Headford an emerging force in Colleges football

Pres. College Headford 4-9 St. Joseph's 2-7 PRESENTATION College, Headford won the Connacht Colleges First Year â€ËœA' Championship at Pearse Stadium with an eight-point victory over The â€ËœBish from Galway. With less than ten minutes remaining this result was far from certain as the Bish led by three points. Headford who had played well in their previous games were finding it difficult to discover their best form against a side that in fairness put in a huge effort throughout. A mediocre first-half display left the Headford boys one point adrift but a few changes and a more focused approach at the start of the second half saw the lead exchange hands. The Pres. boys scored two points without reply and despite now playing into the wind appeared to be getting a grip on proceedings. St Josephs responded and scored the goals that much of their play deserved to re-established the lead. Headford  continued to probe openings and for a short period some excellent scores were exchanged including a wonder point from Bernard Ward scored from an outrageous angle. The goal that Headford needed finally arrived when Joe Mohan steered a crossbar rebound to the net. The workrate of St Joseph's began to take effect and Headford drove on to dominate the final minutes of the game. Goals from Ward, Nugent and a clever lob from Nathan McGhee put a distance between the sides that rarely looked likely in a highly competitive game. While some clinical finishing aided Headford's cause another excellent performance from Dara McNicholas in goal kept the opposition at bay when they threatened most. Conor O'Malley was solid and dependable at full-back with Fionn Devaney and Michael O'Brien also prominent in a defence that worked hard. Cian Darcy despite playing the entire second half with an injured hand gave an inspiring display in midfield well supported by the consistent Jason Walsh. Up front Brian O'Neill, Nathan McGhee, Bernard Ward and Ciarán Nugent continued to cause problems for the defence. In the quarter-final of the competition, Headford had an eight point victory over St Jarlaths with three cracking goals from Alan Glynn, Bernard Ward and Nathan McGee setting them on their way. Strong performances from Joe Mohan, team captain Nigel Kerr and wing-back Geoffrey Corbett along with corner-back Arron Mulryan set the foundations for this success. Final score in this game was 3-9 to 1-7. Another stern test awaited Headford in the semi-final where they eventually overcame St Muredachs on a score line of 4-8 to 4-6.One of the highlights was a smashing goal scored by David Greaney against a goalkeeper who had pulled off a number of excellent saves. Two late goals hauled Muredach's back into contention but Headford held out to book a place in the final. Panel D. McNicholas, B. Walsh, G. Egan, L. Donnellan, P. Martyn, A. Mulryan, C. O'Malley, G. Corbett, N. Kerr (captain), M. O'Brien, A. Glynn, F. Devanney, J. Walsh, J. Mohan, D. Greaney C. Flaherty, S. Fahey, C. D'arcy, T. Hyland, C. Nugent, N. O'Halloran, N. McGhee, B. Ward, B. O'Neill. Trainers: Seán Corcoran and Joe Kelly.