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Sunday July 24th
This was a very tightly contested game that was very even at first. A blistering ball sent like a rocket into the back of the Sarsfield’s net by Bosco Hughes looked like putting Sean Treacy’s firmly in the driving seat, but it was never as simple as that. Sarsfield’s fought back with some fast play in the mid field with resident speedster Seamus McCorry grabbing the ball and doing the usual solo sprints to within shooting range as quick as the Roadrunner with the Wile E Coyote hot on his tail. He was able to either take these shots himself or offload the ball neatly on to Niall McGillicuddy who was finishing them off well. Treacy’s forwards were doing a little bit of bunching and not necessarily giving their own half forwards a clear run at the Sarsfield’s net, and a few of their shots went wide as a result, but this did not happen very often. With Sean Treacy’s leading by four points at the start of the second half, Sarsfield's returned to the field very much firing on all cylinders. However, Sean Treacy’s were able to take advantage of the slight tailwind to put more accurate shots between the posts, and it took Sarsfield’s a long time to get anything resembling a scoring opportunity. Eventually the peninsula side managed to start breaking through and work their way up the field, often by winning a succession of frees. The gap was not narrowing by much though, and as the clock ticked into injury time Sarsfield’s probed deep into their opponents’ half of the field in search of some desperately needed goals, but it was not to be. Sean Treacy’s were just too determined to stay in this competition, and that they most certainly did. Referee: James Kinnealy - Na Fianna Hurling Club
Ulster Defeated by
the Tightest of Margins
The early part of this game did not bode well for Sarsfield’s. There was a noticeable difference in the standard of passing between themselves and Ulster - the peninsula team was susceptible to dropping the ball, and not catching it or passing it cleanly. Ulster seemed much more in control. It also took a long time for both teams to get a score, but a Sarsfield’s goal by Niall McGillicudy against the run of play seemed to act as a catalyst for a rally by Sarsfield’s that was to last for the rest of the game and keep them ahead by the skin of their teeth. Sarsfield’s lost key player Colm Brazil who limped off with a hamstring injury, but this did not stop them from breaking away from their opponents in mid field from where they were able to run in at high speed to within shooting range. Ulster put it up to them with some nice play of their own, but some sloppy finishing led to wides from as close as the 21. With hindsight after the game, the importance of this becomes even clearer.
Sarsfield’s moved to the top of the intermediate table with this victory. Referee: Fergus Daly (New York)
Sunday 10th
July, 2005 Sarsfield's were not getting many ball contacts in the first ten minutes of the only intermediate football game of the day, and the few balls that they did get invariably went wide. The headwind didn't help, but neither did the solid wall that was the Ulster half and full back line. Ulster, by contreast, only shot two wides in the whole first half to Sarsfield's five. It was more of the same from Ulster in the second half. Seamus McCorry offered a few glimmers of hope by hurtling down the pitch at high speed, but he and his other team mates in the mid field were not getting much of a chance to shine. Ulster were very difficult to dispossess, once they got their hands on the ball it would typically remain so until Lurgan man Gary Seeley put in the finishing touch and dispatched it over the bar with surgical precision. Sarsfield's were getting very few scores from play, with a little bit of patchy marking letting Ulster through in wave after wave. It helped Ulster that they were very fit and able to break away from their men. Two Sarsfield's goals against the run of play in the last three minutes brought the possibility of a comeback very much to the fore as they came to within two points of taking the game back. Everyone on the field played with all the intensity as if one more kick could be a match winner, and Ulster rose to the challenge by keeping their heads, staying composed, and retaliating with a goal of their own by Jody Ogel to stretch the margin back to a relatively safe distance. There were no holds barred right up to the last few seconds of injury time that seemed to tick away agonisingly slowly, or quickly depending on who you were supporting. the outcome of this high standard game was in doubt right up to the end. Referee - Darragh O'Connor, Michael Cusack's
Sarsfield's hit the ground running in this intermediate championship game by shooting five points into the lead without reply from Sean Treacy's who took ten minutes to open their account. Sarsfield's ran riot in the first half by slicing through mid-field at high speed. The clean catch, quick look, and quick pass was combined with good physical fitness to superb effect. By half time Sarsfield's were six points ahead with Sean Treacy's only getting one point from play. The second half was very intense. Tough physical play predominated as there was heavy bodily contact aplenty. Technical errors came from Treacy's who were careless in their passing and gave posession away too much. Things got a little bit hot tempered for a few seconds with a brief moment of pushing and shoving being followed by a tripping incident that left Sarsfield's down to twelve men. However this was the exception to the rule in what was an otherwise clean game. Sarsfield's managed to hold on to their lead and extend it well beyond the reach of Treacy's.
