Connaughton goal sees Raharney prevail in pulsating decider

Gerry Buckley reportsSome 2,900 fans witnessed one of the best contests in the Lake County in many years on Sunday afternoon last, when Raharney regained the Westmeath senior hurling title in dramatic fashion, dethroning Clonkill in a pulsating final at Cusack Park.While some patches of hurling were disappointing, overall this decider had virtually everything one could hope for in a sporting contest. Played in ideal weather conditions, there were some terrific points scored, three memorable goals, hard hitting (almost all legal) and a climax right out of a Hollywood thriller.The first half saw two evenly-matched sides trade points, with Alan Dowdall edging the holders ahead in injury-time, to leave the scoreboard at the interval reading: Clonkill 0-9 Raharney 0-8. The losers looked firm favourites to retain their crown when wind-assisted on the change of ends, but there was still very little to separate the sides until a great catch by Brendan Murtagh teed up Niall Dowdall for a terrific goal in the 49th minute.Indeed, Raharney looked to be dead and buried when they trailed by six points with seven minutes of normal time remaining. However, the switching of Paul Greville (who has excelled for club and county in both codes in 2010) from wing back to full forward proved to be an inspired move and he rifled home a wonderful goal in the 57th minute to leave his side just a point in arrears. Five minutes added-time were signalled and, in the second of these, a great point from Brendan Murtagh seemed to be the insurance score for Clonkill.Not so. Paul Greville was fouled after producing a tremendous catch and centre half back Brian Connaughton (who had already scored a whopping four points from ‘65s) rifled the resultant 25-metre free to the net. Two minutes still remained, but Clonkill were unable to eke out an equaliser in a thrilling finale with Alan Dowdall’s ambitious effort tailing wide in the last action of a tremendous game.A minute’s silence was impeccably observed prior to the National Anthem in memory of recently-deceased Gaels, Michael Finneran, Christopher Shaw, Pat Downes and Frank Kiely. Long-time favourites, Mullingar Town Band were back in Cusack Park to accompany Yvonne Fitzsimons in her fine rendition of Amhrán na bhFiann before James McGrath threw in the sliotar for the second time in a senior hurling final in the Lake County.Raharney had the advantage of the wind blowing towards the scoreboard end of the ground and they went ahead in the second minute from the first of Brian Connaughton’s successful ‘65s, the referee awarding the ‘65’ having overruled the umpire’s signal that the ball had gone wide. The early challenges already indicated that both sides were fired up for the game before Andrew Mitchell replicated Connaughton’s feat by dissecting the posts from a ‘65’ to tie up the scores.In the seventh minute, Chris Flanagan turned smartly and rifled over a fine point from 40 metres, but Clonkill equalised almost immediately when good work by Anthony Price teed up his brother Eoin for a point, also from the 40-metre mark. The tit-for-tat scoring continued apace with Alan Giles firing over a great point from 60 metres and the Price brothers again combining for Eoin (who was already prominent at centrefield) to shoot his second score. By the midpoint of the half, it was 0-4 apiece, John Shaw opening his account after his initial free dropped short, and his opposite number Brendan Murtagh levelling from a 25-metre free in the 14th minute.The Deelsiders then had a five-minute period of dominance which yielded four unanswered points. Paul Greville was outstanding in garnering a ‘65’ which Brian Connaughton duly converted. Sandwiched between a brace of points from John Shaw (from 65 and 40 metres respectively) the same player did very well to set up Brian Smyth for his first score. The champions rallied by shooting three points without reply between the 20th and 26th minutes.A fabulous lift and strike from Enda Loughlin secured Clonkill’s fifth score and further points followed from Anthony Price (despite a suspicion of ‘steps’ from Brendan Murtagh in the build-up) and Niall Dowdall (availing of a rare error from Conor Jordan). Prior to the latter effort, John Shaw surprisingly opted to go short from a scoreable free, but the intended recipient Chris Flanagan fluffed the chance of a possible goal. A snap shot by Frank Boyle soon whizzed wide of the target. The green and golds finished the half the stronger with a fine brace of points from the impressive Alan Dowdall.A very enjoyable first moiety ended controversially when Niall Dowdall and John Shaw clashed twice in quick succession. Dowdall required treatment and the