Late drama and expert opportunism from Jack Tracey gave Fenagh the win.
IFC Semi Final
Fenagh 1-12, Grange 1-10
By Andrea Ellis
Fenagh held off a barrage of high balls lobbed in on the square in the dying moments to emerge winners in this entertaining IFC semi final.
The game started with both teams being wasteful in front of goal in the opening minutes. John Murphy opened the scoring in the third minute with a close range free. The resultant kick out saw his namesake Sean Murphy making his signature run up the field with the resultant pass to Jack Treacy going wide. The next 5 minutes saw both teams faultering in the scoring zone. Grange had the better of the exchanges in the final five minutes of the quarter starting with a well taken point by Patrick Hickey on 10 minutes followed by a pass to Martin Kelly from John Murphy for their third point of the half.
Grange defended tigerishly and kept Fenagh scoreless in the first quarter but didn’t capitalise on their possession or dominance during this period. Grange had a free on the 14th minute converted by Patrick Hickey to leave the scoreline Grange 0-4 Fenagh 0-00.
A close range free finally gets Fenagh off the mark scored by Padraig Hynes. It was a timely score and seemed to settle the Fenagh men. A Grange attack in the 20th minute resulted in a 45 which was taken and kicked to the right of the goal where the referee spotted an infraction and awarded a free to the men from Killerig cross which was converted by Patrick Hickey.
Another converted free kept the Fenagh men in touch ably converted by Padraig Hynes. The kickout saw a fantastic passage of play by the Grange men with a one two between John Murphy and Ned Pender which saw John Murphy finish to the back of the Fenagh net. The score on 21 minutes looked ominous for the Fenagh boys at Grange 1-5 to Fenagh 0-2.
Instead of a nail in their coffin this seemed to galvanise the Fenagh team who scored from a Cormac Lomax free on 22 minutes followed by a Padraig Hynes free on 25 minutes. The next passage of play was a game changer with a very well worked move by Grange between John Murphy, Ned Pender and Henry Hegarty looked to have done enough to raise a green flag was expertly saved by veteran goalie Pat Butler for a 45 metre free.
The resultant free was cleared by Fenagh and expertly worked up the field for an excellent score from play by Jack Treacy. Approaching the half time whistle there was only John Murphy’s goal separating the teams. Following a ruck under the stand Fenagh emerged with the ball and again found it hard to penetrate the Grange defence who forced another wide. Moments before the half time whistle an intercepted ball on the halfway line lead to another score from play from the boot of Jack Treacy. The half time score was Grange 1-05 Fenagh 0-6.
In the first minute of the second half corner back Mark Dermody from Fenagh scored an exceptional point from the side line to leave the minimum between the sides. Patrick Hickey fielded a superb ball in the middle of the field and passed it through to Ned Pender who did the needful and gave the Grange boys some much needed breathing space.
Minutes later in the 7th minute the aforementioned Patick Hickey was expertly dispossessed for another well worked move from the Fenagh team which required Seamus Hegarty to put his body on the line to make a point blank save to deny the Fenagh men a three pointer. On the twelfth minute Fenagh punished a poor free by Grange working the ball up the field and finished by the inimitable Padraig Hynes again there was the minimum between the side with all to play for.
The following few minutes in the third quarter saw both teams showing their nerves but the Fenagh team seemed to be growing in confidence and winning the midfield exchanges. Grange finished the third quarter with a wide from Henry Hegarty. On 17 minutes after a lapse in concentration on the part of a number of Grange players Jack Treacy levelled the game with a well taken point from play.
The next score on 18 minutes gave Fenagh the lead for the first time and was a point from play by Padraig Hynes. The next few passages of play seemed to fall favourably for Fenagh but again they didn’t capitalise on same and as the game approached the final 10 minutes it could have gone either way.
Fenagh looking the sharper of the two teams in the closing stages intercept a ball in the centre of the field and work it through for another point from play by Padraig Hynes. The score of the game followed after Patrick Hickey turned over the ball and passed it through to James Hickey who scored an impressive point from under the stand side into the Braun end to leave a point between the teams.
A wasteful kick by Grange landed into the hands of goalie Pat Butler which was worked up the field and culminated in another point from Padraig Hynes – this score wasn’t too far off heading under the crossbar!
During the course of the game the post on the cannery end of the field was hit on three occasions the third coming from a shot by Fenagh – the ball ricocheted off the upright and landed with Grange and ended with another score from play by Ned Pender.
At 27 minutes a draw looked on the cards and Grange were willing to play their part by working the ball up field with a series of well worked passes through the hands and scored with a fisted effort by Ned Pender.
Coming into the last seconds of the game we were honours even Grange 1-09 Fenagh 0-12. John Murphy looked to have taken the game for Grange after a well won ball from Patrick Hickey was passed through to him to put his side ahead once again.
The old adage “if at first you don’t succeed, then try try again” rings true with the next passage of play. Fenagh had attempted on numerous occasions to lob high balls in on the square and saw them come out just as quick. However in the dying moments a long ball in from Cormac Lomax was retrieved on the end line by Jack Treacy who eluded his marker when he turned back into goal and hit the back of the net restoring the lead for the 2022 champions.
A nervous few minutes followed in the added time where the ball was lorried into the Fenagh goalmouth but unfortunately for Grange they could not convert. The last ball in was overturned and won by Fenagh who worked it up the field to earn a free which was put wide and this was as good as a score as the referee called for the ball from the following kickout.
Grange will rue their missed chances and the inability to convert chances when presented with them while Fenagh march on and await Kildavin/Clonegal in the county final. In the end the experience garnered last year at Senior ranks may have worked in the favour of Fenagh. They are by no means at the same level they were when they were crowned champions at this level in 2022 but they are improving with every game and at the most important time.
Fenagh – Pat Butler, Darragh Byrne, Jamie McCabe, Mark Dermody, Eoin McDonagh, Dion Wall, Padraig O’Brien, Keegan Bradley, Sean Murphy, Ciaran Whelan, Colin Byrne, Padraig Hynes, Jack Treacy, Adam Smyth, Cormac Lomax (Captain).
Subs Cormac Nolan for Sean Murphy, Eric English for Dion Wall
Grange – Seamus Hegarty, John Doyle, Diarmaid Burrows, Shane Byrne, Tom Dillon, Cillian Murphy, James Hickey, Cathal Baily, Henry Hegarty, Vijay Egharevba, Patrick Hickey (Captain), Ned Pender, Aidan Burrows, John Murphy, Martin Kelly.
Subs – Shane Cormican for Aidan Burrows, Noah Mulligan for Diarmaid Burrows, Kieran Pender for Cillian Murphy, Alan Fleming for Henry Hegarty (inj), Tom Hughes for Martin Kelly
Scorers:
Fenagh: Padraig Hynes 0-7 (0-4f), Jack Tracey 1-3, Cormac Lomax 0-1, Mark Dermody 0-1
Grange: John Murphy 1-2 (0-1f), Patrick Hickey 0-3 (0-2f), Ned Pender 0-3, James Hickey 0-1 Martin Kelly 0-1
Referee: Sean McCormack
