St Brendan’s Birr and Gaelscoil Na Laochra triumph over Crinkill

St Brendan’s Birr & Gaelscoil Na Laochra 7-6 Crinkill NS 4-6

It was the pride of the parish at stake as Crinkill N.S. and the combined team of St Brendan’s Birr & Gaelscoil Na Laochra met in the 2023 Allianz Offaly Cumann na mBunscol Autumn Boys Football Group F Final.

The final was moved to Crinkill GAA grounds at short notice and despite the heavy rainfall in the proceeding days, Crinkill GAA groundsman Declan Cooke ensured the facilities were in tip top condition for the teams involved. It proved to be a special occasion for both teams, as they were paraded around the pitch by the piper to a rousing applause from family, friends and a large crowd of pupils from both schools.

The game started evenly with both sides having chances before the St Brendan’s Birr & Gaelscoil Na Laochra team took the lead with a settling free from captain Ryan Kelly.

The Birr team kept the pressure on with scores from Ryan Molloy, Billy Carroll, Harry Watkins and a great score from wingback Nathaniel Szoma.

Birr defenders Jack Abbott and Joey Canham were tight to their men and restricted the Crinkill forwards to a point with Birr keeper Sam Cleare alert when called into action.

Crinkill struck back however with a goal from the dangerous Antoni Sosowski after some good work at midfield from Charlie De Forge and Cillian Cleary. James Houlihan followed up with another point after a lovely pass from Crinkill wing forward Adam Tooher.

Just before half time the Birr team began to get back on top with Michael Connelly, Cathal Mooney and Tadhg O Gradaigh picking up all the loose ball and breaks in midfield. After some good team play from the Birr outfit, Tadhg Ó Grádaigh cut inside the Crinkill defence only to be denied by Crinkill keeper Gary Shanahan and defenders Rory Milne, David Mugan and Kealen Grogan Barnes.

Birr’s attacking wing back Justin Touhey continued to drive his team on and after two good passes from Ryan Molloy, Birr’s talisman Tadhg O Gradaigh, completed the scoring of the first half with another goal and a point.

The second half began with Crinkill pushing forward with Crinkill attackers Noah Alves Smyth, John Fogarty making impressive runs through the Birr defence. The Crinkill comeback continued with scores from John Fogarty, Charlie De Forge and Ryan Higgins. Credit to Crinkill, they never gave up and continued to push forward at every opportunity. Crinkill searched for goals but Birr keeper Shane Finnerty was in top form, pulling off great saves from shots by Crinkill’s Joseph Loonam and Cillian O'Hare.

With the end in sight, Birr got back on top when forward John Plunkett was rewarded for all his hard running with a goal and a hat-trick of points. Birr corner forward Hughie Doyle then kicked the final score of the game to seal the win for Birr. With the final whistle sounding, the Birr supporters ran on to the pitch in jubilation as their final loss from last year was finally put to bed.

St Brendan’s NS/Gaelscoil Biorra: Sam Cleare, Jack Abbott, Joey Canham, Abdaal Kahn, Michael Conneely, Justin Touhey, Cathal Mooney, Tadhg Ó Grádaigh, Harry Watkins, Ryan Kelly, John Plunkett, Billy Carroll, Ryan Molloy, Nataniel Szoma, Hughie Doyle, Jack Gleeson, Logan Dwyer, Brooklyn Fitzsimons, Paddy Boy McDonagh, Sam Grennan, Fabian Sadowski, Shane Finnerty, Joey Ward, Alex Nettleship, Lukas Kairys, Cormac MacEoin, Cillian Ó Grádaigh, Erik Ciparis, Jayden Deane, Harry Delaney, Damien Durbala, Cullen Lynskey, Andrew Plunkett, Daniel Brown, Jordan Bright, Jayden Guinan, Jimmy Doyle, Daniel Cutler.

Crinkill National School: Gary Shanahan, Rory Milne, David Mugan, Keelan Grogan Barnes, Ryan Higgins, Szymon Rosiak, Charlie De Forge, Cillian Cleary, Shane Cummins, James Houlihan, John Fogarty, Adam Tooher, Antoni Sosowski, Noah Alves Smyth, Joseph Loonam, Cillian Sammon, Cillian O'Hare, Sam Egan, Tadgh Parsons, Kajus Martinkevicius, Ryan Higgins, Charlie De Forge.