2023 AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Intermediate Club Championship Semi-Final – Cill na Martra (Cork) 2-10 Castlerea St. Kevin’s (Roscommon) 0-15

Cill na Martra (Cork) defeated Castlerea St. Kevin’s (Roscommon) by 2-10 to 0-15 in the 2023 AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Intermediate Club Championship Semi-Final on Saturday January 6th 2024 at Laois Hire O’Moore Park Portlaoise.

Quickfire goals see Cill na Martra earn trip to Croke Park for All-Ireland decider

All-Ireland Club IFC semi-final: Cill na Martra (Cork) 2-10 Castlerea St Kevin’s (Roscommon) 0-15

Report by Eoghan Cormican for the Irish Examiner newspaper

The Gaeltacht men of Cill na Martra are going to Croker.

Their ticket to GAA HQ and the All-Ireland intermediate club football final was punched during a game-turning 29-second period around the 40th minute mark.

Temporarily reduced to 14 men owing to an Antóin Ó Cuana black card, Cill na Martra made little of this numerical disadvantage. The opposition net was twice shook in the space of 29 seconds to take the Cork and Munster champions from one behind to five in front.

Micheál Ó Deasúna finished first. He palmed home a sweeping move involving Ciarán and Daniel Ó Duinnín.

The ensuing restart was sent straight to Maidhcí Ó Duinnín. He passed to Daniel Ó Duinnín. A neat step and toe poke had Cill na Martra dreaming. 2-8 to 0-9.

If those two goals saw their ticket to Croke Park punched, they spent the next 25 minutes holding onto said ticket for dear life.

Cill na Martra wouldn’t score again for another 14 minutes. Castlerea spun three on the bounce in the meantime. Darren McDermott, Padraig Joyce, and Shane Keenan the providers. The gap back to two.

Two separate exchanges of points meant the gap was still at two heading into injury-time (2-10 to 0-14). And what a drama-oozing six minutes of injury-time we got.

Jack Keane and Eoghan O’Connell both had goal chances to sneak Castlerea in front. Both were denied by the most last ditch of defending. Goalkeeper Pádraig Ó Críodáin and the forest of white shirts in front of him stood dense.

Adam McDermott’s fifth free left the minimum between them on 65 minutes. Referee Brendan Cawley afforded Castlerea an opportunity to engineer an equaliser. They couldn’t. Cill na Martra continue on to meet St Patrick’s Cullynanna on Sunday week.

The sides were tied come the half-time tea. They shared the same 0-6 total, they did not share the same half-time reflections.

Castlerea, having lost midfielder Michael Conroy to a black card midway through the half and having spent the entire half leaning on full-forward Adam McDermott to fashion and finish scores, were delighted with themselves to be on level footing with the Cork champions.

The Cork champions, meanwhile, would have been privately disgusted at not being in front.

Cill na Martra kicked four first-half wides, Castlerea kicked none. Ciarán Ó Duinnín was short, Micheál Ó Deasúna was too slow with his shot and had it smothered.

John Evans’ lads had more possession, more opportunities. They were, though, without urgency. They were strangely lax for an All-Ireland semi-final. They went into the 10-minute period of numerical advantage 0-4 to 0-3 in front. They came out of it pegged back at 0-5 apiece.

Maidhcí Ó Duinnín, Daniel Ó Duinnín, Micheál Ó Deasúna (0-2 frees), Colm Mac Lochlainn, and Damien Ó hUrdail all split the posts as Cill na Martra never trailed at any point in the opening half. Neither though could they construct an advantage greater than two white flags.

Their two second-half goals managed such. In the end, they needed every bit of that five-point lead to carry them through.

Scorers for Cill na Martra: M Ó Deasúna (1-3, 0-3 frees); D Ó Duinnín (1-1); D Ó hUrdail (0-2); C Mac Lochlainn, T Ó Corcora, M Ó Duinnín, S Ó Duinnín (0-1 each).

Scorers for Castlerea St Kevin’s: Adam McDermott (0-6, 0-5 frees), D McDermott (0-6, 0-4 frees); S Keenan (0-2); P Joyce (0-1).

CILL NA MARTRA: P Ó Críodáin; C Mac Lochlainn; T Ó Corcora, F Ó Faoláin; D Ó Conaill, S Ó Fórréidh, C Ó Fórréidh; A Ó Cuana, G Ó Goillidhe; F Ó hÉalaithe, D Ó hUrdail, C Ó Duinnín; M Ó Duinnín, D Ó Duinnín, M Ó Deasúna.
Subs: S Ó Duinnín for M Ó Duinnín (53); D MacLochlainn for C Ó Duinnín (57); C Ó Meachair for Ó hUrdail, G Ó Mocháin for Ó Deasúna (both 63).

CASTLEREA ST KEVIN’S: D Farrell; E Creaton, J Keane, T Callaghan; P Joyce, S Joyce, D Quinn; J Hester, M Conroy; E O’Connell, P Farrell, D Brennan; S Keenan, Adam McDermott, D McDermott.
Subs: M Kelly for Conroy, N Connaughton for Farrell (both 45); R Curran for Brennan, N Bligh for P Joyce (both 49); S Stenson for Hester (63).

Referee: B Cawley.

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