Salthill/Knocknacarra hold nerve in penalty shoot-out

Salthill/ Knocknacarra 1-9

(AET, Salthill/Knocknacarra won 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out)

Gerard Mulreaney at Tuam Stadium

SALTHILL-Knocknacarra claimed the inaugural John Power Memorial Cup after a marathon county U19 football final played at a chilly Tuam Stadium on Saturday.

The city side came into the game as favourites and led until the last kick of the game, but a combination of overplaying the ball and poor decision making at crucial times, along with a never say die attitude of their dogged opponents, meant that the outcome was in doubt throughout. With ten wides between them in the opening quarter, a low scoring game looked inevitable.

This was a thrilling contest, even though neither side troubled the umpires until after the first half water break, as they struggled to adapt to the heavy, underfoot conditions. After the resumption of play, there were three points in the space of two minutes.

Ben O’Malley strode forward and found Charlie Power, he took on and beat Nicky Glynn and played the ball to Ruaidhrí Forde who sent over a delightful score. That was followed by a wonderful point from captain Evan Nolan as Salthill-Knocknacarra took the early advantage.

Dunmore MacHales almost found the net moments later when midfielder Brendan Carr played a bullet-like pass into Shane McGrath, who turned quickly, but his shot rose high and over the bar for their first score. Both sides were guilty of overplaying the ball, and that led to a Dunmore turnover resulting in a free, which Culhane tapped over.

The Dunmore midfield were competing well early on, winning ariel duels against the man mountain duo of Hugh Gavin and Ryan Kavanagh, while Cathal Meehan, named in the half-forward line, dropped back to play the sweeper role as they tried to counter Salthill-Knocknacarra’s attacking threat.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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