Louth GAA club | Cooley comeback forces SFC quarter-final replay with the Joes
St Joseph’s 0-17 Cooley Kickhams 0-17
Cooley Kickhams pulled off a late second-half comeback to claim a draw against St Joseph’s and secure a quarter-final replay in the Louth GAA Anchor Tours Senior Football Championship after a close game at St Brigid’s Park, Dowdallshill on Sunday afternoon.
The Joes looked to be heading to the semi-finals when they led by six points with five minutes remaining, but Cooley struck three consecutive two-pointers to draw level.
The Dromsiken side had topped Group One undefeated and made a flying start with the breeze at their backs as Craig Doherty opened the scoring inside 40 seconds before Conal Smyth doubled the advantage.
Ben McKeown then landed the first two-pointer of the contest as the Joes went four points to no score in front after only three minutes. Doherty added another before Joseph Hanlon finally opened Cooley’s account in the ninth minute.
Conall McCaul responded from long range and, after Cian Connor converted a Cooley free, Pearse Grimes-Murphy, Alan Quigley and Ben Collier all found the target for the Joes.
Gabriel Bell added a fisted point before Doherty landed his third of the afternoon on the stroke of half-time to send St Joseph’s in with a decent seven-point lead.
Half time: St. Joseph’s 0-11 Cooley Kickhams 0-4
Cooley needed a response and got exactly that immediately after the restart when Tiarnan Hanniffy scored after just 15 seconds, and Michael Rafferty quickly followed with another point.
Oisín Reidy replied with a fisted point for the Joes before Hanlon landed his second for Cooley. Smyth and Quigley then converted frees as St Joseph’s maintained a healthy advantage, but Cooley kept on chipping away.
Rafferty added another before Connor converted a 45 and substitute Sean Hoey reduced the deficit to four points. McCaul’s free and another excellent Grimes-Murphy score pushed the Joes six clear again before Rafferty and Collier traded points.
That left St. Joseph’s leading six points with just minutes remaining and seemingly on their way into the last four.
Cooley then mounted a comeback when Jack Long scored a nice two-pointer from a difficult angle before Rafferty landed another big two-point score to reduce the deficit to two points.
Connor then held his nerve with the pressure on to strike a superb two-point free to bring Cooley level in the last minute. There was still time for a winner, and St Joseph’s had an opportunity in stoppage time, but McCaul’s effort drifted wide.
Neither side could find the decisive score, and the final whistle called an end to a dramatic draw after Cooley came back from a six-point deficit in the closing stages.
The sides will now have to meet again on Friday, 25th September at Cullen Auto Parts Louth GAA Training Centre at 8.00pm to decide who goes through to the semi-final.
Full-time: St Joseph’s 0-17 Cooley Kickhams 0-7
St Joseph’s scorers: Craig Doherty 0-3, Conal Smyth 0-2 (1f), Ben McKeown 0-2 (1tp), Conall McCaul 0-2 (1f), Pearse Grimes-Murphy 0-2, Alan Quigley 0-2 (1f), Ben Collier 0-2, Gabriel Bell 0-1, Oisín Reidy 0-1.
St Joseph’s: Aaron Gray; Cian Sheridan, Aidan Kieran, Rian Devlin; Cormac McKeown, Gabriel Bell (c), Ben McKeown; David Kieran, Oisín Reidy; Conall McCaul, Craig Doherty, Pearse Grimes-Murphy; Alan Quigley, Ben Collier, Conal Smyth.
Cooley Kickhams scorers: Michael Rafferty 0-6 (1tp), Cian Connor 0-5 (1tpf, 1f, 1 45), Joseph Hanlon 0-2, Jack Long 0-2 (1tp), Tiarnan Hanniffy 0-1, Seán Hoey 0-1.
Cooley Kickhams: Niall Brady; Ian Arnold, Darren Marks, Paul Brennan; Tiarnan Hanniffy, Fearghal Malone, Oran McAnearney; Jack Long, Niall Morgan; Dean McGreehan, Cian Connor, Enda O’Neill (c); Gerry Malone, Michael Rafferty, Joseph Hanlon.
Subs: Gerard Hanlon on for Niall Morgan (39’), Seán Hoey on for Enda O’Neill (41’), Oran McAnerney on for Paul Brennan (43’), Emmet Murphy on for Dean McGreehan (51’), Michael Carron on for Gerry Malone (54’).
Referee: Stephen Johnson (Glen Emmets).