Loughlin (1-10, f-6).  Subs:  H Gannon for S McGrath (35 mins), F Armstrong for J Burke (46 mins), N O’Rearden for S Gillen (56 mins)

For Hill16.ie report see HERE