Glen (Derry)    1-11

Maigh Cuilinn 0-12

By John McIntyre at Croke Park

MAIGH Cuilinn footballers will hardly need the help of a psychologist to pick through the bones of this narrow, noble defeat in Sunday’s All-Ireland Club Senior Football semi-final at Croke Park.

For there is no great mystery surrounding the eclipse of the Galway champions – they simply didn’t play well enough to overcome the challenge of their well-organised Glen opponents who were never behind.

Maigh Cuillin may have been outsiders to keep a superb season going, but it’s only reasonable to assume that if they had brought their best form to GAA headquarters and settled quicker, they would now be preparing for an All-Ireland final.

Sure, the Derry men were good and got most things right on the day, but they are hardly world-beaters and were hanging on desperately at the finish as Maigh Cuilinn piled forward, having finally thrown caution to the wind.

Considering that it took them 18 minutes to register a score, were always chasing the game, and a number of key influences didn’t have the desired impact, Maigh Cuilinn’s sense of regret over a somewhat below-par display will be sharpened by being only two points adrift at the finish.

Too often, Maigh Cuilinn players carried the ball into traffic – there was a reluctance to shoot from out the field, though Peter Cooke was a notable exception – and they suffered numerous turnovers and block-downs inside the Glen 25-yard line.

Typical of Ulster teams, Glen retreated in numbers and it’s a tactic that they are more used to than Maigh Cuillin. At times, there were 29 players in one half of the field and that scenario made it difficult to get the best out of Don Connellan’s team.

Perhaps, the sideline could have shaken things up more quickly. Their first sub didn’t enter the field until the 53rd minute, even though it was a bold move to place Galway captain Seán Kelly in the full-forward line for the second-half.

Typical of the man, Kelly never gave up and forced a couple of turnovers which led to Dessie Conneely converting frees, but it was at the expense of his trademark runs from deep. To be honest, Kelly looked a fatigued individual by the finish – an understandable legacy of a frightening schedule between club and county over the past 12 months.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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