Knockmore fall just short in Connacht quest

Mayo champions Knockmore were narrowly beaten by Roscommon's Padraig Pearses in the AIB Connacht Club SFC final at James Stephens Park, Ballina, this afternoon, going down by two points – 1-11 to 1-13.

A pulsating second half broke out on a crisp afternoon, with Knockmore mounting a brave comeback after Padraig Pearses had opened up a seven-point lead at one stage.

The Knockmore goal midway through that second half was a tale of two substitutes as Darren McHale – unable to start due to injury – sent a ball towards goal that Charlie Bourke, a first-half replacement for the injured Kieran King, pounced on to reduce the deficit to two points, 1-7 to 1-9.

Pearses went on another burst to land three in a row before Knockmore staged another fightback, again reducing the gap to two – 1-10 to 1-12 – before Tom Butler made it a three-point game again.

With no choice but to go for goal, Knockmore engineered a late chance but Aiden Orme, their top performer on the day, drove the ball just over rather than under the bar, and the final whistle sounded following the resultant kick-out, signalling a 1-13 to 1-11 win for the Roscommon men.

Padraig Pearses' goal was the very first score of the game as Hubert Darcy scored from the penalty spot. Having taken that early lead, they never relinquished it and at the end of a cagey first half they were 1-3 to 0-4 ahead.

The Roscommon champions were reduced to 14 men for the final 10 minutes of the first half as goalkeeper Paul Whelan was flashed a black card for a hand trip on Orme. Crucially, they only conceded two points during that period of numerical disadvantage while scoring one of their own through the inspirational Paul Carey, the game's outstanding player and scorer of eight points for the new Connacht champions.

Carey's influence grew as the game went on and he landed some superb second-half points as the Roscommon champions kept Knockmore at arm's length and never panicked when the fightbacks were staged.

Knockmore deserve huge credit for the manner in which they never threw in the towel but a tally of 14 wides serves of illustrate that it wasn't their day, and there could be no argument that the better team won in the end.

*See Tuesday's print edition for a full report and match reaction