St Anne’s were feisty opponents but the All-Star nominee made a vital difference
St Martin’s finished strongly to tuck away a fifth county title on the 25th anniversary of the club’s first lifting of the Bowe Cup. It had been five years since their fourth – also defeating St Anne’s in the final – an interval notable for the ravages of Covid and the Martin’s apparently recurrent inability to deliver on their status as leading contenders.
The winners put in a sterling collective effort but there was no doubting the primus inter pares, as All-Star nominee Rory O’Connor gave scoring expression to his team’s superiority with 0-11 and a crucial assist for Barry O’Connor’s equally crucial 46th-minute goal.
“The team has been on a really significant journey since Covid. Around then we found ourselves in a relegation semi-final. We lost a county final and a county semi-final and were knocking on the door. Five years ago, the clubs had met in the final and there had been just two points in it and that level of competitiveness was never far from the surface even when the winners resumed the second half with a couple of points to establish a double-score lead.
Centrefield was also feisty with Diarmuid O’Keeffe in full warrior mood between popping up in the first half for a vital defensive interception and running at the defence, which led to an awful clatter in the 43rd minute when he stumbled into Paddy O’Connor’s blunt challenge and went down in a heap – referee Justin Heffernan deeming it not to merit any reprimand beyond the free.
There were moments that felt significant, as when Kevin Breen got penalised for overcarrying out of defence; O’Connor cashed in for a second point in a minute.
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