Sleepy St Brigids loose to Gort Na Mona

It was a pretty decent day before the start of this league match. There was a slight breeze but even so, it was quite warm. The game was a repeat of the Championship final at under 14 two years ago, when St. Brigid’s emerged victorious. On that occasion it was a hard-fought match, and today it would be no different.
The first half was fairly even. Gort na Mona’s play was revolving around their midfield and powerful full forward. This ploy of getting the ball into the forwards in the scoring zone worked a number of times. The hosts, St. Brigid’s, took some good scores themselves through Ben Leonard and a fine finish on the turn from Gerd Henvey. However the difference between the two teams at half time was the same as it had been in St. Brigid’s last match at the interval-a goal. John Bailie worked through a good interchange with Ronan McGrady and before Gort had time to react the ball was nestling in the corner of the net.
St. Brigid’s opened the second half the stronger side. Ronan Mackle hit a monster free from near the ‘45′ and James Gildea took a score calmly whenever he might have been greedy, lost the ball and gone for goal. Soon the blues had opened up a five point lead, and should have pushed on. But Gort na Mona weren’t Championship finalists for nothing and they found a new gear in the game’s last twenty minutes. They got a couple of scores, one punched over from a free that dropped short. This was the trend for the rest of the game- the visitors were alert and ready as the home side’s concentration wavered. The winning score came with about ten minutes left to play. A long ball was put in, the full forward got a shot away that was saved well by Michael Campbell. But the ball trickled along the goal-line and the full forward was the quickest to react and tap in the rebound.
Soon after that, what someone jokingly called a ‘tropical rainstorm’ came about. The rain and wind were blowing hard into the Naomh Brid end, and Gort used this to their advantage, clearing the ball long and hard up the field when they got hold of it. They defended for their lives and somehow held on until the end of the match for a well-fought for and deserved victory.