Jarlath's boys fail to deliver against Offaly opponents
Date Published: {J}
St Mary’s, Edenderry 1-12St Jarlath’s College 1-6
CIARAN TIERNEY AT PEARSE PARK
NO complaints. Not this time, as a St Jarlath’s team who have specialised in late comebacks this year had no answer to a superior Edenderry force in a one-sided All-Ireland Colleges semi-final at Longford on Saturday.
After scraping through Connacht, St Jarlath’s found themselves six points down at half-time yet again on Saturday, but this time there was to be no way back against an Offaly school who did the damage in the first half before defending resolutely after the break.
A Daniel Flynn goal from the penalty spot two minutes after the re-start effectively had the North Galway school’s plans for the second half in tatters and, even though St Mary’s failed to score in the final 23 minutes, the Leinster champions had managed to score enough in the first half to book their place in the final.
Surprisingly, a St Jarlath’s side seeking redemption for a heartbreaking defeat in last year’s All-Ireland final never really found their rhythm here – they weren’t allowed to – and the individual heroics of star forward Sean Walsh could not cover up the cracks as they lost out in battles all over the field.
Walsh hit 1-4, including a brilliant goal which gave St Jarlath’s some hope late in the first half, but he could not do it all on his own. It was a measure of the Kilkerrin-Clonbern clubman’s contribution that St Mary’s kept two men on him in the final quarter of the game.
Ultimately, though, there were too many below-par performances in a bitterly disappointing St Jarlath’s attack while St Mary’s enjoyed almost total domination in the midfield sector throughout the first half, with captain Conor McNamee, Daniel Grehan, and Daniel Flynn enjoying suistained supremacy in the air.
The Offaly boys led by 0-11 to 1-2 at the break and showed excellent composure to recover from the concession of Walsh’s goal by replying with four points in a row. Unlike Roscommon CBS and Summerhill in Connacht, they were never going to wilt in the face of a St Jarlath’s revival.
For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.