DUBLIN PP SCH SF ‘C’ FINAL: ST MAC DARA’S CC 2-9 ST COLMCILLE’S 1-11
Hogan the hero
Daire Walsh
ST MAC DARA’S CC dug deep at O’Toole Park last Friday to squeeze past the challenge of St Colmcille’s CS in a nail-biting Dublin Schools Senior ‘C’ Football Championship decider.
Trailing by two points (1-11 to 1-9) in the closing stages of the contest, the Wellington Lane outfit looked set for an agonising reversal. That was until wing-back Pearse Hogan pounced for a late goal to seal a dramatic victory.
Alan Connolly and Ciaran Hogan were in excellent form throughout, and it was their early points that helped Mac Dara’s (spearheaded by the coaching team of Dermot O’Brien, Craig Gibson and Kilmacud Crokes footballer Pat Burke) to settle. Despite the best efforts of Jack Delaney, Billy Hamilton and Sean Wynne in defence, Colmcille’s shook the back of the opposition net.
Still, a superb Alex Rafferty goal ensured Mac Dara’s were a single point in arrears (1-4 to 1-3) during the interval. A series of tactical alterations kept the Templeogue men in the frame on the resumption.
Though Ciaran Hogan and Connolly – who ended with respective hauls of 0-4 and 0-5 – continued to prosper, Cealan Clarke pulled off a save to maintain the Mac Dara’s challenge. This was the cue for Pearse Hogan to put his name up in lights and he lashed home after Colmcille’s struggled to deal with Rafferty’s initial effort.