GAA Talk

Colm O’Driscoll

The entire Cork team should go out and buy lotto tickets after this result bestowed utter heartbreak and robbed  Down of a title they seemed to have in the bag.  Cork were one-point winners of the Cadbury’s All-Ireland U21 football final over a gallant Down side at O’Moore Park, Portlaoise on Monday 4th May 2009.

Man-of-the-match, Colm O’Driscoll, was the hero for the Rebels as he pounced on a spilled effort by Down ‘keeper Gavin Joyce with seconds to go to finish the ball to the net.

Cadbury’s All-Ireland U21 football final
Cork 1-13 Down 2-9

Cork manager John Cleary admitted before the match that his side had ridden their luck on a number of occasions prior to reaching the final but that if they won by a point again on Sunday, with a bit of luck, he would not mind.

That was exactly what happened but it was incredibly hard luck on Pete McGrath’s Down who looked to have the match wrapped up as the clock moved into added time.

The opening half was dominated by Cork as their sheer physicality and intensity meant they were three points up at the break on a 0-8 to 0-5 scoreline.

Cork full-forward David Goold and the captain of the side, Colm O’Neill, registered seven of the eight first-half points between them, both from play and placed balls.

Castlehaven’s Mark Collins was the only other Rebel to get on the scoresheet in the opening 30 minutes; his fine effort coming on 12 minutes.

For their part, Down would have been happy to be within three of Cork at the break but in truth it was frees that kept them in it, with Paul Devlin and Paul McComiskey responsible for all the Mourne scores.

In the second-half, the wind was in the Ulster champions favour and they quickly took advantage of it when Paul McComiskey put over a fine individual score with only four minutes gone.

But a feature of the second-half was how Cork responded to Down’s scores and Mark Collins did just that a minute later with an inspirational point from out on the wing for the Rebels.

That score left Cork three points ahead but Down were to register the next two points; one from a McComiskey free and then a beautiful effort from midfielder, Peter Fitzpatrick, from out the field.

Down were now within a point of their opponents and two minutes later they hit the front when Eamon Toner goaled for the Mourne men. A long ball, flicked on by Devlin, dropped beautifully into the half-forward’s path and he crashed it past Anthony Seymour.

Cork, in the form of the brilliant O’Neill, responded immediately to level the scores before a Goold free put the men from the south ahead again.

The game was in the melting pot now and it was going to take a moment of brilliance to win it. That brilliant moment, though not that crucial in the end, came in the 54th minute when Down captain, Timmy Hanna, rattled the Cork net for the second time.

Hanna had been involved at the early stages of a sweeping Down move and he continued his run before latching on to a pass from Conor Maginn to put his side two points ahead with five minutes to play.

But crucially O’Neill responded again for Cork with another equally good point from play to put the bare minimum between them.

With two minutes to go it seemed Peter Fitzpatrick’s exceptional effort from out the field would seal it for Down but a two-point lead is a dangerous lead at any stage in a match, especially heading into added time.

That proved to be the case for Down as Aidan Walsh’s stinging effort was too hot for Joyce to handle leaving O’Driscoll to gleefully sweep the ball into the net in what was to prove to be the last act of a gripping U21 decider.

Cork: Anthony Seymour; Seán McLoughlin, Liam Jennings, Noel Galvin; Conor O’Driscoll, Aidan Walsh, Bart Daly; Chris O’Donovan, Kevin O’Driscoll; Ciarán Sheehan, Mark Collins, Colm O’Driscoll; Colm O’Neill (capt), David Goold, Paul Honohan.

Down: Gavin Joyce; Mark Digney, Colm Murney, Damien Turley; Timmy Hanna (capt), John Fitzpatrick, Joseph Murphy; Michael Magee, Peter Fitzpatrick; Eamon Toner, Conor Maginn, Jamie O’Reilly; Paul Devlin, Paul McComiskey, Conor Poland.