referee, having consulted his linesman on the stand side, eventually brandished a yellow card to both players. During the break there was a great buzz in the ground with the game very much up for grabs as Clonkill led by the bare minimum, 0-9 to 0-8.A little over a minute after the resumption of play, Frank Boyle tied up the scores again with a fine individual point. Brian Connaughton soon had his only aberration of the day from a ‘65’, his mishit shot falling short of the target. The same player made amends from yet another ‘65’ and John Shaw followed up with a 45-metre free which just squeezed inside the upright.The blue and whites were now two points to the good but it was the Donie Franks-coached outfit who dominated the ensuing ten minutes, seemingly building up a match-winning lead in the process. Enda Loughlin started the scoring blitz with a wonderful long-range point and Andrew Mitchell quickly added another point from a 60-metre free. Niall Dowdall edged the holders in front with a delightful point and Brendan Murtagh doubled their advantage from a 40-metre free.The latter player had not been his usual dominant self from open play, but he came to life when producing a wonderful catch from substitute Luke Folan’s delivery and duly laid off the ball to the inrushing Niall Dowdall who gave Andrew Doyle no chance with a great shot to the net from close range. Brian Connaughton lifted the spirits of the blue and white-clad fans with yet another conversion of a ‘65’, but when Anthony Price struck for his second point of the afternoon and Alan Dowdall notched his third, a six-point lead (1-15 to 0-12) looked more than sufficient for Clonkill to retain their crown, with just seven minutes of normal time remaining.By now, Raharney manager Johnny Greville had his brother Paul stationed on the edge of the Clonkill square but when Brian Murray did very well to keep out a rasper from the dual star, he seemed to have secured Sean Loughlin’s charges’ stranglehold on the Westmeath Examiner Cup. However, Raharney are renowned battlers and they rallied magnificently to reduce the deficit to the bare minimum, notching 1-2 in a great three-minute period.Niall Flanagan was allowed a good ‘advantage’ by the referee to open his account and Paul Greville quickly added another point. The latter player then brought the substantial Raharney following to their feet when he caught Chris Flanagan’s delivery and managed to make space under pressure before firing a marvellous low shot past Brian Murray. The latter player was injured in the next foray on his goalmouth and this largely contributed to the five minutes of stoppage time signalled.In the first of these, Cormac Boyle’s shot tailed just wide of the target and, to compound the challengers’ woes, Brendan Murtagh responded with a great point directly from the puck-out. However, the drama was far from over and a fabulous catch by Paul Greville from Brian Connaughton’s delivery resulted in the former player being fouled some 25 metres from goal. The winners’ conundrum was whether to take a point and hope for an equaliser in the limited time remaining, or to go for broke and attempt to blast a goal.The mentors chose the latter approach and Brian Connaughton did not disappoint, firing a great shot through a crowded goalmouth for an inspirational goal. Two minutes remained and the holders went all-out in search of an equaliser. However, they were to be frustrated and, when Alan Dowdall’s monster effort was wide, the unconfined joy of Raharney netminder, Andrew Doyle summed up the winners’ euphoria. Moments later, James McGrath’s last whistle of a memorable afternoon precipitated joyous scenes as blue and white-clad fans invaded the pitch.A few minutes later, amid jubilant scenes, the chairman of the Westmeath GAA County Board, Tom Farrell presented the Westmeath Examiner Cup to Raharney captain John Shaw.Raharney: Andrew Doyle; Tony Doyle, Conor Jordan, Donie Carey; Alan Giles (0-1), Brian Connaughton (1-4, 1-0 from a free, 0-4 from ‘65’s), Paul Greville (1-1); Niall Flanagan (0-1), Stephen Morley; Cormac Boyle, John Shaw (0-4, 0-1 from a free), Francis Boyle (0-1); Brendan McKeogh, Chris Flanagan (0-1), Brian Smyth (0-1). Subs: Joey Boyle (for Morley, 41 mins), Robert McKeogh (for Carey, 53 mins), Padraig Connaughton (for F. Boyle, 55 mins).Clonkill: Brian Murray; Stephen Cleary, Martin Scally, Sean Loughlin; Shane Power, Andrew Mitchell (0-2, 0-1 from a free, 0-1 from a ‘65’), Fergal Fagan; Eoin Price (0-2), Enda Loughlin (0-2); Anthony Price (0-2), Brendan Murtagh (0-3, 0-2 from frees), Alan Dowdall (0-3); Niall Dowdall (1-2), Paddy Dowdall, Michael Heffernan. Subs: Luke Folan (for Heffernan, 37 mins), John Fagan (for E. Loughlin, 56 mins).Referee: James McGrath (Turin).