Clonbullogue impress in first half but 'Castle prevail

Clonbullogue 0-13 Garrycastle 0-18

By Kevin Egan

Offaly have drawn a blank at this grade over the years, with only Tubber (2006) and Clara (2021) reaching finals. And expectations weren’t too high for this Clonbullogue group, who played third tier football in the Faithful County three years ago, the same year Garrycastle brought St Loman’s to a replay in the Westmeath senior decider.

However, a combination of benign weather and top of the ground conditions at Gracefield GAA, just outside Portarlington, played into the hands of this up-and-coming Clonbullogue side. And they used their energy and style to full effect in an opening half that saw them run up an 0-11 to 0-8 lead at the end of 32 immensely entertaining minutes.

Effective, attacking football is never easy. Without the ball, it’s impossible – and for the second half, Garrycastle held possession that bit longer, pressed Clonbullogue high up the field to force the Offaly side to work hard just to get out of their own half, and with substitutes Cathal Mannion and James Sheerin making a big impact, they dominated the final quarter, rattling off the last six points in a row to secure their win.

It was a very different story in the early exchanges when Clonbullogue hit four of the first five points of the game, each of them hugely impressive scores. Harry Judge fired over two outstanding strikes from distance, while Jamie Guing and Rúairí O’Neill split the posts from either side with wonderful curling strikes, showing that this highly-rated Clonbullogue attack had turned up and were ready to fire.

Eoin Monaghan’s deployment as a target man on the edge of the Clonbullogue square had some merit as a tactic, but the impact was blunted by the decision to play Ben Donegan in a roving role further outfield, meaning that even when Monaghan was able to win or break possession, he didn’t have the support around him that was needed.

Conor Cosgrove and Michael Monaghan settled the Westmeath intermediate champions with points, but for the most part, Clonbullogue were winning the majority of the individual battles. Cian O’Neill was a colossus under the kickout, while Ryan Dempsey was the star in a defence that was ravenous for turnovers.

In a physical, turnover-heavy game, chances flowed at both ends. Even though Garrycastle had the greater range of scoring threats, it was now time for Keith O’Neill to come to the fore. The Offaly forward shot five points in the second quarter from five shots, but he’ll wish it was 1-4 instead, as one of his points was fizzed over the bar from a narrow angle after he collected a breaking ball close to goal, broke one tackle and sidestepped Seán Brennan.

Missed goal chances was a theme in the first half. James Dolan, a man synonymous with scoring goals from half-back for club and county, broke forward and beat Aaron Allen, only for Ryan Dempsey to block the ball off the line, while Cosgrove also whipped a shot over the bar that could just as easily have been a goal.

Early on, Guing had a 13-metre free and with Garrycastle defenders paying no attention, he went low to try and beat Brennan, but kept it too close to the goalkeeper. Rúairí O’Neill couldn’t be faulted for the accuracy of his attempt to beat Brennan late in the first half, but a wonderful save to push the ball around the near post prevented Clonbullogue from taking a five-point lead, even though Cian O’Neill made it three with the subsequent ’45.

A late tackle from Jack McEvoy on Dolan after 28 minutes, which seemed like a yellow card offence, was instead interpreted as stopping the run of the recently-retired inter-county player, and so a black card was brandished. By the time McEvoy returned to the action, the three-point half-time lead had been devoured, and the momentum of the game had turned decisively.

Cathal Mannion made an immediate impact off the bench, kicking the first of the three points, and two frees followed. Cosgrove kicked Garrycastle into their first lead of the game with 42 minutes played.

Clonbullogue couldn’t find a way to turn possession in their own half into good scoring chances. Two fine diagonal deliveries from Cian O’Neill were won and finished by Guing, but those moments were against the general run of play, and it was only Clonbullogue’s relentless defensive effort and energy that kept them in the game.

The quality on the Garrycastle bench made it easier for them to turn the screw. James Sheerin landed a big hit to turnover a ball that set up Andrew Monaghan’s point to make it 0-14 to 0-13, and in general his presence made life easier for Garrycastle as they could put the ball anywhere in his orbit and the former Wicklow player would secure possession and bring a colleague into play.

Mannion continued to buzz around effectively too, while Clonbullogue simply didn’t have the same depth, and they never came close to scoring the goal they needed. Meanwhile, Brennan landed two long-range frees, Andrew Monaghan hit his third of the game, and Jason Nugent rounded off the scoring from a tight angle to crown a serious afternoon’s work.

Man of the match: Andrew Monaghan (Garrycastle). You could make a case for either number 10 here. Cian O’Neill was a vital source of possession for Clonbullogue with his power under the kickout, and his distribution was equally impressive. Monaghan edges the verdict, however, as he was equally involved in the trenches, and he chipped in with three excellent points from play for good measure.

Scorers - Garrycastle: C Cosgrove 0-6 (3f); A Monaghan 0-3; J Nugent, M Monaghan (1f), S Brennan (2f) 0-2 each; E Mulvihill, C Mannion, J Dolan 0-1 each. Clonbullogue: K O'Neill 0-5 (2f); J Guing 0-4 (1f); H Judge 0-2; R O'Neill, C O’Neill (45) 0-1 each.

Clonbullogue: Aaron Allen; Diarmaid O'Neill, Jamie Quinn, Ryan Dempsey; Harry Judge, Ian Curry, Dylan Quinn; Jack McEvoy, Lee Dempsey; Cian O’Neill, Keith O'Neill, Joe Foran; Jamie Guing, Peter Bennett, Rúairí O'Neill. Subs: Cian Corcoran for Allen (22), Peter Byrne for Foran (H-T), Eoghan Kinsella for Quinn (41), Shane O'Brien for L Dempsey (44), L Dempsey for R O’Neill (56).

Garrycastle: Seán Brennan; Jack Mulvihill, Jack Donohue, Gary McCallon; James Dolan, Mark McCallon, Mattie Guiheen; Eoin Mulvihill, Cian McCarthy; Jason Nugent, Andrew Monaghan, Michael Monaghan; Ben Donegan, Eoin Monaghan, Conor Cosgrove. Subs: Cathal Mannion for Donegan (H-T), James Sheerin for E Monaghan (41), Rory McGowan for McCarthy (56), Jamie Carroll for Cosgrove (60), Ger Heneghan for A Monaghan (60+3).

Referee: Andrew Smyth (Meath).