Moycullen (Galway) 0-13 Tourlestrane (Sligo) 0-6
Moycullen manager Don Connellan said the first person to congratulate him after the Connacht SFC final in Pearse Stadium was his former Roscommon and Garda colleague Fergal O’Donnell.
O’Donnell’s hopes of guiding the seven-in-a-row Sligo champions to a first ever provincial success never looked like materialising in the winter sunshine in Salthill as Moycullen, who only won their first Galway senior title two years ago, lived up to their favourites’ tag.
Covid meant there was no Connacht campaign two years ago for Moycullen. But they are a club with momentum and, having captured their second county minor title on Saturday, these are great times for a club with a great tradition and which has benefited from becoming a commuter village for Galway city.
“We started this campaign out here in Pearse Stadium in July and back then you were only dreaming about being here at this stage. We have had a lot of challenges all year and have to dig deep and it was the same today.
“It’s a great time for the club and now we have an All-Ireland semi-final to look forward to but we will have a break first. We are just glad to be at this stage and to finish the year this way,” said Connellan.
They are the ninth Galway side and the first from Connemara to lift the Shane McGettigan Cup and they were good value for it.
They laid the foundation for victory in the opening half, playing into the freezing breeze which, unusually, was blowing in the direction of The Prairie, the home ground of Salthill/Knocknacarra.
Moycullen failed to score from play in that opening half but still led by 0-4 to 0-3 at the interval.
The Galway champions would have been out of sight but Tourlestrane goalkeeper Adam Broe saved a first effort from the impressive Paul Kelly in the opening minute, while Ger Davoren blasted a great goal chance off the crossbar after a good move.
Tourlestrane, back in the Connacht final for the first time in four decades, hit the front three times in the opening quarter with John Kelly kicking two excellent points and Liam Gaughan also landing a fine effort. But each time Moycullen hauled them back with frees from captain Dessie Conneely.
Crucially, Tourlestrane failed to score in the second quarter but they continued to battle away after the restart with Gary Gaugha cancelling an effort from Owen Gallagher.
But then Connellan’s men took over with Peter Cooke leading the way, with Galway coach Cian O’Neill watching from the stand amid continued speculation about whether the Moycullen star will be able rejoin the Tribesmen next season after missing out this year due to work commitments in the United States.
Cooke landed three magnificent points from play in the second half while Paul Kelly, one of three brothers in the county squad, delivered another big display.
He was on target as Moycullen struck three points in just over two minutes with Cooke and Michéal O’Reilly also finding the target to stretch the lead to 0-8 to 0-4 after 39 minutes and there was really no way back for Tourlestrane after that although, in fairness, they never gave up.
But the goal they needed didn’t materialise with Moycullen goalkeeper Andrew Power denying Liam Gaughan after 54 minutes, moments after Broe had saved from Neil Mulcahy at the other end.
“We worked very hard in the first half. Moycullen are good at running at you but we didn’t lose the runners. But we should have got another point or two, we needed that but the small margins didn’t go our way,” said Tourlestrane manager O’Donnell.
Moycullen: A Power; C Corcoran, E Kelly, N Mulcahy; A Claffey (0-1), D Wynne, T Clarke (0-1); G Davoren, P Kelly (0-2); S Kelly, N Walsh, P Cooke (0-3); M O’Reilly (0-1), O Gallagher (0-1), D Conneely (0-4f). Substitutes: D Cox for Walsh (57 mins), E Kenny for O’Reilly (61mins), M Moughan for Davoren (62 mins).
Tourlestrane: A Broe; JP Lang, JF Carr, B Walsh; O Kennedy (0-1), A McIntyre, N Gaughan; F O’Donnell, C Marren; J Leonard, J Kelly (0-2), K Gavigan; G Gaughan (0-1), C Henry, L Gaughan (0-2). Substitutes: N Egan for Gavigan (44 mins), S Henry for O’Donnell (52 mins), R Kennedy for Leonard (54 mins), K O’Hara for N Gaughan (56 mins), A Marren for Kennedy (58 mins).
Referee: Jerome Henry (Mayo).
