Déjà vu for Finea
April 30, 2011While Ballynacargy have been the bridesmaids of the intermediate championship in recent years, Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall have also experienced more than their fair share of disappointment in big games.
Last year, the county's most northerly club lost their third semi-final in-a-row to Ballynacargy and must surely be sick of the sight of the blue and gold jersey at this stage. Despite putting in a much improved defensive performance on 2008 and '09 when goals proved their undoing, Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall fell agonisingly short again and were left to rue eight wides in the first half alone.
"The semi-final has become a big obstacle for us," Finea's county midfielder Niall Kilcoyne admits.
"When you see Ballynacargy losing the last three finals, it makes you realise things could be worse, but it's still terrible disappointing to lose three semi-finals in-a-row, especially when you're still waiting for your chance to play in a final. Last year's defeat was the hardest to take because I felt we were better prepared than any previous year. But we only scored one point in the second half and can't have any complaints."
Kilcoyne, whose famous father David holds the distinction of being Westmeath's only hurling All-Star, believes Castletown- Finea/Coole/Whitehall have paid a high price for qualifying directly for the semi-final in recent seasons. Last year, they had a five-week gap between their final group match against St. Mary's and their last-four meeting with Ballynacargy.
"We'd be better off going into the quarter-finals," he insists.
"We finished joint-top of our group along with Tang last year, but qualified for the semi-final by virtue of our victory over them. The problem with going straight through to a semi-final is that you are not as well prepared as the team you are playing. They have a quarter-final under their belt and that is the best preparation for a semi-final in my opinion."
Under the management of Dromard man Enda Macken, whose selectors were Declan Cahill and Dessie Doolin, Finea opened their 2010 championship campaign with a 2-10 to 1-8 victory over Ballymore at Lakepoint Park. Two goals inside the first five minutes from Kevin Brazil and Ryan Plunkett laid the foundations for the Cavan-border club's success. Ballymore rallied to trail by 1-5 to 2-6 at half-time, but four unanswered points on the restart from Plunkett (three) and Ray Sheridan made it 2-10 to 1-5 in Finea's favour and ended the game as a contest.
The green and golds made it two wins from two when they accounted for Ballinagore by 2-9 to 0-6 at Rochfortbridge. The game was only four minutes old when team-mates Darren Kilcoyne and Andrew Dermody were involved in a clash of heads which resulted in a 50-minute delay as two ambulances arrived to take the injured players to hospital.
When play resumed, there was no distress apparent among the Finea players who produced some excellent football to take a 1-5 to 0-1 lead into the break - the goal coming from Eric Sullivan in the 24th minute.
The winners added three points on the restart to extend their lead and the only surprise was that they had to wait until the 56th minute to score a second goal from a Kevin Brazil penalty.
Against Rosemount in their third outing, Enda Macken's charges recovered from a slow start to salvage a draw (1-10 apiece). When Cathal Keane netted for Rosemount in the 20th minute, they led by six points, but Eric Sullivan's second goal in as many games brought Finea back into it and a free from Ryan Plunkett left them trailing by the minimum, 1-5 to 1-6, at half-time.
Rosemount restarted impressively to lead by three points with 10 minutes remaining. However, late points from Plunkett, Ray Sheridan and Ronan Doolin earned a share of the spoils for the north county outfit.
Finea secured their place in the semi-finals with a 3-9 to 1-12 victory over Tang. A Kevin Brazil penalty in first half stoppage-time sent the green and golds into the break leading by 1-6 to 0-5 and they looked to be out of sight when Eric Sullivan and Andrew Dermody added goals to make it 3-8 to 0-7 by the 42nd minute. But they were guilty of losing their shape after that and were left hanging on for the win after Colm Conlon fisted a Tang goal with 10 minutes remaining.
Finea suffered the first defeat of the campaign against St. Mary's in what was a meaningless game from their point of view. The Rochfortbridge side, who were battling for a quarter-final place, prevailed on a 1-10 to 0-11 scoreline at Kinnegad with Robbie Kenny's second half goal deciding the outcome.
Cusack Park was the setting for the semi-final against Ballynacargy on September 18. Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall played with the aid of a strong wind in the first half, but some woeful shooting meant they only led by 0-7 to 0-6 at the break. Ballynacargy made all the early running and led by 0-3 to 0-1 after seven minutes. But Finea were level within four minutes thanks to points from Kevin Brazil and Niall Kilcoyne before Ballynacargy moved two points clear once again.
Approaching half-time, Bal' held a 0-6 to 0-4 advantage, but three unanswered points from Ryan Plunkett and Ray Sheridan (two) saw Finea go into the break with the slenderest of leads.
In a low-scoring second half, Bal' had nudged ahead again by the 47th minute before Brazil levelled for Finea. But that proved to be their only score of the second half as late points from Daniel Keena and Sean Fagan saw Ballynacargy progress to the final on a 0-10 to 0-8 scoreline.
Kilcoyne, who spent part of last summer in Boston where he played football with Galway, hasn't been disheartened by Finea's failure to clear the semi-final hurdle and is confident they can bounce back in 2011.
"We hope to go all the way this year," he says.
"We're not losing anyone to emigration so the core of the team will be the same. We have lads played hurling with Lough Lene Gaels, Ringtown and Castlepollard and it can be hard at times for them to give football their full commitment. But if we can give it an extra push this year, I think we can beat anyone."
Division 3 league winners in 2009, Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall competed well in Division 2 last year to finish in third place. However, there was disappointment for their second team who suffered relegation to Division 7.
The 23-year-old, who hurls with Ringtown and actually played for the county senior hurlers before the footballers, takes great encouragement from the success of the St. Michael's underage club. A combination of Finea and Ballycomoyle, St. Michael's have been competing against the best in recent years and contested county finals at under 14 and minor level last year.
They lost the minor Division 2 final to Moate All-Whites after holding a 10-point lead at half-time, while the under 14s lost their Division 2 final to St. Loman's in similar circumstances, having led by 2-6 to 0-2 at the interval. St. Michael's also reached the under 16 Division 1 semi-final, only to lose to Caulry.
"Both ourselves and Ballycomoyle have definitely benefited from playing together at underage level. The youngsters coming through are getting a high standard of football and that can only stand to them in the years ahead," he concludes.
The Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall team that lost the IFC semi-final to Ballynacargy was: Gary Sullivan; Colin Farrell, Eanna Doolin, Dermot Cafferty; Glen Plunkett, Daniel McDermott, Willie Coyne; Ronan Doolin, Darren Kilcoyne; Niall Kilcoyne, Andrew Dermody, Ray Sheridan; Ryan Plunkett, Eric Sullivan, Kevin Brazil. Subs used: Shane Egan, Derek McNicholas and Darren McCormack. Tweet