Best for Sarsfields - Kevin Moran, Donal
og O'Donavan, Mick McCarthy 6-19-05
Casual marking by Sarsfield's allowed Cusack's to stay within striking distance of the lead, and this Cusacks were able to take back with a superb goal by Brian Flanagan. Sarsfield's returned fire a few minutes later when Ger Devine was tripped in the Cusack's goal mouth earning a penalty. Seamus McCorry did the honours and fired the ball into the net to regain the lead. Cusack's did not lie down and take it though, and by half time the sides were level at 1-3 to 1-3. The second half saw a lot of action taking place in the Cusack's half of the field, but the men in blue proved difficult to disposess once they got their hands on the ball, and were able to rampage through the middle of the field to within shooting range. David Culloty made the most use of this by getting most of the points and narrowing the gap to two point deficit with ten minutes left. A second Cusack's goal courtesy of Seamus O'Gara turned the two point deficit into a one point lead, but then a foot block in the Cusack's square led to a penalty. Once again Seamus McCorry stepped up to the plate and regained the lead by rattling the net. Tough physical play on both sides kept the outcome in doubt right up to the final whistle of this impressive and high standard game.
Best for Sarsfields - Brian King, Colman
Daly, Mark Towmey, Shane Connolly 2004
Senior Semi-Final Senior Football
Semi-Final Junior The Junior team has completed all games
for 2004 Sarsfields 2004 FixturesSenior team
Sun 11th July @ 1:30 vs. Ulster Balboa Stadium Sat 17th July @ 6:15 vs. Sons of Boru Balboa Stadium Sun 25th July @ 1:30 vs. Shannon Rangers Balboa Stadium Sat 31st July @ 6:15 vs. Ulster Balboa Stadium Junior team
Sat
10th July @
3:45
vs. Sons of Boru
Balboa StadiumSat 17th July @ 2:30 vs. St. Brendan’s Balboa Stadium Sat 24th July @ 3:45 vs. Celts Balboa Stadium Sat 31st July @ 5:00 vs. Sons of Boru Balboa Stadium Sun 8th Aug @ 11:00 vs. St. Brendan’s Balboa Stadium |
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Sarsfield’s began the second
half one point ahead with the breeze at their backs. Some very tight
defending on both sides caused a lot of end to end football in a
flowing and high standard game. Ulster looked very menacing all the way
and never once looked like a team that was going to give up. A foot
block near the Sarsfield’s goalmouth gave away a free that was promptly
converted by Ulster’s mass producer of points, Gary Seeley, to briefly
level the score. There was a lot of nice play from Sarsfield’s Liam
Reidy who, from all the way back, set up Niall McGillicuddy for a solo
run that took him from the unpopulated left mid field, through a sharp
right turn to the middle of the field and a left turn through the
Ulster half backs to within range from where he launched a clinically
executed point that went squarely between the posts. 
These two great football teams
fought all the way to the end for a result that prompted a huge sigh of
relief in the Sarsfield’s camp, and heartbreak in the Ulster dugout. To
lose by one point in a quality game like this cannot be easy.
Sarsfield's were forced to work for the
opening point and a great many more that followed by a very tight
Cusack's back line. Cusack's were ensuring that the many shots that
Sarsfield's were taking were not going to be clean, and this resulted
in a lot of wides in the first half. There were some great displays of
athleticism on both sides such as the long-distance solo running of
Seamus McCorry who was making fifty yard runs as if he were training
for a marathon.
