Inters into championship final

Na Fianna 1-7

Ballyboden made their way through to the final of the Intermediate All County championship last Saturday 26th October after a narrow victory over Na Fianna’s second team. This was a victory borne of hard work, craft and no small amount of skill. Na Fianna being the Division 2 outfit would have been favourites to progress but any chance there was of Boden following the script were dispelled in the first half of this gripping encounter.

Boden started the game in Blakestown with the aid of a stiff breeze and were encouraged by a good Boden following sitting in the stand. The pitch was immaculate despite the heavy rainfall the previous day.

From the outset it was apparent that the teams were evenly matched and it took all of eight minutes for the first score to be registered. It came from the boot of Mikey Dunne who went on to keep the Boden scoreboard ticking over for the day. Na Fianna responded almost immediately before Boden went on to score 1-2 on the trot. The goal came from a poor kick out that was gathered and fed to John McGinn who calmly slotted the ball home. With the aid of the wind Boden were applying all the pressure and creating chaos in their opponents defence. The big men around the middle put all sorts of pressure on the Na Fianna kick-outs. On one of Na Fianna’s forays forward a speculative long ball fell kindly to an attacker who drove the ball to the back of Mark’s net. Mark had earlier made a fine save but this time the shot was placed beyond his reach. Boden finished the half with a few more points and led 1-8 to 1-1 at the break.

Because of the wind it was going to be a game of two halves and Na Fianna set their stall straight from the throw-in with a blistering attack that eventually yielded nothing. They eventually started knocking over points to reduce the lead but Boden kept plugging away and answered with points that held Na Fianna at bay. Mark was called into action on a couple of occasions and responded magnificently.

Despite the pressure the Boden defence was resolute in its purpose. Led by Scott and ably abetted by the Maguires, Fergal and Karl they continued to hold firm. Johnny met every challenge with purpose and offered the same going forward. In the middle the towering presence of Luke, Ev and Liam offered reliable targets for Mark who pinged some precision arrows in their direction. The same three troubled the Na Fianna keeper who eventually resorted to short kicks to avoid the unfair lottery in the middle.

Up front the threat was carried to Na Fianna by Mikey and John Mc with industrious support from other team mates. The introduction of Chill midway through the half restored the ball retention element of our game and calmed a few nerves. Jamesie also entered the fray to add to the “experience” on the pitch. After five minutes of injury time the referee finally blew the whistle to signal a historic victory for the Boden boys on a scoreline of 1-10 to 1-7.

It has been a magnificent season for this intermediate panel led by Scott and the irrepressible Evan. On the line Wally Durkin and Daire Walsh have engineered a transformation from which the entire squad has benefitted. The sage-like contribution of our Boden man exiled in Kildare, Mick Maher  has won the minds of the players. Without them the journey would not have been possible. Let’s give it one last push to reach our destination on Saturday 2nd November.

Fógra: thanks to Peter Shovlin, Ciaran Maguire and Harry Reddy for umpiring. Also thanks to Miriam Doyle for kindly taking photos of the team.

Panel: Mark McNamee, Karl Reddy, Fergal Haran, Fionn Maguire, Keith Sweeney (30′ Naoise Maguire), Scott Cullen, John Murphy, Liam Flaherty, Luke O’Donoghue, Evan Flanagan (50′ James O’Hara), Ciaran O’Reilly (0-2) (40′ Darragh Kilduff), Ruairi Kirwan, Cian Bates (0-1)(45′ Ronan Cleary), Mikey Dunne (0-7) (55′ Dara Shovlin), John McGinn (1-0).

Not played: Tommy Burke, Oisin Carolan, David Leach, Brian Kirwan, Cathal O’Dea, Dylan Walsh.

Injured: Eoghan Monahan, Ste McGrath, Davy Hayes.