St Brigid’s 0-12

Boyle 0-11

Kevin Egan reports from Dr Hyde Park

ST BRIGID’S ARE back on top of the heap in Roscommon after they edged out Boyle by the narrowest of margins, at the end of a tense and tight county senior football final that was played out in perfect conditions at Dr Hyde Park this afternoon.

The Kiltoom club, who picked up their 18th senior championship title, were never behind at any stage in the contest and for long stretches of the second half, it looked like they were in control of the game, even though they never led by enough to consider themselves out of sight.

Boyle, for all their attacking talent, earned their way back to the county final on the back of very solid defensive football and the game was largely played on their terms in the opening half, with Cian Smith’s side pulling all 15 men back inside their own 45m line very frequently.

Shane Cunnane and Brian Stack counteracted this with some stunning scores from distance, but Boyle kept in the game throughout and were marginally unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty before half time, though no-one could argue that 0-5 each at the break was a fair enough reflection on how the game had gone.

With Cunnane, Paul McGrath and Rúaidhri Fallon in outstanding form around the middle third, St Brigid’s began to turn the screw in the third quarter, kicking off the half with three points in a row – though they were deeply fortunate when Donie Smith cut in from the right corner of the attack and chose to go back to Enda Smith, instead of floating a handpass across towards Niall O’Donnell, who had sprinted through the middle and got clear of the defence, with just the goalkeeper to beat.

Points from Donie Smith and Oisín Cregg kept Boyle in touch but Shane Cunnane struck two dead-ball points and Brian Derwin made a solid contribution off the bench to push them four points clear going into the final 10 minutes, and with their defence in complete control, they looked like they might win with a little to spare.

Instead Boyle rallied with three points in a row, man of the match Paul McGrath made it 0-12 to 0-10 going into stoppage time, and two late Boyle attacks were to define the game, both ending with Cian McKeon attempts on goal. His first was partially blocked and spun over the bar to cut the gap to the minimum, and the second was a free from 10 metres inside the sideline, curled in towards goal but dropping short, ensuring that his club lost out by a single point in the county final for a second year in a row.

St Brigid’s, who last won the Connacht championship in 2012 before going on to win their solitary club All-Ireland title the following March, now advance to meet the Sligo champions on the weekend of 11/12 November.

Scorers for St. Brigid’s: Shane Cunnane 0-4 (0-1f, 0-1m), Ben O’Carroll 0-3f, Paul McGrath 0-2, Brian Stack 0-1, Bobby Nugent 0-1, Conor Hand 0-1,

Scorers for Boyle: Cian McKeon 0-3 (0-2f), Niall O’Donnell 0-2, Donie Smith 0-2 (0-1f), Cathal Feely 0-1, Enda Smith 0-1, Oisín Cregg 0-1, Tadhg McKenna 0-1.

ST. BRIGID’S: Cormac Sheehy; Brian Stack, Pearse Frost, Seán Trundle; Ronan Stack, Alan Daly, Rúaidhrí Fallon; Eddie Nolan, Shane Cunnane; Robbie Dolan, Paul McGrath, Conor Hand; Ben O’Carroll, Ciarán Sugrue, Bobby Nugent.

Subs: Brian Derwin for Nugent (42), Mark Daly for Dolan (54).

BOYLE: Robert Kearney; Daniel Casey, Killian Cox, Luke Glennon; Oisín Cregg, Tadhg McKenna, David Flanagan; Roch Hanmore, Cathal Feely; Enda Smith, Marc O’Connor, Daire Cregg; Niall O’Donnell, Donie Smith, Cian McKeon.

Subs: Dylan East for Hanmore (47), Eden Kerins for Flanagan (52), Seán Purcell for O’Connor (57).

Referee: Aaron Clogher (Pádraig Pearses).