St Brigids senior team travelled to Dublin on Saturday to compete in the All-Ireland Kilmacud 7’s making their debut appearance. Their task was far from straightforward as they were placed in Group 8 which included the reigning All-Ireland 7’s champions Clonduff, as well as Longford County Champions Clonguish and former Galway Champions Claregalway.
GAME 1
St Brigids got off to a flying start against the Longford Champions as they raced into an early lead after 3 mins with goals from James Loughrey and Cormac McGrady. The Longford men simply could not break through the blanket defence and could not handle the breaking pace of the Belfast men, as St Brigids made best use of their subs rotation and kicked on to a comfortable win. Final score: St Brigid’s 6-5 Clonguish (Longford) 1-2
GAME 2
St Brigid’s now faced the reigning champions and the step up in class was evident from the throw in. Clonduff played St Brigid’s at their own game and invited attacks before breaking with pace. It was a ding dong tussle as they exchanged scores, with very few goal chances being created. Clonduff edged 2 points in front before St Brigid’s notched two very good scores by Niall Cunningham and Mark Sweeney. Then came a serious blow as the champions showed their metal and broke clear before slotting an excellent goal past Niall Cunningham to go three clear at half time. St Brigid’s came out in the 2nd half and brought the came to their opponents and made better use of their goalkeeper and creative use of their rotational subs. St Brigid’s quickly found themselves level and dominating the game but while a Chris McCann point on the stroke of full time looked like the winner, the referee blew for a foul and Clonduff equalised. Final score: St Brigid’s 0-8 Clonduff 1-5
GAME 3
St Brigids now found themselves in a winner takes all final match against Claregalway in what was to be the game of the day. Claregalway got off to the better start and raced into a healthy lead but St Brigids showed great heart and hunger as they dragged themselves back into the game with a terrific goal by Loughrey and good points from O’Neill, McCann and Cunningham. St Brigid’s now cleverly used their goalkeeper Chris McCann to much better effect as the extra man as they edged in front by three points. Claregalway then linked well and rattled a shot to the Belfast net to level once again. St Brigids in the last two mins showed great character as they simply wanted it more than their Galway opponents…three late points by McAuley, Loughrey and Sweeney secured a very satisfying win, and also meant that St Brigid’s topped the group and progressed into the next round. The referee’s final whistle was met with huge St Brigid’s cheers as they topped the group. Final score:St.Brigid’s 2-8 Claregalway 1-8
Group 8
St.Brigids 5pts
Claregalway 4pts
Clonduff 3pts
Clonguish 0pts
Qualifier game
Next up was the winners of Group 7, Clonoe from Tyrone. It was a very tense opening few minutes as neither team game away very much, however, it was Clonoe who would open the scoring with two quick points. St Brigids then gifted their opponents with two goals, both from mistakes rather than Clonoe craft. These two goals were to prove crucial as St Brigids finally found their feet and got three scores on the board. The second half saw St Brigids dominate proceedings as Clonoe retreated. St Brigids then found the net through a terrific Loughrey goal and two points from O’Neill and Sweeny. Time ticked away as St Brigids fought away, however it was the referee’s whistle that ended the day for St Brigids as Clonoe progressed into the final stages. Final score St.Brigids 2-7 Clonoe 3-8
This was a very good debut appearance at the 7’s for the St Brigid’s men as they would have been given very little chance of progressing from the group from the outset. However, they will know that they could have made further progress had mistakes been minimised. It was a day enjoyed by all of the players and a few supporters and credit must be given to the players who bounced back with a positive response to their c/ship exit 6 days earlier. This will no doubt be the first of many Kilmacud appearances by the club.
Squad: Niall Cunningham, Benny Reilly, Duncan McAuley, James Loughrey, Mark Sweeney, Chris McCann, Ruairi O’Neill, Cormac McGrady, Conor Taylor, Ben Synnott.
