Sheelan Cup Final
June 30, 2014DREADNOTS 0-8
Cooley Kickhams reclaimed the Paddy Sheelan Cup when the held off the determined challenge of Dreadnots in the final at Clan na Gael Park on Sunday afternoon.
The peninsula side continued their impressive record in the competition but only after recovering from a very slow start which saw them four points down inside the opening ten minutes.
The only goal of the game came from Michael Kane in the first half and that proved decisive as Cooley had to withstand a late revival from the Clogherhead side.
The Dreadnots have enjoyed a good record against Cooley in recent times and that run looked as if it might continue as the kicked the opening three points from Liam Shevlin, Pat Lynch and Paraic Smith inside the first three minutes.
Cooley responded with a Brian White score but Anthony Lynch and Pat Lynch raised the white flag to make it 0-5 to 0-1 after eight minutes.
Conor Rafferty pulled another back for Cooley on nine minutes but that was soon cancelled out by Peter Kirwan to make it 0-6 to 0-2.
After that blistering scoring pace there was a lull for the next six minutes but that was ended in emphatic fashion as a centre from Sean Donnelly was fisted to the net by Kane to bring Cooley right back into the game.
Within seconds his side were on level terms as Donnelly sent the ball over the bar.
Those scores proved to be a huge lift for Cooley as the dominated the remainder of the half and two points from White were followed by another from Darren Marks to make it 1-6 to 0-6 at half time.
When Brian White and Rafferty stretched the lead to five points early in the second half there seemed set to cruise to victory.
However, the Dreadnots had other ideas and were given hope when Pat Lynch hit the target on 41 minutes for his side's first score in almost half an hour.
Further points followed from Pepe Smith and Peter Kirwan and in the 51st minute Cian McEvoy pointed to reduce the gap to just 1-8 to 0-10.
The game was right back in the melting pot at that stage but it was Cooley who finished on top and points from White (2) and Ultan Watters in the last four minutes saw them reclaim the Paddy Sheelan Cup.
COOLEY: Neil Gallagher; David Reilly, Conor McGuinness, PJ Mc Givern; Shane Marks, Keith White, Darren Marks 0-1; MJ Hanlon, Richard Brennan; Aoghain McGuinness, Conor Rafferty 0-2, Brian White 0-6; Gerry Malone, Michael Kane 1-0, Sean Donnelly 0-1. Subs: Ronan Hanlon, Ultan Watters 0-1, Peter Thornton.
DREADNOTS: Ciaran Cunningham; Connor Murphy, Derek Shevlin, Brian Gargan; Anthony Williams, Padraig Rath, Barry Faulkner; Paraic Smith 0-2, David O'Brien; Liam Shevlin 0-1, Peter Kirwan 0-2, Pat Lynch 0-3; Conor Campbell, Ronan Fitzpatrick, Anthony Lynch 0-1. Subs: Cian McEvoy 0-1, Niall Kirby, Fergal McGuigan, Ronan Calliff.
Referee: Brian Brady
Meanwhile in the Paddy Sheelan Shield Final, St Marys came out on top against Hunterstown on a scoreline of 0-17 to 0-5.
The Ardee side had the better of this local derby from the start and their better ability to take their chances saw them lead by 0-11 to 0-3 at half time.
Hunterstown failed to capture the impressive form of the past two seasons and never really looked as if they would mount a comeback. St Marys held on for the win despite losing Donal Matthews to a red card in the closing minutes.
ST MARYS: Duane Crosby; David Carroll, Niall Carroll, Niall Eccles; Jamie Rooney, Barry Faulkner, Carl Faulkner; Donal Matthews 0-1, Robbie Leavy; Cian Moran 0-2, Ronan Carroll 0-5, Paudie Clarke 0-5; RJ Callaghan, Darren Clarke 0-4, Alan Kirk. Subs: Eamon Callaghan for N Eccles, Martin Duffy for B Faulkner. Tweet
