Flynn to the fore as Crossmolina Deel Rovers stroll past Caragh and into All-Ireland decider
At On: Final Caragh’s In Ifc Dan David Photography Brothers Longford Against Glennon During Loftus Aib Pearse Picture: Park, Semi Crossmolina’s The Action Lynam Gaa Marching Lorcan Farrell
WITH little fuss and nine points to spare, Crossmolina Deel Rovers have advanced to the All-Ireland intermediate club final.
From start to finish, the Mayo men were dominant all over the field against a Caragh side that never got going.
With their key men nullified and Crossmolina’s stars out-shining everyone - particularly the outstanding Jordan Flynn - the Leinster champions were second best against a team that played the game on their terms.
“It was a tough game, tough conditions, but we just couldn’t get out of second gear, We couldn’t get going,” Caragh manager Michael Browne said afterwards.
The pitch provided frostbitten green and white theatre for a winter war that never caught fire.
Crossmolina enjoyed most of the possession and won the key battles, particularly in their own full-back line, so much so that Caragh seldom traversed the Mayo men’s ‘45.
The Connacht champions were worthy - but fortunate - to carry a 1-4 0-4 half-time lead at the break.
They owed this to a penalty awarded in the 14th minute when Niall Coggins danced along the end line before botching a square pass to Patrick Leddy.
The move came to nothing until the referee, Kieran Eanatta, ruled that Matthew McNally had touched the ball on the ground in the square.
Conor Loftus snatched the pot of gold with a well-taken spot after when he drove the ball to his left and sent Michael Behan the wrong way.
It was but a single clip from an impressive first-half highlight reel for the Deel Rovers.
Brian Benson’s men made several stellar turnovers and made few errors in attack.
Loftus excelled on the ground while Jordan Flynn impressed in the air against Caragh’s twin midfield towers of Kevin Connor and Dan Lynam.
The aforementioned Flynn and Loftus both clocked a point before the break - Loftus hit the pick of the scores with a silky outside-of-the-boot effort.
Diarmuid Coggins and the lively James Maheady both notched scores against a Caragh team that consistently struggled to create chances.
Josh Gannon opened Caragh’s account after eleven minutes before late starter Eoghan O’Haire levelled a minute later.
The Kildare men didn’t score again for another 13 minutes when Darragh Swords struck a nice score before Ryan Burke struck the last score of the half with a lovely score from distance.
Mayo senior Jordan Flynn went from being the star man to a force of nature at the start of the second half as the Deel Rover struck five points in six minutes (2 from Flynn).
Caragh barely laid a glove on them thereafter. Outmuscled, out-played and out-fought, the Leinster champions were second-best all over the field and failed to score from play until Jake Corrigan pointed from play in the 53rd minute.
Corrigan - who hit 4-11 in their previous three games - came closest to troubling the steadfast JP Mulhern, who held a tame second-half shot from the Caragh full-forward.
With Flynn kicking three points and fetching and tackling everything that was going, the Mayo men finished on a high. Flynn nearly bagged a goal when he palmed Cathal Carolan’s pass off the post.
Mikie Loftus and Conor Loftus - with a great kick - signed off on the win in the last few minutes.
Crossmolina had made a bad habit of going ahead and easing the throttle in their Mayo and Connacht campaigns. They made no such slip on this occasion.
A first All-Ireland final since they lost the 2001 senior decider to Nemo Rangers now beckons for the men from the banks of the Deel.
: C. Loftus (1-2, 1-0 penalty); Fionán Duffy (0-3, 1 free); J. Flynn (0-3), M. Loftus (0-1); P. Leddy (0-1); J. Maheady (0-1); D. Coggins (0-1).
E. O’Haire (0-2, 1 free); D. Swords (0-1); J. Gannon (0-1); R Burke (0-1), J. Corrigan (0-1).
JP Mulhern; D. Fox, K. Mulhern, M. Gordetskyy; A. Coggins, C. Loftus, L. Loftus; M. Loftus, J. Flynn; D. Coggins, J. Maheady, N. Coggins; D. Walsh, P. Leddy, Fionán Duffy.
S. Duffy for Walsh (50); C. Fergus for L. Loftus (52); C. Carolan for Leddy (55); D. Howley for Fionán Duffy (59); Fearghal Duffy for Gordetskyy (62).
M. Behan; C. McKennedy, M. McNally, B. Byrne; C. Sullivan, R. Burke, P. Dockery; K. Connor, D Lynam; J. Gannon, D. Swords, D. Murray; R. Doorey, J. Corrigan, E. O’Haire.
B. Kelly for Sullivan (52); A. Kehoe for Byrne (52); K. Campbell for Gannon (52); A. Nevin for Doorey (54).
K. Eannetta (Tyrone)