Wonderful win as Granard crowned U-16 ‘A’ Longford champions for the first time in 28 years
Matt O’Brien Fashions U-16 ‘A’ Football Championship Final (Pearse Daly Cup)
Granard . . . 1-7 Clonguish Og . . . 2-3
There is a wider significance to Granard’s success, given that it halts the dominance of Clonguish at underage level.
Clonguish achieved a clean sweep of underage championships in 2023 but that won’t happen this year (although they won this year’s minor title).
Granard could be signalling their intent as a force to be reckoned with as a result of this hard fought victory, their first U-16 'A' title triumph in 28 years.
Clonguish led by four points (2-3 to 0-5) 10 minutes into the second half and seemed to be gaining the upper hand.
But the individual brilliance of Brendan Martin Burns changed that. His superb goal with six minutes remaining brought the game level.
The No. 12 put in one of the great underage final performances of recent years in county HQ. He is a richly talented footballer, who also kicked some top class frees.
He was the main difference between the sides, who were evenly matched for long periods of the game.
However, Granard dug in and had a productive final quarter. James Macken broke the ball in the 54th minute and Brendan Martin Burns embarked on a searing run which resulted in him firing his shot to the back of the net.
It was the sort of piece of individual brilliance that wins games.
But Brendan had another big say in this game. With the game seemingly headed for extra-time, he stepped up to kick a superb free, not far inside the ’45, and that was to be the winning score for the St Mary's young guns.
GRANARD: Aaron Walsh; Robbie Darke, Derek Creegan, Liam O’Hara; Patrick Kelly, Niall O’Donnell, Emmet Farrell; Shane O’Hara (0-1), Daniel Corr; Aaron Sheridan (0-1), Seanan Neilon, Brendan Martin Burns (1-4, 4f); Conor O’Hara (0-1), James Macken, Jake Durkin.
CLONGUISH OG: John Mimnagh; Ryan Murphy, Noah Griffin,Gavan Murphy; Evan Lyons, Sam Elliott, Sean Hagan; Senan Buckley (0-1), Michael Gacquin; Donnacha O’Malley, Cathal Lynch,Ruairi Flynn; Daire Toher, James Flynn (0-2, 1f), Luke Sheppard (2-0).
Referee: Jimmy McCormack (Killoe Emmet Og).