St Farnan's retain senior championship status for 2023

Back 03/10/2022 @ 22:30 | mainnews | St Farnan's retain senior championship status for 2023

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.