Magical Michael's pull off shock of the championship

St Michael’s 2-9Moycullen 1-11

Dara Bradley

St Michael’s pulled off the shock of the weekend – and of the Galway senior football championship to date – with a gallant and gutsy victory over Moycullen at Pearse Stadium on Saturday evening.

The city outfit celebrated the win as if they’d won the county final; and you couldn’t blame them given the complete turnaround in fortunes since their first outing over a fortnight ago when they caved meekly to Salthill/Knocknacarra.

That day St Michael’s looked no better than an average intermediate team; on Saturday they proved otherwise and secured their place in the top flight of Galway football in 2013, a feat that was richly deserved.

The Westside/Bushypark men must have felt the world was against them: scalded by criticism in the wake of the Salthill debacle; given no chance by the bookies, whose odds of 10/3 could be perceived as disrespectful at best; the City Council having deprived them of a pitch; and then referee Brendan Kinneavey wasn’t exactly cutting them any slack either with a few controversial decisions that steepened the hill they had to climb.

St Michael’s could be forgiven for harbouring a persecution complex but they used it to their advantage with a fiery, steely and committed effort that was too good for a youngish Moycullen side that relied too heavily on county player Gareth Bradshaw.

It would be unfair to characterise this win as simply a typical fire and brimstone performance from underdogs; St Michael’s did work hard and showed plenty of determination, but it must be acknowledged that for large chunks of what was an exciting encounter, they played the superior football.

Many of the club’s players, who had gone missing against Salthill, redeemed themselves with the likes of Eddie Hoare, Shane Maughan, Conor Hoctor, Alan Glynn and Frank Daly, to name a few, stepping up to the plate with displays that couldn’t be faulted.

The city men showed grit, true, but they possessed guile, too. None more so than the two expert goals – as good as you’ll find at club level – finished confidently by Hoctor at crucial junctures.

Bradshaw had put Moycullen two points to one up on six minutes, after Maughan and Philip Lydon had exchanged early frees, but then St Michael’s took over at midfield. The prominent Hoare landing a monster point from distance, before setting Hoctor on his way for his first green flag, the corner forward burnt his marker with real pace, his first shot was blocked by ‘keeper Seamus Friel but he gathered the rebound and made no mistake with the second bullet.

David Cunnane, Hoare and Damien Connaughton combined to set up Hoctor for another white flag and suddenly midway through the half, 1-3 to 0-2 up, St Michael’s were cruising. Philip Lydon’s free was cancelled out by another massive Hoare effort from distance and a free from Maughan, but then it was Moycullen who stamped their authority on proceedings with Bradshaw (free), Conor Bohan, Fergus Kerrigan and Christopher Hurney peppering the posts in quick succession to level it.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.