SEAN MACCUMHAILL’S sealed their place in the final of the County SHC against Burt in the most dramatic of circumstances.
Burt 2-10 Setanta 0-16
Sean MacCumhaill’s 13-9 Buncrana 0-7
Marty O’Reilly (pictured above by Christopher Doherty) scored seven goals as the Ballybofey and Stranorlar based MacCumhaill’s hammered Buncrana. Meanwhile, Setanta led from the 12th minute of their match at Burt to the 62nd until they were denied victory by a brilliant Stephen Boyle goal, which was enough for a draw.
It meant that Burt finish the group on nine points, with MacCumhaill’s ending up with eight to reach the final and Setanta’s seven wasn’t enough. But it could all have been so different.
Going into the final series of fixtures in the six-team qualifying group, Burt were almost assured of a top two spot, which would guarantee a place in the decider on the weekend of September 12/13, with four wins from their first four outings and a points difference of +71.
Meanwhile, Setanta had six points from four matches with +45 and MacCumhaill’s six points with +3.
Setanta essentially knew that a win at Burt’s Hibernian Park would be enough, unless MacCumhaill’s could manufacture a mammoth winning margin at home to bottom of the table Buncrana.
Therefore, all the Twin Towns outfit could do was press for as many scores as possible and keep their fingers crossed.
Ray Durack’s Burt were out of sorts in the first half as Setanta defended impressively, going in at half-time 0-8 to 0-3 in front with Kevin Campell, who would score 12 points in all, posting six points. Richie Kee and Sean Maxwell had also knocked over.
Meanwhile, at MacCumhaill Park, the locals were already on their way to a comfortable win, 7-6 to 0-5 in front with O’Reilly having bagged four first goals, with Ciaran Mathewson scoring two goals and one from John Anthony Chambers.
Action from the meeting of Burt and Setanta in the County SHC at Hibernian Park in Burt this evening
All Setanta could do was concentrate on their own affairs and they continued to press the case, although Burt’s Niall Campbell, who ended up with 1-9, was becoming an increasing factor in the equation.
Niall Campbell’s goal came on 35 minutes, when he beat Setanta goalkeeper Warren Scanlon to a ball from Boyle to make it Burt 1-5 Setanta 0-9.
Points were traded at both ends and by the 57th minute, with Setanta 0-15 to 1-8 in front, it looked as though their progression was all but assured.
Niall Campbell and Gavin McGrath pulled two back for Burt but, at the other end, Maxwell shot for goal when Setanta broke and had to be content with a point courtesy of a brilliant save from Paul Burns, who tipped over.
Still, the Killygordon team were three in front, 0-16 to 1-10, with time almost up. News had filtered through from Ballybofey that MacCumhaill’s had won 13-9 to 0-7 – a margin of 41 points, which took their points difference to +44.
O’Reilly had added three more second half goals, while Lee Henderson, Barney McMenamin, Jamsie Donnelly and Paddy Hannigan had also netted.
Setanta’s points difference – entering injury time – was enough, +48, but they had to win in Burt.
However, their final place was snatched from their hands, as Burt launched one final fling. McGrath found Stephen Gillespie, who spotted Boyle and the substitute’s belter went right into the top corner past Scanlon to snatch a draw with only 30 seconds of injury time left.
Setanta tried to no avail to sneak back in front. Burt’s supporters erupted in celebration and when Eamon Hassett blew for full-time the cheers from MacCumhaill Park could almost be heard in the distance.
In the other game played on Wednesday, Aodh Ruadh defeated St Eunan’s 0-12 to 2-5 in Ballyshannon.
Burt: Paul Burns; Kevin Glenn, Ciaran Dowds, Marty McGrath; Dara Grant, Joe Boyle, Jonathan Downey; Conor Harkin, Pádraig Doherty; Kyle McGrath, Stephen Gillespie, Gavin McGrath (0-1); Michael McCann, Ronan McDermott, Niall Campbell (1-9, 6f, 2 ’65’). Sub: Stephen Boyle (1-0) for K McGrath.
Setanta: Warren Scanlon; Brendan Tourish, Simon McMenamin, Shaun Anderson; Martin Bonner, James Callaghan, Justin Browne; Justin McBride, Danny Cullen; Sean Maxwell (0-2), Shane Gallen (0-1), Colm Melaugh; Richie Kee (0-1), Kevin Campbell (0-12, 9f), Bernard Lafferty.
Referee: Eamon Hassett.
MacCumhaill’s scorers: Martin O’Reilly (7-1), Ciaran Matthewson (2-2), John Anthony Chambers (1-0), Lee Henderson (1-2), Barney Mc Menamin (0-1), Jamesie Donnelly (0-2), Paddy Hannigan (2-1)
Final table
| P | W | L | D | F | A | Diff | Pts | |
| Burt | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 134 | 63 | 71 | 9 |
| MacCumhaill’s | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 122 | 78 | 44 | 8 |
| Setanta | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 98 | 53 | 45 | 7 |
| Aodh Ruadh | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 59 | 91 | -32 | 4 |
| St Eunan’s | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 82 | 70 | 12 | 2 |
| Buncrana | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 43 | 183 | -140 | 0 |
