Nobber miss golden opportunity

Nobber probably felt like they lost this IFC semi-final twice at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday night as arch rivals Kilmainhamwood earned a reprieve which looked unlikely in both normal and extra-time. Four minutes into second-half injury-time Kilmainhamwood's Stephen Kiernan had the unenviable task of pointing a free from close to the terrace sideline to force extra-time. He achieved that feat to tie the scores at 1-7 to 0-10. Kiernan repeated the feat with another equalising point in extra-time injury-time, but on this occasion Nobber were the authors of their own demise after full-back Brian O'Reilly took so much time with a free-out that referee Marcus Quinn disallowed it and threw the ball up. There was one further late twist for Nobber when they lost corner back Padraig Weldon to a second yellow card. Kilmainhamwood will also highlight the fact that a late Aidan Crosbie point was disallowed and a free-out awarded. Regardless, there weren't too many complaints from a buoyant Kilmainhamwood camp afterwards. "That was a great recovery, it was unbelieveable, we recovered twice, in normal time and in extra-time, the players deserve great credit, we looked like we were beaten, but we have another chance next week," stated Kilmainhamwood manager Colm Kane. Down the corridor, the Nobber players and officials were devastated, almost as if they had lost. "We had that game won, in both normal time and extra-time, we wasted a lot of chances, we can't afford to do that if we want to win important games," stated Nobber manager Darren Fay. "But I have to give credit to Kilmainhamwood, they were down and they came back, they were down a second time and they came back again, we will have to improve our finishing for the replay," stated the former Meath full-back. Meath player Brian Farrell missed two gilt-edged goal chances in the second-half which would have put his team out of sight. In fairness to Farrell, a lot of credit must go to Kilmainhamwood 'keeper Michael Clarke who produced two remarkable saves in the ninth minute and more importantly, in the 29th minute which would have sealed a final ticket for Nobber. Nobber opened positively and an early point from Andrew Hayes and a brace by Brendan Heffernan put Fay's side in the ascendancy. Kilmainhamwood struggled to get to the pace of the game, but kept in touch through Ray Magee and Kiernan. Kilmainhamwood also dropped a couple of point efforts short and were frustrated on a couple of occasions when Weldon blocked kicks and cleared successfully. All that contributed to a 0-5 to 0-2 first-quarter lead for the Nobber men who were much more fluent and moved well off-the-ball to make space and create openings. Kilmainhamwood started to adapt to Nobber's tactics and covered space impressively during a tight second-quarter. This frustrated the Nobber players and the lead was reduced when Padraig Owens split the posts in the 21st minute. Some poor finishing subsequently sustained Nobber who gave away a too many easy frees, but Kilmainhamwood gifted their neighbours a first point in 15 minutes when Magee needlessly charged into an opponent and lost the benefit of a free. From the resultant throw-in, Nobber gained possession and Brian Farrell opened his account from play which helped his side to a 0-6 to 0-4 interval advantage. Magee claimed Kilmainhamwood's final point of the half, the first score from a free and his side was fortunate to go to the dressing room with 15 men after Owens escaped with a yellow card for an off-the-ball exchange with Heffernan. Nobber's Gerard Campbell and the 'Wood's Michael Shankey were also yellow-carded by referee Marcus Quinn for persisting with a fairly harmless looking piece of wrestling. Quinn also deserves credit for his handling of a game that needed a tight rein. The second-half resumed in a welter of excitement with a goal at one end and a save at the other. There was scarcely 20 seconds on the second-half clock when Kilmianhamwood were gifted a goal from Stephen Kiernan's penalty. Nobber, again, were the authors of their own downfall as full-back O'Reilly played the ball back to Weldon who fumbled. Magee pounced and was fouled, referee Quinn pointed to the spot and Kiernan did the rest. Magee added a point a minute later, but Brian Farrell had a gilt-edged opportunity for a goal in the ninth minute when he raced clear. The county player looked certain to score, but Clarke made an excellent save. Points from Magee (two) helped the 'Wood into a 1-6 to 0-6 lead by the end of the third-quarter before Nobber ended a barren spell when Brian Farrell claimed Nobber's first point from a free in the 17th minute. Substitute Jamie Owens left the minimum in it a minute later from a tight angle as the momentum increased and with nine minutes remaining Niall Fareell drew the sides level from a free. Brian Farrell gave his side the lead before he missed another gilt-edged opportunity for a goal, Clarke was the hero again with another excellent save, but it took a point from Kiernan with the last kick of the game, in the fourth minute of injury-time, to force extra time at 1-7 to 0-10. Nobber were ahead at the end of the first-half extra-time by 0-13 to 1-8 after Brian Farrell (three) hit a rich vein while Michael Shankey replied. Farrell took his extra-time to five points within two minutes of the resumption for a commanding 0-15 to 1-8 lead, but the 'Wood rallied again to earn a second chance. Kilmainhamwood - M Clarke; P Barber, S Smith, D Cunningham; P Moran, S Mulligan, M Shankey (0-1); A Farrell, L Shankey; P Owens (0-1), F Owens, H Corbally; R Madden, R Magee (0-5, two frees) S Kiernan (1-4, penalty goal). Subs - A Crosbie (0-1) for Corbally, K Russell for L Shankey, both 52 mins; C Gilcreest for Owens 59m; extra-time - D Russell for K Russell 9m. Nobber - C O'Reilly; P Weldon, B O'Reilly, A O'Brien; P McEntee, P Clarke, R Shiels; A Farrell, G Faly; G Campbell, A Hayes (0-3), B Heffernan (0-2); N Farrell (0-1, free), B Farrell (0-8, one free), C Clarke. Subs - Jamie Owens (0-1) for O'Brien 49 mins; extra-time - G Weldon for Referee - Marcus Quinn (Clann na nGael).