ROCHE EMMETS 1-11

GLYDE RANGERS 1-11

A goal four minutes into injury-time from Trevor O’Brien sent the Louth Junior Championship Final to a replay after a dramatic finish at Clan na Gael Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Tallanstown side looked to be heading for their third successive championship final defeat when they trailed Roche Emmets by three points with only seconds remaining.

However, in their final throw of the dice, Ciaran Sheridan had a shot blocked on the line only for O’Brien to lash the ball into the net.

It proved to be the last action of a game in which Roche appeared destined for victory for long periods and the Faughart side will be left wondering how the managed to let the Christy Bellew Cup slip from their grasp.

A superb scoring blitz saw Roche kick 1-5 without reply between the 37 th and 45 th minutes to establish a six-point advantage. Eugene Murray found the back of the net for the North Louth men and with his side comfortably in control they looked certain to end their 22-year wait for a championship win.

However, Glyde didn’t give up and points from Trevor O’Brien, Niall Sharkey and Ciaran Sheridan gave them home before O’Brien fired in the last-gasp equaliser.

Although the game ended in dramatic fashion, it took some time to catch fire as the teams produced a cagey first half.

Sharkey had opened the scoring for Glyde inside the first minute but it was Roche who began to get on top and saw Enda Murphy, Kevin Callaghan and Barry O’Hare take their points.

With Roche failing to build on that advantage the momentum swung back in favour of Glyde who got back on terms through Cein Sheridan and O’Brien. Callaghan edged the Emmets back in front from a free on 27 minutes but Brian Duffy had the final say of the half when his effort at goal flashed over the bar to make it four points apiece at the break.

The pace of the game picked up after the restart with Duffy and Ciaran Sheridan on target and although Barry O’Hare pulled one back, a Dion Conlon point had the Mid Louth side leading by 0-7 to 0-5.

O’Hare was beginning to have an influence and landed another point before Murray pounced to put his side 1-6 to 0-7 in front.

Roche sensed that the game was there for the taking and points from Shane Byrne (2) and O’Hare along with another from Liam Dawe after his effort was tipped over the bar, extended the gap to 1-10 to 0-7.

The Division 3 league champions appeared to be cruising at the stage but they failed to kill the game off and managed just one further point before the end, allowing Glyde to stage a comeback and force a replay thanks to O’Brien’s late strike.

ROCHE EMMETS: Jamie O’Hare; Joe Bishop, David Quigley, Enda Murphy 0-1; Glen Stewart, Dermot Carty, Gerard Browne; Liam Dawe 0-1, Daniel O’Connell; Sean Dawe, Liam Carthy, Eugene Murray 1-0; Barry O’Hare 0-4, Shane Byrne 0-2, Kevin Callaghan 0-3. Subs: Evin Quigley for S Dawe, Niall McArdle for E Murray, Mark Reynolds for E Murphy.

GLYDE RANGERS: David Brennan; Gerard Farrell, Conor McCullough, Fiachre Sheridan; Paul Noone, Cein Sheridan 0-1, Mark O’Brien; Ciaran Sheridan 0-3, Brian Duffy 0-2; Kevin Moran, Gareth Moran, Alan Brennan; Trevor O’Brien 1-2, Niall Sharkey 0-2, Dion Conlon 0-1. Subs: Barry Sharkey for A Brennan, Martin McArdle for Cein Sheridan, Aaron Devlin for G Moran.

Tweet

Most Read Stories