Donoughmore edge five-goal thriller to beat St Finbarr's to P2 Minor Football title

Donoughmore 2-18 (2-1-16)

St Finbarr’s 3-12 (3-2-8)

Five goals, a Barrs surge, a Donoughmore killer punch, and another late Barrs fightback. This Premier 2 Minor Football Championship final at Páirc Uí Rinn had the full box set of drama, and everything the new rules intended Gaelic football to be. But on Monday night, it was Donoughmore who held out, edging their way to back-to-back county titles.

Just when the Togher side had dragged it back to two with six minutes to go, Donoughmore found one more gear.

Scott Barrett – outrageous all evening – clipped over again, Jack McCarthy turning supplier after a tireless display. Daniel Honohan forced a brilliant save from Liam Hegarty before Charlie O’Connell, alive to everything off the bench, teed up Ciarán Lawton for the sweetest of points on the hour.

One minute of added time was not enough for St Finbarr’s. An O’Donoghue free trimmed it back, but no miracle was coming. The final whistle was greeted with a Donoughmore roar.

The second half was where it all turned came alive.

Donoughmore had raced 1-13 to 0-8 clear after 37 minutes, three better than they were at half-time, and looked like they might disappear over the hill.

The Barrs, though, did not pack it in. Charlie Galvin won a penalty, Trevor Howe drilled it to the bottom corner, and when O’Donoghue tagged on a free they were suddenly within four.

By the 45th minute it was down to two. U16 Alex O’Herlihy burst his way through and buried beautifully into the bottom corner.

Donoughmore’s response was emphatic. Daniel Holland, everywhere all night, clipped over another beauty, then provided the pass of the game – a raking delivery into Honohan, who gathered, shimmied, and slipped the handpass across for O’Connell to palm home.

It was the team goal of the night, and it stretched the lead back to seven, 49 minutes played.

Still, the Barrs fought. O’Donoghue lashed over a booming two-point free, James Murray charged forward to lay off for Dan O’Keeffe’s thunderous finish on 54 minutes. The game was alive right up until Lawton’s clincher.

It had started at a slower boil. St Finbarr’s nosed in front early, 0-3 to 0-2, before Donoughmore seized the game by the throat.

The turning point came on 10 minutes. Dan O’Keeffe’s handpass across midfield was pounced on by Holland, who darted ahead and let fly. Hegarty saved brilliantly, but Paddy Murphy was there in a flash to hammer home the rebound.

The black and white tails were up. Holland landed the next two scores himself, one a peach off the left, the other after a clever interception.

They pressed, harried on kickouts, forced turnovers, and reeled off five in a row to surge 1-7 to 0-3 clear by the 16th minute.

O’Donoghue briefly steadied the Barrs with an outrageous two-pointer, the end product of a seven-pass move, but Donoughmore hit back with three more white flags to stretch the margin to eight, 1-10 to 0-5.

The Barrs kept themselves in it with three late first-half scores, Evan Malone and Howe on target, but they left one behind too.

O’Herlihy stole possession brilliantly, Murray carried, Galvin and Edmond Burke combined, only for O’Sullivan in the Donoughmore goal to react superbly and tip the goalbound effort over the bar. Five up at the break.

From there, it took all their resilience – and no little brilliance from Barrett, Holland and O’Connell – to withstand the Barrs’ charge.

At the back, Tom Murphy was immense. Around him, McCarthy grafted endlessly, and Lawton’s point at the death was the sweetest reward.

Scorers for Donoughmore: D Holland 0-7 (1 tp, 0-2 f), S Barrett 0-6, C O’Connell, P Murphy 1-0 each, D Honohan 0-2, J McCarthy, L Honohan, C Lawton 0-1 each.

Scorers for St Finbarr’s: C O’Donoghue 0-8 (0-3 f, 1 tp, 1 tpf), T Howe 1-1 (1-0 pen), A O’Herlihy, D O’Keeffe 1-0 each, J Murray, E Burke, E Malone 0-1 each.

DONOUGHMORE: C O’Sullivan; D Walsh, T Murphy, B O’Connor; L O’Sullivan, DJ Foley, J McCarthy; D Golden, J Murphy; C Lawton, S Barrett, L Honohan; P Murphy, D Holland, D Honohan.

Subs: C O’Connell for P Murphy (19 inj), C Honohan for L Honohan (48).

ST FINBARR’S: L Hegarty; D McGuirk, E Barrett, CJ Barrett; T Howe, L O’Regan, C Garvey; C O’Donoghue, D O’Keeffe; E Malone, C Galvin, E Burke; A O’Herlihy, J Murray, C Barrett.

Subs: J Martin for C Barrett (HT), C Kelleher for Burke (37), A Phillips for Malone, E McKeown for Galvin (both 52).

Referee: K O’Sullivan (Valley Rovers)

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