Penalty shootout heartbreak for Naomh Conaill against Cargin in Belfast

Naomh Conaill’s latest Ulster SFC odyssey ended in the cruellest of fashions as Antrim champions Cargin edged out their Donegal counterparts on penalty kicks at the quarter-final stage.

Cargin Erin’s Own 2-13
Naomh Conaill 2-13
(Carin won 4-1 on penalties)

Twice the hosts came back from what seemed like the absolute dead at the end of both normal and extra-time to somehow keep a foothold in the contest.

And, in the end, having allowed Cargin to squirm off the hook on each of those occasions, Naomh Conaill paid the ultimate price and were dumped out of the provincial reckoning in the worst possible fashion. Back at the very outset Martin Regan’s men, playing with the aid of the stiff breeze in the first period at Corrigan Park, had taken a little while to find their feet, minus the injured Anthony Thompson and Brendan McDyer.

With the hosts content to sit in in the first-half, Ciaran Thompson and Odhran Doherty uncharacteristically snatched at early long range efforts. However, the visitors appeared to finally be up and running when Charles McGuinness, from a free, and a superb Jeaic Mac Ceallabhuí drill from out the park, pushed them two clear by the 13th minute.

Cargin opened their account soon after as raiding cornerback Cahir Donnelly did well to clear the crossbar against that aforementioned tricky wind. Following that lead, Naomh Conaill’s own adventurous defender, Kevin McGettigan, then managed to ghost in on the left flank to make his familiar scoring contribution.

There was a fair degree of controversy attached to the hosts’ second point of the day as Michael McCann’s clip appeared to evade the inside of the far post by a good metre. Nonetheless, the umpire stationed directly underneath waved the effort over - much to the annoyance of the Naomh Conaill, players, management and supporters.

The Donegal champions regrouped, however, and it was the brilliant Mac Ceallbhuí once again leading the way with direct running and another excellent pot from distance as Martin Regan’s men went 0-4 to 0-2 clear. On 25 minutes Naomh Conaill almost raised a green flag when Leo McLoone’s excellent peel at the back post was well sourced by Eoin Waide in over the top. McLoone collected and as he looked to go back inside his man he did appear to be illegally interfered with.

However, appeals for a penalty from the former county man fell on deaf ears. Great work from John O’Malley was then instrumental in allowing McLoone to move his team three clear.

Four minutes out from the break, Pat Shivers made his presence felt for the first time when he fielded high above AJ Gallagher before swivelling and angling over the crossbar.

And just before the half-time whistle, Ethan O’Donnell won a free just behind the ‘45, allowing Ciaran Thompson to leave it 0-6 to 0-3 at the changeover.

Naomh Conaill were off the mark almost instantly following the restart thanks to another McGuinness free. Jamie Gribbin matched that up the other side before Cargin took advantage of a Stephen McGrath mistake, allowing Shivers to cut the gap back to two.

With their tails now up, Cargin nailed a third over on the trot as Tomas McCann reduced arrears back to the minimum, at 0-7 to 0-6, as matters moved into the fourth and final quarter.

Naomh Conaill needed someone to intervene and it was no surprise that it was Mac Ceallbhuí stepping up to the plate. Still, their luck appeared to be out when they lost Keelan McGill to a black card as matters went into the final ten minutes.

And with Cargin custodian John McNabb landing a free off the ground, a single over once again split the sides at 0-8 to 0-7. From the resulting kickout, McGrath’s dispatch was well flicked on by McGuinness and Odhran Doherty was suddenly released.
He galloped on and drawing the man, off-loaded to the lurking O’Malley at just the right moment. O’Malley still had plenty to do but he showed real composure to steady himself, sidestep the advancing McNabb and rattle high into the unguarded net.

Entering the last five minutes of regulatory action, Shivers and substitute Kieran Close both found the target to drag Naomh Conaill back to within two. Thompson again put three in it with a trademark free off the ground, from around 50 metres, just as five minutes of added time was flashed up on the clock. In those frantic final exchanges, Shivers clipped the outside of a post while McGuinness also left the fray by way of a black card.

But just when it looked like the Glenties men had done enough, one last, desperate delivery into the area from Michael McCann was somehow flicked to the back of the net by full-back Kevin McShane.

Following the final whistle, an irate Naomh Conaill management were pointing to their watches which would have shown that matters were allowed to tick a full minute and a half past the five that had initially been allocated. But those remonstrations fell on deaf ears and the contest headed to extra-time. Again, nothing split the teams at the midpoint there with both outfits posting 1-1 each.

Substitute Kieran Gallagher palmed home a great goal for Naomh Conaill while another replacement, Dermot Molloy, posted their point.

At the other end, Kieran Close got in at the back post to also flick to the net while Cargin’s over came from a Sean O’Neill palm at goal that seemed to come off Eunan Doherty and go up and over the bar.
In a truly gripping encounter, Mac Ceallbhuí and Tomas McCann traded points right at the outset of the second period of extra-time.

Kieran Gallagher managed to once again get in on goal but blazed high and over but Eunan Quinn cancelled that out.
Going into added time at the end of extra-time, Mac Ceallbhuí looked like he’d finally won it for Naomh Conaill. But home full-back Kevin McShane was once again the man stepping up to somehow force this absorbing tie to penalties.

Michael McCann set the tone there for Cagin before Ciaran Thompson saw Naomh Conaill’s first effort saved. Charlie McGuinness was successful for Glenties but with Demot Molloy also off cue, Tomas McCann, Shivers and Donnelly would all convert their efforts to push Cargin into the last four.

Cargin scorers: Pat Shivers 0-4; Kevin McShane and Kieran Close 1-1 each; Tomas McCann 0-2; Michael McCann, Cahir Donnelly, John McNabb, and Eunan Quinn 0-1 each
Naomh Conaill scorers: Jeaic Mac Ceallbhuí 0-5; Kieran Gallagher 1-1; John O’Malley 1-0; Ciaran Thompson and Charlie McGuinness 0-2, 2f each; Kevin McGettigan, Leo McLoone and Dermot Molloy 0-1 each.

Cargin Erin’s Own: John McNabb; Kevin O’Boyle, Kevin McShane, Cahir Donnelly; Justin Crozier, James Laverty, Sean O’Neill; John Carron, Gerard McCann; Ciaran Bradley, Jamie Gribbin, Paul McCann; Michael McCann, Pat Shivers, Tomas McCann. Subs: Mark Kelly for P McCann (15), Kieran Close for C Bradley (52), Benen Kelly for G McCann (56), Eunan Quinn for Kelly (60+2), Ronan Devlin for O’Neill (76).
Naomh Conaill: Stephen McGrath; Kevin McGettigan, AJ Gallagher, Jason Campbell; Marty Boyle, Eoin Waide; Ciaran Thompson, Jeaic Mac Ceallbhuí; Keelan McGill, Odhran Doherty, Eunan Doherty; John O’Malley, Charlie McGuinness, Leo McLoone. Subs: Ultan Doherty for Boyle (46), Dermot Molloy for O’Malley (56), Kieran Gallagher for O Doherty (60), Odhran Doherty for McLoone (extra-time), Daniel Gildea for K McGill, (half-time, extra-time). Leo McLoone for Waide (76).
Referee: Kevin Faloon (Armagh).