Kildare: Straffan claim Junior Championship title after cracking final against Kill

Tom Cross Transport Junior Football Championship final

Straffan 2-15

Kill 0-13

Straffan are Junior Football Champions following a brilliant final win over Kill in St Conleth’s Park. The sides were closely matched for most of this game until Rob Kelly produced a piece of play worthy of changing the course of any final as he capitalised on a miss-directed kick out from Kill goalkeeper Mike Jones.

A wayward ball from Jones dropped straight into Kelly’s arms on the 45-metre line and the two men had very different reactions to that fact. Jones appeared un-phased initially as he went to collect his cone but Kelly fancied his chances.
The Straffan corner-forward sliced across the ball with the outside of his boot as hundreds of eyes widened at the sublime effort. It would be the strike of the ball that would prove crucial as it bounced just before the line and curled away from the now retreating Jones and into the net. A moment of real class just four minutes into the second half. The goal gave Straffan a two point lead after going in at the break trailing.

That goal was a microcosm of the entire game, Kill’s mistakes costing them as Straffan were ruthless in front of goal. It was followed by a brilliant point from Straffan midfielder John Tracey.

Man of the match was awarded to goalkeeper Matthew Duggan but the other name being bounced around the press box was John Tracey, an exceptional scoring contribution of 1-4 coupled with driving runs that got his side up the pitch when they were under the cosh. It was a standout performance on the big stage from the midfielder.

Kill put an onslaught on Straffan as they looked to get back into this game. Only three points down but they would have felt up against it having seen their lead evaporate and turn into a three point deficit in next to no time.

As clinical as the eventual winners were, the opposite could be said of their opponents as they spurned chance after chance to find the net. It was that crucial final ball that cost them, that one last cool headed pass before you take aim was absent.

The ball was worked into dangerous areas time and time again but the final hand-pass was always lacking. If you were to pick out just one instance of this it would be a disservice to the players involved, the blame here needs to be shared across the board. The mistiming and misdirecting of passes was so costly, especially to pass up an easy chance to beat a keeper in the form of Matthew Duggan.

The criticism of Kill is only so harsh because of how good their play was up until that crucial point. Added to that, the clinical nature of Straffan’s attack only served to make Kill’s struggles look even worse by comparison.
The next goal chance for Kill would come to a man who had a brilliant game, Carl Lennox. Lennox was hard done by to get just 0-3 from a game where he was a constant threat.

10 minutes from time Kill got it right and the ball reached the right man, in the right place. Lennox flashed his shot across goal in an effort destined for the top corner, only to see it tipped around the post by Straffan keeper Matthew Duggan.
Duggan got man of the match, and rightly so. You could write a decent match report just based on his saves and distribution in this game. Level at 0-6 points each in the first half Duggan produced a double save, followed by another to deny Kill green flags. They were goals prevented that could have had the game changing impact that Rob Kelly’s would have later on. They were crucial to the balance of this game.

In addition to Duggan, Kill lacked what Straffan had in spades, that knack of scoring. They would soak up the opposition pressure and when they did get hold of the ball it more often than not ended in a score.

This could be seen perfectly in a three minute spell towards the end as Kill poured pressure forward. Under pressure, Straffan countered three times, all of which ended in scores. Two points from full-forward Austin Allen and one from Rory Power, they were punishing Kill at every opening.

It looked all but over for Kill, six points down with five to go. But corner-forward Paul Kirwan wasn’t ready to lie down just yet. The Kill number 15 followed a well-taken free-kick with two more brilliant scores from play in the space of just 120 seconds. Kirwan re-ignited this game with some fine play and sharp shooting.

The tension had risen tenfold as Kill were now a goal away from the leaders. Straffan broke out from the back with the ball once more and won a free to ease the pressure on them.

The clock struck 60 minutes as Rory Power stood over a free-kick to put his side out of reach once more. Power stroked the ball over the bar with the casual gait of a man devoid of any concern or doubt as to where his kick was headed. The white flag was raised to rapturous applause from the Straffan faithful as they knew how crucial that one was.

There was still time however for one last moment of celebration as we entered the fifth minute of added time. Straffan’s John Tracey broke out from the defence, as was the case many times throughout this game, and found a teammate in support. The ball was returned to Tracey as he charged towards goal. The Straffan midfielder made no mistake as he added some final gloss to an incredibly impressive 2-15 scoreline.

You could say Kill will rue their mistakes but that should never be said to discredit an incredible Straffan game plan and performance. They were exceptional up front and took their chances when they came, a performance and score-line worthy of champions.

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SCORERS

Straffan: John Treacy 1-4, Rory Power 0-4 (1 free), Rob Kelly 1-2, Austin Allen 0-3 (1 free), Aaron Kiernan 0-1, Andy O'Neill 0-1.

Kill: Paul Kiernan 0-6 (3 frees), Carl Lennox 0-3, Alan wren 0-1, Dara Challoner 0-1, Stephen Rowley 0-1, Gary Moran 0-1.

TEAMS

Straffan: Matthew Duggan; Mike Tracey, Niall Devane, Alan Byrne; Ed Neenan, Cian Gaynor, Rory Byrne; Tom Donovan, John Tracey; Liam O'Donovan, Rory Power, Sean O'Connor; Rob Kelly, Austin Allen, Andy O'Neill. Subs: Aaron Kiernan for Andy O'Neil (12 minutes); Brian Tracey for Liam O'Donovan (46 minutes); Paul O'Donovan for Sean O'Connor (62 minutes).

Kill: Mike Jones; Chris McCarthy, Justin Halligan, Luke Purcell; Derry Lenehan, Kevin Corrigan, Fionn Doyle; Dara Challoner, Stephen Rowley; Jack Healy, Alan Wren, Cian Lawlor; Carl Lennox, Stephen O'Leary, Paul Kirwan. Subs: James Lawlor for Fionn Doyle (18 minutes); Matthew Ryan for Jack Healy (36 minutes); Robbie Hughes for Dara Challoner (42 minutes); Gary Moran for Alan Wren (45 minutes).

REFEREE: Henry Barrett.

Post-match reaction

“Unbelievable feeling, I haven't felt anything like this before. I have lost finals before and plenty of semi-finals but to win this today is an unbelievable feeling. I am still on a high,” the words of Straffan manager Paul Drewitt following his side’s Junior Football Championship win over Kill.

The first person to note away from the commendation of his whole team was man of the match, Straffan goalkeeper Matthew Duggan.

Drewitt said of his goalkeeper, “Matthew had a great first half. Kill will be kicking themselves, they probably had the better first half. One or two of them goals go in. It is a whole different game chasing a four point lead rather than just the one going into half-time.

“They didn’t take their chances and we did and that is probably the difference between the two sides in the end.”

The next point of note was naturally for the men down the other end of the field as Straffan accumulated a brilliant 2-15 scoreline from this game.

Drewitt said, “It’s a great score. We are capable of that all year, we have six forwards there that any Junior team would struggle to mark...2-15 I'd take that all day.

“They didn’t take their chances and we did. That is probably the difference between the two sides in the end.”
Special mention of course had to made by Straffan veteran Rob Kelly who produced a moment for the ages in this game with his long range goal.

The Straffan manager called the goal lucky in terms of how it came about but was sure to commend Kelly's ability in taking the chance.

“That’s Rob and that is why he is in the team. He has had a lot of injuries this year and to be fair to him, he was down every single night at training when he couldn't train with the group to get himself right. That (goal) is why he’s in the team because he has that X-factor.”

Drewitt struggled for words to describe the feeling of this win, and that itself perhaps paints enough of a picture of how much this meant to him and his team.