U21 Football Championship Final 2007
Down Memory Lane
Back in 2007 Gort na Móna pulled off a real shock when they won the Under 21 Football Championship for the first time, beating St Gall’s in the final at Casement Park
Gort na Mona 0-10 St. Gall’s 0-8
Gort na Mona laid down a marker for the future by capturing the clubs first ever U21 football championship title. The Turf Lodge side held off St. Gall’s in an entertaining final at Casement Park on Friday night.
They spurned several goal chances, went 20 minutes without scoring and held off a strong comeback by St. Gall’s in the closing stages but still managed to get their hands on the Gerry Cullen Cup. Just 150 days after Cargin defeated St. John’s for the 2006 U21 title, the 2007 championship has concluded already and full credit must go to the county for such a quick and well organised campaign.
The final itself lived up to the billing, with Gort na Mona playing some attractive, quick moving football, pressing high up the pitch. At one stage they had 12 men inside the St. Gall’s 40 meter line with only keeper, Joe Smyth, Paul Conlon and Conor Finnegan left at the other end.
The two Conor’s of Conlon and McGourty got St. Gall’s underway but Micky Pollock’s free squeezed inside the post before the first clear cut goal chance arrived. Gort na Mona moved the ball at pace and Kevin Franklin burst down the left flank, hand passed it inside to Joe Caddell who in turn passed it on to Michael Pollock arriving in the square.
Pollock should have taken the maximum three points but pushed the ball over the bar instead. The Gorts were giving St. Gall’s no way out and too often lofted clearances from the Milltown back-line just came straight back at them.
Gary Doyle pressured Aidan Gribbon into conceding a free which Pollock stroked over before adding another from play to move Gort na Mona two in front. The Gort’s were bossing possession but didn’t turn that possession into scores and when Sean Burke finally got St. Gall’s third score, a full 15 minutes after their second, there was just a point between the sides.
Pollock and Michael McMullan exchanged scores and right on the blow Gort na Mona once again squandered another clear cut goal chance. Pollock again was at the centre of things, beating his marker in the corner and feeding the ball to the unmarked Doyle, who fired over the bar with the goal gaping.
Gort na Mona began the second half well, Michael Pollock sending over a nice point under pressure from Gribbon. Sean O’Hara replied for St. Gall’s, the nippy wing man skipping past his marker before planting the ball between the sticks.
Dermot McVeigh took over free taking responsibilities from Michael Pollock and converted a ‘45’ and then a free after Pollock was fouled by Peter Owens. Pollock tacked on point number seven to his personal tally, the tenth score for Gort na Mona, but that would be their last score of the game with 20 minutes left to play.
St. Gall’s turned up the heat and David Cummings moved into the forward line allowing CJ McGorty to move out to centre-three-quarters. This proved to be a wise move as McGourty began to pepper the Gort na Mona square with Hail Mary balls.
This would have worked had it not been for the impressive Paul Conlon, who was quite magnificent at full-back, while Marty Ward made a couple of impressive catches under pressure. McGourty converted two frees and when Cumming’s shot deflected for a ‘45’ it seemed the tide had turned in St. Gall’s favour.
Eight minutes left and two points adrift St. Gall’s piled forward, leaving space for Pollock to exploit at the other end. He drew a free from Chris Wylie but sent he free wide. Then McVeigh drew a free from Sean Burke but again the free sailed wide when a point would surely have settled the contest.
Another McGourty free fell short and was cleared by Finnegan, and then with the game moving into injury time, McVeigh sent a ‘45’ wide. It didn’t matter as the referee sounded his full-time whistle on the restart and Gort na Mona could celebrate a famous victory.
Some Gort na Mona supporters began chanting “Easy-Easy” but it certainly wasn’t as their side had to work hard for their victory and ultimately the championship. This they did and they can certainly look forward to the future with optimism.
Gort na Mona: Joe Smyth, Brendan Cousins, Paul Conlon, Connor Finnegan, John McCann, Marty Ward, Kevin Franklin, Ciaran Quinn, Conor Fagan, Jim Donnelly, Joe Caddell, Dermot McVeigh 0-2, Gary Doyle 0-1, Colm Kannan, Michael Pollock 0-7, Patrick McCaffrey.
St. Gall’s: Chris Kerr, Peter Owens, Aidan Gribbon, Matthew Shannon, Patrick Flannigan, Darren Harbinson, Mark Kelly, Christopher Wylie, Sean Burke 0-1, Eamon McArdle, Michael McMullan 0-1, Sean O’Hara 0-1, Aaron Thompson, David Cummings, CJ McGourty 0-4, Conor Conlon 0-1.
This was a great year for Gort na Mona with their senior footballers finishing 5th in a 10 team division 1, the only teams they lost to were portglenone, St Galls and cargin. They recorded notable away victories that year over Creggan, St Paul’s, Lamh Dhearg and St John’s and reached the senior championship semi-final, losing to Portglenone. The same year they won the Intermediate Hurling championship and went on to capture the Ulster title before losing in the All Ireland semi-final.
2007 should have heralded the arrival of the Turf Lodge men as serious contenders for both division 1 league and senior championship but within two years 7 of that great U21 side had left these shores following the 2008 financial crash, in search of employment abroad. They were relegated from division 1 in and it would be another 10 years before they returned to the top division after a successful rebuilding programme.
The club again looks in good health with a Junior Hurling championship success last year and the future looks bright for the men from Enright Park.