Clann Notes - 27/07/20

Clann v St. Brigid’s
Roscommon Senior Championship Rd. 1 - 25/7/20

It was a game of two halves for the opener of our Matrix Bathroom’s sponsored Senior Men’s Championship campaign. Clann faced St. Brigid’s in a repeat of the 2018 Final at Dr. Hyde Park. Due to the attendance restrictions, the match was being streamed live and what an advertisement it ended up being for Roscommon Football.

From a Clann perspective, not much can be said about the opening 25 minutes. It was all St. Brigid’s and we struggled to meet the pace of the game. The few chances we had from placed balls were squandered and we were 1-08 to no score down nearing half time. However, the water break after the first quarter perhaps came at the right time, as it gave our men a chance to compose themselves and battled harder on the restart. In the last few minutes of the first half, Clann made a valiant effort to reduce the deficit, with scores from Emmet Kenny, Conor Farrell, Cathal Callinan, Ciaran Lennon and Shane Pettit seeing the half time score of 1-08 to 0-05.

The half time talk from new manager Liam Kearns inspired new hope and the second half saw shoulder put to the wheel to reduce the margin. Points from Paul McManus, Cian McManus and two for Ciaran Lennon saw the gap reduced to 4 at the second water break.

Clann continued to work on reducing the difference and were in control in many areas of the pitch, especially Ciaran Lennon, who was in blistering form. Clann reduced the gap to just one point late in the second half (1-11 to 0-13) but the chances of a dream comeback seemed lost when Brigid’s tagged over three points in succession with the game entering injury time.

Now 4 points down deep into injury time, the game seemed out of reach for Clann. A long ball in by Graham Pettit was misjudged and fell to substitute Jamie Fahy, who squared to Ciaran Lennon to slot under the keeper for a late goal, giving Ciaran a tally of 1-07 for the evening.

That was not the end, however, as Clann had one more shock to complete the most unlikely of comebacks. On the halfway line, David Flynn squared to Cathal Shine who carried the ball and unleased a monstrous point off the post from all of 55 yards out to earn Clann a draw with the last kick of the game. The score was only fitting to the quality of the comeback from the Johnstown men and the comeback was complete. Clann will know they will need to start better in their next fixture but will be happy to have come out of the Hyde with a point.

Final score: Clann 1-14 1-14 St. Brigid’s

Clann team: Ronan O’Reilly, Patrick Harney, Graham Pettit, David Flynn, Shane Pettit, David McManus, Fergal Lennon, Cathal Shine, Oisin Lennon, Emmet Kenny, Cathal Callinan, Paul McManus, Ciaran Lennon, Donal Shine, Conor Farrell. Subs: Cian McManus, Jamie Fahy.

Club Lotto
There was no winner of the lotto jackpot - numbers drawn were 6, 22, 24, 25.
Match 3's won €100 - Ro & Jo Nicholson, Paddy O'Brien.
Next weekend's jackpot will be €10,000 and you can enter online before 9pm Sunday at clanngaa.ie/lotto
Thanks for your continued support of our club lotto.