Battling Clann earn quarter-final berth

Prior to throw-in Clann na nGael"s position in the Roscommon Senior Football Championship was a fragile one with progression to the quarter finals certain with victory, uncertain with a draw but defeat would spell elimination from the Championship - and a possible battle to avoid relegation to intermediate level in store. Clann had notched up twelve points in their clash against Western Gaels, who in turn, drew with St Faithleach"s on 0-11 each. It meant that if this game was to end in a draw, Clann would need 0-12 to top the group. This was the scenario that Clann na nGael faced following their previous Championship performance which saw them draw with Western Gaels. The spirit and determination shown by the squad in that match where they came back from what had seemed like certain defeat is what had got them to this previously unlikely position, but even at times on Sunday at a rain-sodden Johnstown it appeared that it wouldn"t be quite enough to see them over the line. In a game with so much at stake for both sides, the crowd couldn"t have wished for a better performance from both sets of players who provided a thoroughly entertaining spectacle. The game got underway amidst a sudden downpour as a strong breeze ripped across the South Roscommon pitch; nevertheless the large, expectant crowd remained in good spirit. With so much riding on this single fixture it was easy to understand that nerves would play a big part in the performances of the those that were to contest this battle. Therefore it was no real surprise that we were met with a slow start to the game as both sets of players took time to settle. It was 10 minutes after referee Seamus Regan"s first blow of the whistle when the opening point was scored. Following a couple of early missed frees by Clann"s Donie Shine, Faithleach"s capitalised on those misses and stormed into the lead as Clement McCormack muscled his way past a number of Clann players before striking a long-range effort between the posts. The opening point was soon followed by another for Faithleach"s with Adrian Murtagh adding his name to the score sheet, capitalising on a defensive error to double his side"s advantage. Despite starting the stronger of the two sides, Clann had no answer to St Faithleach"s powerful attacks as they continued to extend their lead. With 15 minutes on the clock the score was 0-0 to 0-4 following two points in quick succession by Martin Reynolds, first from a 45 in the 13th minute, quickly added to by a long range-effort. Few had expected the visitors to race into such a commanding early lead and the worrying factor for the Clann na nGael camp was that there appeared to be little they could do to stop the way this match was going. Enter Donie Shine. With a quarter of an hour already elapsed he had been the only Clann player to so far make any real impression on goal and if his side were to have a successful afternoon it was vital that he played a major part. He received the ball on the right wing just inside his own half before running towards goal and striking a fine effort that comfortably flew between the posts that reduced the deficit to three points. With that point the hosts had now restored some confidence and went about reducing Faithleach"s lead further courtesy of a David Henry free from out on the right wing in the 22nd minute. In spite of Clann na nGael"s hard work, their efforts were somewhat undone as their opponents restored their three point advantage in the 24th minute through Darragh Hussey"s left-sided free as their defence continued to look shaky. The following five minutes however changed the face of the game as Clann picked themselves up and began to play the football everyone knew they were capable of playing. This five-minute period saw a dramatic turnaround as the home team went from trailing by three points to leading by a point. Moments after Hussey"s 24th minute free Roscommon forward Johnny Dunning struck with a point and in the 26th minute Donie Shine increased his personal tally with a point from the edge of the square. Clann were now playing with a confidence and swagger that we previously hadn"t seen in this match. What differed from the early stages was the threat they posed every time they advanced towards Faithleach"s goal. After the opening exchanges few would have thought that Clann would have been leading by 0-6 to 0-5 but that proved to be the case as Johnny Dunning notched up another point and Matt Scally also kicked one over the bar on the stroke of half time to give Clann a remarkable, unexpected lead at the break. The Clann na nGael performance in the early stages of the second half couldn"t have differed more from their inspirational end to the first. It seemed as if they felt that magical five minutes was enough but there was still 30 minutes of football to be played here and St Faithleach"s certainly weren"t going to roll over. Indeed they did quite the opposite. They came out for the second half with a renewed hunger and their domination of proceedings that followed during the next 15 minutes mirrored that of the first half. Within five minutes of the restart St Faithleach"s were back in the lead. Two minutes from the restart, Brendan Reynolds added his name to the score sheet with a point from the left and after 35 minutes Gary Cox opened his account for the afternoon to leave the score at 0-7 to 0-6. Faithleach"s continued to dominate and just as in the early stages of the first half Clann had no answers. The lead continued to grow and so did Brendan Reynolds tally as he made it 0-8 to 0-6 with a long range free in the 42nd minute. This was quickly followed by points from Padraig Wallace and the impressive Clement McCormack as Clann na nGael began to fall apart at the back. Clann finally broke their second half duck in the 47th minute through Donie Shine"s free-kick to kick start another remarkable comeback. Three minutes later Clann reduced the deficit to 0-8 to 0-10 again courtesy of a Shine free and before you knew it that deficit was just a single point as Mark Shine made his mark on the game, popping up with a well-taken point. The Clann na nGael support were now sensing the chance of victory and the atmosphere surrounding the Johnstown pitch was creating a lot of excitement on and off the pitch. The game was proving as passionate as ever with adrenaline running high which was threatening to boil over. With time running out and the scores now so close it was looking like this match would go right down to the wire, just as a game of such a high magnitude should. Jonathan Dunning and Hussey swapped points in a tense last few minutes to leave Faithleach"s a point out. But then Shine swooped with a fisted point on the stroke of full time to level matters. It would have been enough for Clann, but the former All Ireland minor winner then added a spectacular 40 metre free three minutes into injury time to edge his side in front. With many realising that victory would be enough to send Clann top shouts of "keep the ball" could be heard from the crowd, however, Faithleach"s earned a free on the right wing which the reliable Brendan Reynolds duly converted, ensuring that the game would end as a tie. As it was those last two points from Shine which brought the side to that magical 12 points tally that was enough to edge them through, despite Reynolds" late leveller. Clann na nGael top of the group and into the quarter finals, a result which was met by sheer jubilation by both players and supporters alike. TEAMS Clann na nGael Ronan O"Reilly, Kenny Dowling, Denis Gavin, Ray Fallon, Niall Shine (Ollie Harney 17 mins), David Flynn, Niall McManus, Gary Shine (David Lennon 56mins), Brian Goode, Mark Shine, Matt Scally, David Henry, Donal Shine, Johnny Dunning, David Kelly (Cathal Shine 40mins). St Faithleach"s Derek Thompson, Steven Ormsby, Alan McCormack, Diarmuid Thompson, Adrian Murtagh, Gary Cox, Derek Murray, Martin Reynolds, Ray Cox, Clement McCormack, Padraig Wallace, Darragh Hussey, Brendan Reynolds, Enda Kenny, Henry Kenny SCORERS Clann na nGael Donie Shine (0-6) (4f), David Henry (0-1) (1f), Johnny Dunning (0-3), Matt Scally (0-1), Mark Shine (0-1) St Faithleach"s Brendan Reynolds (0-3) (1f), Darragh Hussey (0-2) (2f), Clement McCormack (0-2), Martin Reynolds (0-2) (1 45) (1f), Padraig Wallace (0-1), Adrian Murtagh (0-1), Gary Cox (0-1) Referee Seamus Regan