St Mary’s, Convoy hit back from the brink to down Naomh Columba in Intermediate B final

St Mary’s, Convoy staged a stirring comeback to win the Intermediate B Championship at the expense of Naomh Columba.

St Mary’s, Convoy 3-7
Naomh Columba 2-5

Conor McDermott’s side came from seven down to win by five with Naomh Columba failing to score in the second half. St Mary’s turned the tide in dramatic fashion, scoring 3-3 in part two.

St Mary’s struck two goals between the 37th and 41st minutes to completely alter the course.

The big Naomh Columba support, who had an early morning start in the south west, were in their perches in good time here, but their side fell asunder in the second half.

There's a busy day in store for Naomh Columba's Colin McNelis

Colin McNelis will be on the line for both the Naomh Columba reserves and seniors at O'Donnell Park as they take part in both Intermediate finals against St Mary's Convoy and Dungloe respectively

Paul O’Leary thumped to the net seven minutes into the second half after a Ciaran Dolan free dropped into a crowded goalmouth. O’Leary reacted and fired past Shane Ellis.

St Mary’s were energised now and they drew level soon after. Another high ball in caused panic and Jason McDaid rose to bat home in spite of the presence of a few Naomh Columba men, whose efforts to block were in vain. A posse of players caused confusion over the identity of the scorer, but McDaid was the man who emerged credited.

In a frenetic finale, Ronan Gillespie rattled the St Mary’s crossbar with a stinging effort that could have sneaked Naomh Columba back in front.

In added time, the excellent Matthew Coyle broke clear and found the bottom corner with a third St Mary’s goal to complete a remarkable comeback.

Naomh Columba scored 15 goals in the group phase of this Championship and added another five in the knockout phase.

Two goals, netted by Sean Hardy and Gillespie, in a deadly five-minute spell around the midway chapter of the first half put the Pairc na nGael men into a commanding position - but it was not a prelude to what was coming.

Jamie McNern, Liam Boyle and Darragh Cunningham got the ball rolling for Glen, who opened up a four-point lead with the game’s open goal in the 13th minute.

Naomh Columba surged forward in numbers and Michael Callaghan fed Hardy, who slipped the ball to the bottom corner beyond the advancing Emmet Doherty.

Five minutes later, Callaghan - a Donegal minor last year - provided the assist and Ronan Gillespie applied the clinical finish.

St Mary’s got off the mark with a brace of points from Jason McDaid in the tenth minute, but they were rocked further when O’Leary was black-carded in the 24th minute.

Matthew Coyle ended a barren 17-minute spell without a St Mary’s score and Naomh Columba held a firm command when they led 2-5 to 0-4 at the changeover.

Naomh Columba went 40 minutes without troubling the scoreboard operator and they watched in agony as St Mary’s grabbed hold of the silverware.

St Mary’s, Convoy scorers: Paul O’Leary, Matthew Coyle 1-1 each; Ciaran Dolan 0-2, 1f; Jason McDaid 0-2; Michael Ayton 0-1.

Naomh Columba scorers: Ronan Gillespie 1-1; Sean Hardy 1-0; Liam Boyle 0-1, 1f; Jamie McNern, Michael Callaghan, Darragh Cunningham 0-1 each.

St Mary’s, Convoy: Emmet Doherty; Darren Bonner, Sean Browne, Michael Patton; Rory Craig, Niall Sweeney, Conor Gordon; Cormac Mulrain, Matthew Coyle; Oran Patterson, Michael Ayton, Cathal Browne; Ciaran Dolan, Jason McDaid, Paul O’Leary. Subs: Lee Boyd for Gordon (half-time), Dannan O’Kane for O’Leary (59).

Naomh Columba: Shane Ellis; Aidan McGinley, Conor Carr, Kian Gillespie; Tomás Byrne, Steven Callaghan, Joseph Lyons; Patrick Carr, Liam Boyle; Darragh Cunningham, Ronan Gillespie, Sean Hardy; Ronan O’Hare, Michael Callaghan, Jamie McNern. Subs: Dylan Kelly for Hardy (47), Oisin Byrne for T.Byrne (47), Aaron Byrne for O’Hare (57).

Referee: Sean McDaid (Urris).