Leinster club JFC | Plunketts suffer narrow loss to Shillelagh Coolboy

St Oliver Plunketts suffered a narrow loss to Wicklow side Shillelagh Coolboy in a hard fought Leinster Junior Championship clash in the Gaelic Grounds, Drogheda, on Saturday afternoon last.

The concession of goals proved to be the Louth JFC champions’ undoing here, having shipped three first half green flags, including one just before the half time whistle, which saw them trail by seven.

READ NEXT: Dundalk FC shareholders enter mediation talks

However, with a wind advantage in the second period, the Plunketts came storming back to draw level by the end of the third quarter, a period where they outscored their opponents by 1-5 to 0-1, with Cian Brady outstanding on the day, in a performance which included a wonderfully taken goal to reignite the Plunketts' fire.

However, the home side’s inefficiency in front of the posts proved to be their downfall, with Emmet Kelleher’s side finishing with 1-15 from 34 shots at the posts, including 1-8 from 26 in open play.

In comparison, Shillelagh finished with 4-8 from 16 shots, including those hard hitting goals, which were the winning of this game.

The Plunketts opened the scoring through Cian Brady (f), following a foul on Adam Smith. But that would remarkably turn out to be the only time they would lead in this contest, after conceding two goals inside the opening 10 minutes to trail by seven by the end of the first quarter.

Shillelagh fought and scrapped for every bit of possession they could get, and backed by a hugely vocal away support, they led by 1-1 to 0-1 after 4 minutes.

That early inside ball into the Shillelagh inside line was a danger for the Plunketts in the transition, and after levelling the score from open play, Eddie Cullen struck for his side’s opening major.

Moments after being denied by keeper Luke Haggans, Cullen collected a Brendan Behan pass before firing to the Plunketts net to give that away support something to shout about.

The Plunketts landed their second score through Kristian Nolan, before Shillelagh rattled in another 1-1 without reply, as they continued to make the most of a strong first half wind advantage.

PJ Mullhall, who was calm and composed whenever in possession, set up the lively Conor Byrne to fire over the bar, before the same player teed up captain Brendan Behan, who found the Plunketts net, to give his side a 2-2 to 0-2 advantage after 10 minutes.

Despite Plunketts keeper Luke Haggans denying the marauding Brendan Rossiter, Conor Byrne poked the loose ball over the bar via the crossbar to give his side that 2-3 to 0-2 lead after 15 minutes.

The Plunketts dominated possession, trailing, but a number of their attacks went astray with a disappointing final pass, with Shillelagh scoring 3-3 of their 3-6 first half tally from turnovers alone.

But players like Lee Dagge, Jonathan Smyth and Aaron Kinsella deserve credit for showing these battling qualities over the hour.

The Plunketts did eventually manage to claw their way back into the contest, with Robbie Brodigan standing up to the heat of battle in what was a physical encounter, with both sides allowed to tackle fiercely by referee Ryan Moran as he allowed for play to continue wherever possible.

Robbie Brodigan, who finished with 36 possessions over the hour, got the Plunketts going, as well as his hand to plenty of primary possession in the middle sector.

Kristian Nolan, Stephen Keeley and Adam Lambe found the range to leave four between the sides after 18 minutes.

However, on the break, Shillelagh continued to cause problems with that early ball down the channels to that lively inside line, with Conor Byrne, and PJ Mullhall strikes stretching their side’s lead back to six at 2-5 to 0-5 by the 20th minute.

The Plunketts, who had accumulated a huge number of wides at this stage, did land another hattrick of points on the bounce, with Cian Brady (2), and Jamie Byrne following clever set up play by Stephen Keeley and Adam Lambe, closing that gap to three after 27 minutes.

But the Plunketts were hit with another sucker punch before the break, which left them trailing by seven at the interval.

Following another Eddie Cullen strike, Shillelagh’s kicking game paid dividends again, with Brendan Rossiter collecting a Wayne Kinsella crossfield pass, before rounding his marker and slotting the ball home in what was a huge blow to the Plunketts, who trailed by 3-6 to 0-8 at the break, having battled so hard to get back into contention.

Second Half:

At the break, the Plunketts sprung Cian Matthews and club captain Dean Carolan from the bench, and their impact was instant, as the Plunketts hauled themselves back into the game in that third quarter.

The second half saw them win eight out of 12 on the Shillelagh kickouts, with Carolan’s impact crucial here, while Adam Lambe and Jack Taaffe offered up a decent support cast to Robbie Brodigan, who continued to fight for everything in that area.

Kristian Nolan and Eddie Cullen traded frees before the Plunketts fired in 1-4 without reply to draw level by the end of the third quarter. Cian Brady followed up a point from play with a marvellous goal, which began from a strong turnover from David McTeggart.

From this, Adam Smith found Cian Brady with a kick pass, before the latter left several defenders in his wake, to fire the ball to the roof of the net at the second attempt to leave a kick of the ball between the sides at 1-10 to 3-7 after 38 minutes.

Kristian Nolan converted two frees before scoring one from play in a move involving Dean Carolan, to level the sides up after 45 minutes at 1-13 to 3-7.

But the Plunketts were unable to grab that lead score, which you felt at that stage may have seen them push on to win the game, with their misses in front of the posts coming back to haunt them.

Having had to soak up so much second half pressure, Shillelagh Coolboy broke for what proved to be the winning score of this game.

Another turnover saw Eddie Cullen break through the Plunketts’ centre before finding Conor Byrne, who palmed the ball to the net to give the Wicklow side a three point lead again with eight minutes remaining.

The Plunketts saw further major attempts from Stephen Keeley and Cian Matthews thwarted by Shillelagh’s keeper Cathal Fitzsimons, before Adam Lambe closed the gap to two on 59 minutes.

Another breakaway saw the excellent Brendan Rossiter kick over on the swivel to restore his side’s three point lead in stoppage time.

Despite closing the gap to two again through Cian Brady (f), the Plunketts ran out of time, as they lost out in the opening round of the Leinster Junior Championship.

Despite the defeat, the Drogheda side can look back on 2025 with fond memories, having secured a place in the Intermediate Championship for next year, following their dramatic victory in the Junior Championship final against Glyde Rangers a few weeks ago.

St Oliver Plunketts: Luke Haggans; Cillian Smith, David McTeggart, Gary Keogh; Jamie Byrne 0-1, Shaun Smith, Barry Reynolds; Robbie Brodigan, Jack Taaffe; Adam Smith, Kristian Nolan (0-6) (4f), Adam Lambe (0-2); Cian Brady (1-5) (3f), Stephen Keeley (0-1), Ben Boyce.

Subs: Cian Matthews for Reynolds (HT), Dean Carolan for Boyce (HT), James Guinn for Adam Smith (55), Niall Murtagh for Cillian Smith (57).

Shillelagh Coolboy: Cathal Fitzsimons; Killian O’Keeffe, Ruairi O’Brien, Lee Dagge; Jonathan Smyth, Aaron Kinsella, Finlay Dolan; Dan Nolan, Ciaran Lambert; Brendan Rossiter (1-1), PJ Mullhall (0-1), Brendan Behan (1-0); Conor Byrne (1-3), Wayne Kinsella, Eddie Cullen (1-3) (1f).

Subs: Milo Quinn for Mullhall (44), Luke Dolan for Finlay Nolan (57).

Referee: Ryan Moran (Co. Kildare).