Marry's goal the tonic for Bride's in narrow IFC win over Glen Emmets

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St. Bride’s 1-11 Glen Emmets 0-13

Goals are the best tonic in Gaelic football and it took a bounty from Seán Marry to get St. Bride’s over the line for the second week in a row.

His strike with 11 minutes to play turned a game which looked like throwing up another surprise in a so-far typically unpredictable intermediate championship race, where Bride’s have gone to the wire twice.

Last week they needed three late points to see off St. Kevin’s, while seven days later they were reliant upon Andrew Smyth and Kevin Hearty conversions following Marry’s major.

The goal itself was strange in its origin and, as far as Glen Emmets will be concerned, it was totally avoidable. In possession inside his own 21-yard line, their most experienced player, David Bracken, was caught and adjudged to have rolled the ball along the ground by referee Stephen Murphy.

Then, as opposed to taking their punishment and backtracking towards the goalline, Emmets players proceeded to remonstrate, leading the ball to be moved forward and Marry, on the anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, to launch a rocket into the roof of the net, levelling the fixture at 1-9 to 0-12.

Their seconds-long lapse in concentration proved pivotal and undid all of their stirring second half work to that point, having fired five of the period’s first seven points as Bride’s looked bereft of both ideas and confidence; on the back of a first 30 minutes where they shot seven wides and missed two clear-cut goal opportunities.

The second of those three-pointer attempts was on the eve of the break, when Marry’s bullet effort was somehow kept out by Tom Grimes, covering back on the line.

Similar to last week, Brides’ best men came off the right wing, Smyth and Marry providing a directness which they lacked in several other quarters of the field. In contrast, for much of the game, Emmets were much more adept at finding their forwards on route to the target, James Butler, Conor Grimes and Ronan Grufferty - who led their second half charge - all profiting from hard, forward running.

A close encounter, the teams were level five times, including on four occasions during a first half in which all 14 points were shared, with Emmets shooting the final three in advance of the turnaround.

And their purple patch continued after half-time as they marched three clear at a time where Bride’s lost Laurence Steen to a black card.

A shock looked on the cards, then, but mistakes always seem that bit more costly in the championship, as Emmets now know.

St. Bride’s: Adam Plunkett; Alan Dunne, James Costelloe, David Kettle; Andrew Smyth (0-1), Mark Hoey, Aaron Devin (0-1); Patrick Reilly (0-1), Neil Thornton; Seán Marry (1-4, 1-1 frees), Conaill Devin (0-1, free), Kevin Hearty (0-2); Laurence Steen, Emmet Kirk (0-1), Michael Keane

Subs: Bernard Laverty for Steen (38, BC), Shane Devin for Thornton (50), Richard Halpenny for Kettle (59)

Glen Emmets: Conor Kelly; Tom Grimes, Sam Kenny, Keith Boylan; Stephen Healy, Jamie Gilkes, Andrew Mooney; Conor Grimes (0-2), Mark Garvey; James Butler (0-5, three frees), Seán Byrne, Keith Lynch (0-1); Kealan O’Neill, Ronan Grufferty (0-5, four frees), David Bracken

Subs: Jamie Farnan for Byrne (40), Philip Tynan for A Devin (42), Aaron Hoey for M Hoey (46), Isaac Walsh for O’Neill (50), Keith Farnan for Lynch (57)

Referee: Stephen Murphy (Naomh Máirtín)