This relegation
battle took place in Cloonacool on Saturday last. Curry started with the aid of
a slight breeze in the first half. It was St. Farnan's who were first off
the mark with a point from a free taken by Patrick O'Connor followed by a point
from play by Martin Mulligan ably assisted by Fionn Connolly. Adrian
Marren got his first point of the evening from a free.Patrick O'Connor added
another free for St. Farnan's after a foul on Kevin Mc Gee. Adrian Marren
of Curry punished a poor kick out with a point from play before adding another
from a free. The sides were level at three points a piece half way through the
first half. St. Farnan's midfield, however were clearly in control in this
period and both Finnian Cawley and Martin Mulligan added points from play
as a result. Brian Byrne of Curry , however capitalised on mistakes in
the St. Farnan's half forward line and got two consecutive points from
play. Again the sides were level. Curry replaced Cathal Brennan with Adam
Gallagher shortly before half time. Ciarán O'Connor scored a point from
play for St. Farnan's. Adrian Marren got yet another point, this
time from way out the field ,much to the delight of the Curry supporters.
David Mc Donagh added another to bring Curry's total to seven points for the
opening half. Martin Mulligan got his third of the half to bring St.
Farnan's total also ,to seven points .
After the break
Alan O' Reilly opened the scoring for Curry. Loss of possession for Curry led
to the first goal of the game which was scored by Gavin Connolly after a
passage of play involving Fionn Connolly, Finnian Cawley and Patrick
O'Connor. Adrian Marren, however was on hand to assist his side pointing from a
free and another from play after St. Farnan's were dispossessed. The sides were
level again, 1-7 to 0-10. If Adrian Marren could do it for Curry , Martin
Mulligan could do it for St. Farnan's, he added two points and assisted
Finnian Cawley with another point to put St. Farnan's three points in
front. Adrian Marren got one back for Curry after his side patiently
retained possession trying to find a break through defence. Mark Devaney
got himself on the scoreboard for St. Farnan's after a fine run from the half
back line. At the ten minute mark both teams introduced a
substitute, Shane O'Brien for Ronan Molloy from St. Farnan's and Eoghan
Sweeney for David Mc Donagh of Curry. Patrick and Ciarán O'Connor added
the next three scores for St. Farnan's to increase the lead to six points 1-14
,0-11. Adrian Marren added a point from a free after he was fouled. Each
side introduced another substitute Stephen Donoghue for Oisín Murphy of
Curry and James O'Connell for Mattie Lang. Fionn Connolly of St.Farnan's found
himself all alone in the half forward line and got his first score of the
day, just reward for his hard work. Again Adrian Marren kept his side in
touch with another point. Finnian Cawley and Patrick O'Connor added points to
stretch their lead to seven points, 1-17 0-13 and with only seven minutes
of normal time remaining it was looking increasingly like a St. Farnan's
win. Iarla Connor was introduced for Fionn Connolly. Curry, however were
given a lifeline in the twenty sixth minute when Adrian Marren was deemed to
have been fouled inside the square and was awarded a penalty. Adrian's
shot ,however hit the side post and St. Farnan's obtained possession from the
rebound. The remaining minutes proved a scrappy affair as Curry tried to
battle their way through St. Farnan's defence. Stephen Mulligan was
introduced for St. Farnan's in the closing minutes. In injury time
Adrian Marren got the final score of the game , a goal after good play
involving Jason Marren and Eoghan Sweeney. It was of little consolation
as his side now have to face Coolaney/ Mullinabreena in an attempt to retain
senior status.
St. Farnan's were
deserving of this win which came on the back of a poor defeat to Drumcliffe/
Rosses Point. There were excellent performances all over the field most
notably from Martin Mulligan, Patrick O'Connor, Gavin
Connolly, Fionn Connolly and Finnian Cawley.
Curry' s Adrian
Marren was his side's main man with Brian Byrne, Adam
Gallagher and Keith Feeley performing well.
Curry: Sean Marren,
Michael Jennings, Dylan Mc Loughlin,Craig Gallagher, Keith
Feeley,James Walsh, Michael Gordon, AlanReilly(0-1),Oisín Higgins, Brian
Byrne(0-2),Adrian Marren (1-9(4f), Cathal Brennan, Oisín Murphy,Jason Marren,
David Mc Donagh(0-1).
Subs used : Adam
Gallagher, Eoghan Sweeney, Stephen Donoghue.
St. Farnan's: Simon
Mullarkey, Trevor Kilgannon, James Weir, Conor Gordon, Ronan
Molloy, Eamonn Kilgannon,Mark Devaney(0-1), KevinMc Gee, Gavin Connolly
(1-0),Martin Mulligan(0-5), Ciarán O'Connor (c)(0-2), Finnian
Cawley(0-3), FionnConnolly(0-1), Patrick O'Connor(0-5(3f),
Matthew Lang.
Subs used: Shane
O'Brien, James O'Connell, Iarla Connor, Stephen
Mulligan.