Gary's late goal sends Garrycastle into their second Leinster decider

As was generally expected, Garrycastle qualified for their second Leinster Club senior football championship final last Sunday in Newbridge, but the Westmeath champions were pushed right to the wire by a youthful Athy side, who were only put to the sword with four minutes of normal time remaining, when Gary Dolan grabbed a vital goal. The younger of the footballing Dolan brothers rarely receives the plaudits that Des gets (and the former All-Star excelled again last Sunday), but Gary's knack of popping up in the right place at the right time for crucial goals was extremely timely in St Conleth's Park, as a dogged and skilful home side was still very much in contention at the time. Ironically, the fortunate nature of Gary's late strike (the ball fell for him when it came back off the upright) was virtually identical to the losers' 43rd-minute goal (scored by James Eaton) which had given a huge boost to their supporters (who far outnumbered their Westmeath counterparts). However, Anthony Cunningham's men are battle-hardened in this competition and this experience proved invaluable as they eked out a four-point win which sees them through to a provincial showdown with Dublin champions St Brigid's on Sunday week. The opening ten minutes produced lots of typical 'winter football' as both sides struggled to settle into a rhythm. However, it was patently obvious that the Kildare champions were very much up for a battle, with a second-minute booking for Mark McCallon and, some four minutes later, the first of a number of great saves from Cathal Mullin (on this occasion from James Eaton) indicative of early Athy pressure. At the other end, Eddie Delahunt did very well to block a Gary Dolan shot before the sides traded points via Liam McGovern (a neat score from 25 metres) and a Des Dolan free from a similar distance (after the attacking maestro had suffered one of many heavy and illegal challenges). James Eaton (from the ground) and Des Dolan (from his hands) exchanged points from frees leaving the sides tied at two points each after 17 minutes of play, but Athy soon edged ahead when the unmarked Pat Dunne kicked a fine point from 30 metres. A weak shot by Patrick Mulvihill was easily gathered by James Roycroft before James Dolan (who had a wonderful game) kicked a sublime point from the sideline some 30 metres out. When Gary Dolan was fouled in the 24th minute, his brother Des tapped over the resultant free. The winners then came close to finding the net following good work by Rory McGowan, but Gary Dolan and Patrick Mulvihill were thwarted as a goal beckoned, with Garrycastle's first wide resulting (they had only two over the hour). A high shot from a tight angle by James Eaton levelled the contest in the 26th minute. Corner back David Hyland was relieved when the latest Athy challenge on Des Dolan resulted in just a yellow card at the end of normal time in the first half. In the 32nd minute, the referee blew the half-time whistle the moment a quickly-taken '45' by Des Dolan reached Doran Harte, leaving the scoreboard at the interval reading: Garrycastle 0-4 Athy 0-4. An accidental clash between the referee and David O'Shaughnessy amused the crowd within seconds of the restart but, when the serious action resumed, it was another free from Des Dolan and a similar score from Darroch Mulhall (after Cathal Mullin, under pressure from a back pass, was deemed to have overcarried the ball), kept the sides on level terms. Between the 37th and 40th minutes, the men in green and red opened some daylight between the teams with three unanswered points from the boots of Tom McHugh (after great work by Patrick Mulvihill), Seanie O'Donoghue (directly from the ensuing kick-out) and Mulvihill (a classy score at the end of a counterattack, after Cathal Mullin had saved brilliantly from James Eaton). However, this lead was wiped out in the 43rd minute when substitute Daniel O'Keeffe's shot came back off the upright leaving the simplest of tap-ins for Eaton. The huge Athy contingent were now on their feet and another exchange of points - James Dolan (a great score from play) and Eaton (a terrific free from the ground) - left the game level, with ten minutes left on the countdown clock. A well-taken point by substitute Alan Daly nudged Garrycastle ahead, while at the other end great defending helped to bottle up the overlapping David Hyland. Delightful play by Des Dolan gave him the space to shoot in the 56th minute and, when his shot for a point rebounded off the woodwork, his brother Gary was to hand to calmly slot home the all-important goal. In the dying moments, Cathal Mullin again excelled to keep out Liam McGovern twice in quick succession. After a final loss to Portlaoise in 2009 and a semi-final defeat by Kilmacud Crokes last year, only Gerry McEntee's St. Brigid's stand in the way of Garrycastle as they seek to become the first Lake County side to reach Leinster club football's Holy Grail on December 18. It is a mouth-watering prospect. Scorers Garrycastle: D Dolan 0-4 (4 frees), G Dolan 1-0, J Dolan 0-2, T McHugh, S O'Donoghue, P Mulvihill and A Daly 0-1 each. Athy: J Eaton 1-3 (2 frees), P Dunne, L McGovern and D Mulhall 0-1 each. Garrycastle Cathal Mullin; John Gaffey, Enda Mulvihill, Mark McCallon; Karl Henson, Doran Harte, Tom McHugh; Seanie O'Donoghue, David O'Shaughnessy; James Duignan, Gary Dolan, Rory McGowan; Patrick Mulvihill, James Dolan, Des Dolan. Subs: Alan Daly for P. Mulvihill (43 mins), Conor Cosgrove for Duignan (54), John O'Shaughnessy for McHugh (57), Aidan Browne for McGowan (59). Athy James Roycroft; David Hyland, Mick Foley, Joseph Kinihan; Ross Bell, Eddie Delahunt, Emmanuel Kennedy; Pat Dunne, Kevin Feely; Tony Gibbons, Cian Reynolds, Liam McGovern; Darroch Mulhall, Ken Brophy, James Eaton. Subs: Daniel O'Keeffe for Gibbons (40 mins), Adrian Kelly for Mulhall (45), David Holligan for Kennedy (58). Referee Syl Doyle (Wexford).