Broadford suffered the cruellest of defeats against Crusheen/Tubber in the U21B Final on Good Friday. The first half of the match, which took place in Cusack Park, saw Crusheen/Tubber take the first point in the opening minutes of the match. However this was the only time during regular play that Crusheen/Tubber were ahead of Broadford. Scores were hard to come by in the first half as both teams struggled to gain quick possession of the ball with neither team giving an inch but thanks to points from Diarmuid O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, James Vaughan, Matthew Troy, Owen Powell, Darren Chaplin and Sparky Whelan; Broadford left the field ahead by two points at half-time (0-07 to 0-05).
The pace picked up in second-half and Broadford’s Niall O’Brien took the first point, from a free but Crusheen/Tubber took the next three points to equalise and it looked as if the game was turning against Broadford. With more to give though, Broadford dug deep and took the next four points as the match went in to the final quarter of regular play (One from play -Owen Powell, two from play – Darren Chaplin, one from a free – Niall O’Brien)
Thanks to two frees and just one point from play, Crusheen/Tubber reduced Broadford’s lead to one point and then, in the 30th minute it seemed that any luck in this game had abandoned Broadford as Crusheen/Tubber was awarded a penalty for an obscured incident in the square.
It now seemed that Broadford’s goalie JC McMahon stood alone between victory and defeat and as every Broadford supporter held their breath and the shot was taken, JC dived away from the crowd to the right of the goal mouth as the ball narrowly went wide to the relief of those now able to breathe again. The sense of relieve was all too short-lived though. With “at least three minutes of additional time” announced through the cold air, the title, it would seem, came down to the last few minutes of what had become a very unpredictable match.
As Crusheen/Tubber had been awarded their penalty in the dying seconds of regular time, in the last second of extra time (3-minutes and 55-seconds) a shot from in front of the stand and sent over the bar for the equalizing point put both teams back to square one and the match had to go to extra time.
The Broadford lads had put their hearts, souls and everything else in to the match and to come back on to the field after having just been denied their win must have been deflating as for Crusheen/Tubber the opposite must have been true and even ebullient.
Broadford fought hard throughout both periods of extra time but were three points down after the first period of extra time. A goal for Crusheen/Tubber though in the second period put victory out of Broadford’s reach. Final Score 0-13 to 1-17
The entire Broadford team put in an outstanding performance and did their parish proud. A special mention here to Matthew Troy, Jack Dillon, Diarmuid O’Brien, Sean Phelan, Michael Hogan, and Darren Chaplin. They all had a fantastic U21 championship and as this was their last year at U21, they leave behind them a legacy in the younger lads that will follow them in the coming years.
Broadford U21’s will be back!
The pace picked up in second-half and Broadford’s Niall O’Brien took the first point, from a free but Crusheen/Tubber took the next three points to equalise and it looked as if the game was turning against Broadford. With more to give though, Broadford dug deep and took the next four points as the match went in to the final quarter of regular play (One from play -Owen Powell, two from play – Darren Chaplin, one from a free – Niall O’Brien)
Thanks to two frees and just one point from play, Crusheen/Tubber reduced Broadford’s lead to one point and then, in the 30th minute it seemed that any luck in this game had abandoned Broadford as Crusheen/Tubber was awarded a penalty for an obscured incident in the square.
It now seemed that Broadford’s goalie JC McMahon stood alone between victory and defeat and as every Broadford supporter held their breath and the shot was taken, JC dived away from the crowd to the right of the goal mouth as the ball narrowly went wide to the relief of those now able to breathe again. The sense of relieve was all too short-lived though. With “at least three minutes of additional time” announced through the cold air, the title, it would seem, came down to the last few minutes of what had become a very unpredictable match.
As Crusheen/Tubber had been awarded their penalty in the dying seconds of regular time, in the last second of extra time (3-minutes and 55-seconds) a shot from in front of the stand and sent over the bar for the equalizing point put both teams back to square one and the match had to go to extra time.
The Broadford lads had put their hearts, souls and everything else in to the match and to come back on to the field after having just been denied their win must have been deflating as for Crusheen/Tubber the opposite must have been true and even ebullient.
Broadford fought hard throughout both periods of extra time but were three points down after the first period of extra time. A goal for Crusheen/Tubber though in the second period put victory out of Broadford’s reach. Final Score 0-13 to 1-17
The entire Broadford team put in an outstanding performance and did their parish proud. A special mention here to Matthew Troy, Jack Dillon, Diarmuid O’Brien, Sean Phelan, Michael Hogan, and Darren Chaplin. They all had a fantastic U21 championship and as this was their last year at U21, they leave behind them a legacy in the younger lads that will follow them in the coming years.
Broadford U21’s will be back!
