Cortown earn an extra-time reprieve

MANAGER John Henry put it down to the 'savage spirit' of the players, their willingness to battle on when events are not going their way. It was certainly a factor as Cortown put together a rescue package to save themselves in normal time in the IFC semi-final on Saturday evening before going on to secure victory in extra-time. A bumper crowd made their way to Moynalty for this encounter and they certainly got value for money with the teams serving up an uncompromising, entertaining encounter. The host club had everything well organised with plenty of stewards in place. Despite the bright, summer-like evening, the lights had to be switched when extra-time was required. Every team needs a little slice of luck to win a game as tight as this turned out to be. Cortown got their sprinkling of good fortune in the dying seconds of normal time when, with the sides tied at 1-9 apiece, Ballinlough"s Ken Rothwell delivered a shot goalwards. The ball looked to be sailing between the posts only to hit the top of the upright and away. Such are the moments that can make or break a team"s year. For much of normal time Ballinlough looked like they would go on an win. Their hopes disintegrated completely in extra-time. This was particularly the case after Peadar Byrne was sent off for dissent early in the second period of extra-time. That the game had to go to 80 minutes was down to a last-gasp point from Gordon Codd in normal time, the corner-forward calmly slotted over a free from about 35 metres to save his side from what looked like inevitable defeat. Now, just two years after finding themselves exiled from the top flight, Cortown have a real chance of getting back to the senior ranks. Henry felt that his side didn"t perform nearly as well as they can yet he could not have asked for greater effort. 'The lads gave a great battling performance tonight, that"s the word - battling, we didn"t play well, but we stuck to our guns and the subs we used made a big impact. The spirit in the camp is unbelievable, savage spirit,' he added. Cortown were certainly not short of men prepared to put in the hard graft. Some of the players ran as much as any Olympic marathon runner. The man who added a little piece of quality was the towering figure of Glen Loughran. The former Meath player gave a powerhouse display from midfield, covering huge swathes of territory and using his vision to create openings for others. He also notched up five points, which included excellent efforts from play and a few nuggets from frees. Cortown registered 12 wides compared to Ballinlough"s four and on another day this stark statistic might have proved costly. At half-time they trailed by 0-6 to 1-5 and were fortunate to be only two points adrift. They made the better start to the second-half without doing anything spectacular. Then, 14 minutes into the second-half they got a break that infused a fresh impetus into their game. Ballinlough "keeper James O"Higgins kicked the ball out to about 30 metres. Cortown"s Brian Casserly took possession and quickly lofted the ball back towards the goal. O"Higgins tried in vain to get back into position as the ball sailed past him and into the net. That put Cortown a point in front, 1-8 to 1-7 for the first time since the early stages of the game. It took a lot of effort from Ballinlough to regain the initiative. Gordon Codd finished as Cortown"s main marksman with 2-4, both his goals coming in extra-time. The first he neatly slotted home after Loughran had centred from well out and in the closing minutes he fisted home a cross from Gary Coyne. That second goal, just minutes after Byrne saw red, put the issue beyond doubt. Ballinlough were in front for long stretches with Kevin Devine sweeping up a world of ball at the back and midfielders Seamus Fagan and Cian Mallon putting in energy-sapping shifts. Vinny Ryan"s team were looking good when they got their goal 19 minutes into the game. It came after a sweeping move that involved Colm Mallon, Anthony Lynch, Gerry Smith, Ronan McGuinness and was signed off by Byrne punching to the net. Again Byrne showed two sides of his game. At times he was brilliant only for his good work to be undermined by his dismissal. Byrne pointed in the opening minute of the first-half, second-half and the first-half of extra-time to complete an unusual hat-trick. His 1-4 couldn"t save his team with Lynch next in the scoring charts with three points. Cortown survived the stormy times to take this one and set up an intriguing final encounter with neighbours St Ultan"s. SCORERS Cortown - G Codd 2-4, three frees; G Loughran 0-5, one '45"; B Casserly 1-1; S Fitzmaurice 0-1; G Coyne 0-3, two frees. Ballinlough - P Byrne 1-4; A Lynch 0-3, one free; S Fagan 0-1; J Reilly 0-1; C Mallon 0-1; K Rothwell 0-1. THE TEAMS Cortown - J McFadden; M Casserly, P Kerrigan, D Coyne; J Casserly, D O"Halloran, J McGearty; G Loughran, J Fagan; I O"Halloran, B Casserly, S Fitzmaurice; G Coyne, C Kerrigan, G Codd. Subs - P Watters for Fagan, S Skelton for Kerrigan, J Reilly for Casserly, I Coyne for J Casserly, Fagan for O"Halloran, B Smith for Fitzmaurice, Ballinlough - J O"Higgins; B Smith, L Maguire, R Farrell; E O"Reilly, K Devine, G Smith; S Fagan, Cian Mallon; Colm Mallon, J Reilly, A Lynch; P Byrne, K Rothwell, R McGuinness. Subs- S Byrne for Fagan, S Fagan for Lynch. REFEREE Joey Curley (Moynalty).