Corbett’s last gasp free is heartbreak for Faughs
By Daire Walsh
THERE was heartbreak for the Faughs second adult team at O’Toole Park on Saturday afternoon as Liam Corbett’s last-gasp free saw them suffering a 2-14 to 2-13 defeat against St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh in the Dublin Junior ‘B’ Hurling Championship final.
A day before the Templeogue club’s first-choice outfit shared the spoils with Whitehall Colmcille in the Dublin Senior Two decider at Parnell Park, Frank Bennett’s side looked set to do the same in their showpiece bout. Yet there was to be a final sting in the tail and Corbett displayed tremendous nerve to bring his personal haul up to an impressive 1-10.
With their ace marksman leading the way, Plunkett’s raced into an early three-point advantage. However, Faughs were always expected to settle and back-to-back scores courtesy of Kevin Hogan and Scott McConnell (a Dublin minor footballer in 2021 who also lines out for Templeogue Synge Street GFC) subsequently got them up and running.
Adam Hogan and Conor Kenny also split the posts for Faughs and despite Plunkett’s bagging the first goal of the tie on 15 minutes, the southsiders continued to cause problems for their Navan Road counterparts.
Midfielder Colm Leahy was becoming influential and he found the net at the end of a sharp 22nd-minute attack. The sides went on to trade points, before successive efforts from Leahy (two) and wing-back Conor Doyle allowed Faughs to establish a 1-10 to 1-7 buffer at the interval.
While Plunkett’s produced a similar scoring burst on the restart to move back on level terms, another Leahy point helped Faughs to settle.
Yet scores were becoming harder to come by in the second half and the Tymon Park men went all of 22 minutes without troubling the umpires in the Kimmage venue. Plunkett’s weren’t quite firing on all cylinders themselves, but had moved five clear (2-13 to 1-11) thanks in no small part to a clinically-dispatched Corbett penalty.
Faughs weren’t prepared to go down without a fight, however, and a Colin Devane goal brought back into contention. Either side of this major, Bennett’s troops raised white flags to restore parity in dramatic fashion.
A replay was suddenly on the cards for these two teams – who will both compete in the Junior ‘A’ Championship next year – but there was enough time on the clock for Corbett to squeeze Plunkett’s over the line.