Brilliant Boardsmill crowned B specials

Villagers rejoin Intermediate A-listers

Boardsmill2-15

Wolfe Tones1-15

Soon after the final whistle sounded to bring an end to this IHC B final at Athboy on Sunday a Boardsmill supporter ran onto the pitch holding a flair, blue smoke trailing in his wake.

At the same time another young supporter went on with a big blue and white flag – and he held it aloft above the players and fans as they mingled on the pitch.

This was a blue day all round both for the winners and, in a very different sense, for Wolfe Tones.

With the help of two goals from their target man Cathal Wall, Boardsmill wrapped up the victory they deserved. They led most of the way including at the interval – when they were 0-8 to 0-5 to the good – but at no point could they relax as the Tones refused to give up the chase.

This wasn’t a classic – it was often very stop-start - but it was a topsy-turvy affair that kept the big crowd interested and enthralled until the end.

After 40 minutes, when Wall bagged his first goal, Boardsmill led 1-12 to 0-7 and looked to be cruising.

The riled-up Tones battled back and with the help of a goal of their own, scored by Corbin Jenkinson on 49 minutes, they only trailed 1-10 to 1-13.

Over the next three minutes Luke Gallagher pointed for Boardsmill while Evan Curley and Jenkinson raised white flags for the Tones.

Then Wall did it again, scoring a brilliant second goal to put his team back on top, 2-14 to 1-12, with 52 minutes played. Again the ‘Mill looked comfortable. Almost there.

However, in the closing stages it was the Tones who outscored their opponents, 0-3 to 0-1, to put once again put some doubt in the minds of the Boardsmill men, and their ever anxious supporters.

Yet when they needed to most Boardsmill showed the defensive resolution necessary to hold the Tones at bay and secure their first championship success since they claimed the IHC in 2021.

The outcome of highly competitive games, as this one turned out to be, can often hinge on split-second decisions taken by the players involved.

Boardsmill’s chief targetman Wall made one of those calls and unlocked an otherwise strong Wolfe Tones defence for his team’s opening goal.

The ball was played long into the Tones’ goalmouth by Boardsmill captain Ray Hatton. As he went to win possession Wall was up against two opponents. He won the race for possession, but instead of trying to catch the sliotar as most would surely have expected, he simply flicked it onwards and past the startled Tones’ netminder Ken Boyd who had made two super saves in the opening half from Stevie Gibbons and Wall.

The goal was an unorthodox, imaginative piece of quick thinking by Wall that helped to give Boardsmill a significant advantage and a boost. Wall’s second goal was the product of sustained graft and self-belief.

This time he won the ball close to the Wolfe Tones’ goals with a number of defenders between him and the net. It looked at one crucial moment that he had lost possession but he didn’t.

He held onto it under extreme pressure, made room for himself and fired past the phalanx of backs to the net – and how important did that prove to be. It was a real marksman’s goal. Someone who backed himself and was rewarded.

Wall was one Boardsmill player who had a major impact on this game. Luke Gallagher was another. He finished with 11 points, eight frees, two '65's.

An accurate, reliable freetaker is vital to any successful team and Gallagher certainly played his part in helping to keep his team one step ahead of their tenacious rivals by clipping over scores from placed balls. His haul included one monster score from play in the second-half.

Neil McLoughlin, Darragh Purcell and Cillian Purcell were others to garner scores for the ‘Mill over the course of the game while Hatton and Jim Bird were strong down the middle of the defence. Jim Roche also had a fine game.

Goalkeeper Andrew Gallagher won’t recall the concession of the Tones’ goal with any fondness. Jenkinson played the ball toward the Boardsmill posts from out on the right. It looked like Galllagher was about to gather. He had the ball, then he didn’t as it broke away from him and rolled into the net.

In the closing stages Andrew Gallagher made amends, making a fine reflex save from a stinging drive delivered by Kyle Moran who was one of Wolfe Tones’ most dangerous players as his three points from play indicate.

If Boardsmill had their ultra-reliable marksman in Luke Gallagher, Wolfe Tones’ had theirs in Evan Curley who finished up with seven points, all from placed balls. Sean McKeown was another to fashion two well-executed points from play.

It was just that the Tones couldn’t contain Wall who bagged his two goals in crucial moments of the game and by so doing helped secure a sweet victory that prompted the young man to run on with the blue flair.

Boardsmill: Andrew Gallagher; Jack Bird, Jim Bird, Conor Darby; Eamonn Roche, Ray Hatton, Cillian Purcell (0-1 free); Jim Roche, Darragh Purcell (0-1); Liam O’Brien, Neil McLoughlin (0-1), Luke Gallagher (0-11 six frees, two 65s); Stevie Gibbons, Fergal Flattery, Cathal Wall (2-1). Subs: Donal Flattery for F Flattery 6m, Diarmuid Whelan for D Flattery 26m, Cian Royston for O’Brien 56m, Sean Cribbin for Whelan 60m.

Wolfe Tones: Ken Boyd; Paddy Heaney, Gearoid O’Brien, Sean Murray; Ciaran O’Hare, Sean O’Hare, Conor Sheppard; Eoin Donegan, Joey Curtis; Sean McKeown (0-2), Kyle Moran (0-4), Evan Curley (0-7 six frees, one 65); Sean Barrett, Eanna Harrington (0-1), Tom Donegan.

Subs: Corbin Jenkinson (1-1) for T Donegan 23m, Matthew Vaughan for Murray 43m, James O’Hare for Sheppard 51m, Rian Fox for Barrett 54m, Oriel Hally for Curley 60m.

Referee – Conal O’Sullivan (Drumree).