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08 Dec 2025
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08 Dec 2025
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Abbeylara senior football team manager Frankie Dolan Photo: Syl Healy
Abbeylara and Colmcille will meet again in the replay of the Connolly Cup Final this Saturday with Abbey attempting to end their poor record in County Finals in the recent past. Their current manager Frankie Dolan was just relieved to get a second chance, having trailed by two points with just three minutes of stoppage time remaining.
“We are happy enough to get another opportunity and yes it was a relief to get those two late scores to draw the game, but we had enough possession and chances to possibly win the game.
“I thought that a couple of decisions went against us such as not getting a penalty in the first half, and scoring a goal that was disallowed as the referee had blown his whistle when he should have played advantage, but we got out of jail there being two points down with just two minutes to go, so it just shows the character that is built into the team.
“This team lost four successive finals between 2015 & 2018, today they drew, but I do not think we can play as bad again as we did today. There is a lot more in the lads, we know that and they know that, and they are disappointed in their performance, but we live to fight another day.
“It was a great score from Robbie after we turned them over in the corner. Smyth showed great leadership to get those two vital scores at the end, and that is why he is our joint captain with Cian Brady.
“Robbie is one of the best forwards in the county, so it is great to have him on the team. We conceded a very soft 1-1 in the first half, but we did not panic and we kept our composure which was important.
“To me, they were very lucky scores, one just bounced over our keeper who was advancing towards the ball and there were mistakes for the goal that we usually do not make, but that is the luck you get in finals.
So, we will definitely take the draw given our desperate situation into stoppage time.”
Abbeylara were badly affected by injuries this year but Dolan expressed his delight that everyone came through the game unscathed.
“Yes, everyone seems fine after the match and we have a clean bill of health which is a big plus.
"We will analyse the game and remove the mistakes from today and we go again for Saturday and hopefully we get motoring a little bit better than we did today,” concluded Dolan when he spoke to the Leader after the drawn final.
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