Result: 1-15 to 1-12
Senior Football League v St Olafs 9 May 2018, Away
The final result would suggest that this was a close match but, while the end was tight, overall the away team dominated most of the match.
Two early points from play by Olafs set the scene before Ballyboden pulled one back through a free by Ryan Basquel. Olafs again put the pressure on with two points, one free. Boden then settled down with a fine point from last year’s minor, Kieran Kennedy, rampaging from his half back position and followed by further points Barra McGarry (taking a break from his exams), two from Alan Flood and a pointed free by Ryan Basquel, to edge the visitors two points ahead. Olafs were not giving up and drew level with two points, (one free). Boden again piled on the pressure as half time approached with 3 points from Ryan Basquel (one free) and one from Barra McGarry. While Olafs replied with 2 points (one free), the score of the half was a fine goal from Alan Flood, following a pinpoint pass over the full back line by Bara McGarry to put Alan through and he made no mistake. Olafs finished off the scoring with a pointed free to leave the half time score at 1 – 10 to 0 – 9.
The third quarter was dominated by Boden but only manged to score four points by Darren O’Reilly, Collie Dunne and Ryan Basquel (2, one free) to leave Boden leading by 8 points and coasting to what everyone considered would be an easy victory. However, Olafs battled away and on 18 minutes got their first score of the second half, a well taken goal that raised their spirits. They also got the next three points in about five minutes (2 frees) to leave the visitors only two points ahead with five minutes of ordinary time left to play. Ryan Basquel settled the nerves with a pointed free to leave three points between the teams. Determined defence ensured that Olafs did not score again and Boden held out over the five minutes of added time to deny Olafs a win that they thought they might achieve after their brief scoring burst. The visitors were not helped by the sending off of Cathal Flaherty late in the second half when Olafs were piling on the pressure. The 17-man squad worked extremely hard, none moreso than the new midfield partnership of Sam Molony and Sean Gibbons.
TEAM: Darragh Gogan; Cian Murray; Cathal Flaherty; Graham Heavey; Kieran Kennedy; Darragh Nelson; Tom Hanafin; Sean Gibbons; Sam Molony; Collie Dunne; Ryan Basquel; Darren O’Reilly; James Madden; Barra McGarry; Alan Flood. SUBS: Brian Bobbett for Tom Hanafin; John Murphy for Collie Dunne.