Hand double hand's Vincent's JFC final spot

St Vincent's Ardcath booked their spot in the JFC final with a six-point victory over Clann na nGael

St Vincent’s Ardcath 3-8

Clann na nGael 1-8

Three second-half goals including a brace from Nigel Hand secured St Vincent’s Ardcath a JFC semi-final victory over Clann na nGael on Saturday evening under the lights at Donaghmore/Ashbourne.

Both sides experienced several purple patches throughout as the intense encounter shifted momentum on a few occasions. However, St Vincents were the more clinical on the day and were deserving winners.

For large parts of the opening quarter, St Vincent’s looked the stronger of the two sides and Clann na nGael needed three points in succession from Ben Corkery to stay in touch in the early exchanges. Clann na nGael finished out the half well and a 25th-minute goal courtesy of Thomas Doyle helped the Athboy men head in at halftime with a 1-4 to 0-5 advantage.

A black card for Darragh Griffen early in the second half put Clann na nGael on the back foot and it was during that 10-minute spell that St Vincent’s found the net for the first time through Nigel Hand. Hand got his second 10 minutes later before a third St Vincent’s goal in the 58th-minute courtesy of substitute Steffan O’Neill sealed the deal for the men in maroon.

St Vincent’s were presented with an early opportunity for a goal when Gary Tuite’s shot rattled off the bar and Eoin Griffen was forced to pull off a great save from Nigel Hand’s rebound effort.

A few minutes later Hand got the scoring underway before Michael McIvor gave the Ardcath men a two-point lead. Ben Corkery who finished with a fine tally of 0-6 in the quarter-final against St Ultans, picked up where he left off the last day and rattled off three consecutive points to edge his side in front by a point after 15 minutes.

St Vincent’s immediately responded to Corkery’s third score when McIvor set up Nigel Hand as the corner forward raised the white flag for the second time in the contest.

Jack Byrne linked up well with Patrick McGill before fisting over the bar and a McIvor free followed to give St Vincent’s a two-point advantage with 10 minutes left in the opening half. Thomas Doyle burst through the St Vincent’s defence on the right flank before burying the ball to the back of the net. That goal provided a much-needed bounce for Clann na nGael A fourth point from Corkery sent them in at the break with a two-point lead.

Darragh Griffen was sent to the line temporarily early in the second-half when he received a black card. St Vincent’s took advantage of the numerical difference straight away and their two danger men McIvor and Nigel Hand linked up once more for Hand’s third and their side’s sixth point.

Down the other end of the field, Eamon Og O Donnchadha responded for Clann na nGael in what transpired to be the full forward’s only score of the night.

St Vincent’s half-backs Conor Harford and Niall Tallon teamed up deep in Clann na nGael territory before Tallon's wayward effort fell into the hands of Nigel Hand who was much better equipped to find the back of the Clann na nGael net for St Vincent’s opening goal.

With only one point between them, both sides struggled over the next ten minutes to make any inroads. Eventually, Paddy Arnold turned over one of Eoin Griffen’s kickouts before setting up Nigel Hand for his second goal to give Paul McManus’ side a four-point lead. Harford put St Vincent’s five up before Corkery once again dragged Clann na nGael back into the contest with two frees on the trot.

The sucker blow came when Nigel Hand kicked a beautiful ball into the danger area and found the palms of Stefan O’Neill. O'Neill expertly found the right corner of the net to give St Vincent’s a comfortable six-point cushion with only minutes remaining of normal time. Gary Tuite and Eoin Kelleher traded scores in injury time before Robbie Barrett’s final whistle confirmed that St Vincent’s Ardcath advanced to the 2024 JFC final.

St Vincent’s Ardcath – Evan Conor; Shane Caffery, Davy Tallonn, Mark Crawley; Conor Harford (0-1), Niall Tallon, Gary Tuite (0-1); Robert Tallon, Michael McIvor (0-2, one free); Conor O’Brien, Jack Byrne (0-1), Paddy Arnold; Nigel Hand (2-3), Ryan Hand, Patrick McGill. Subs – Barry O’Sullivan for Caffery halftime, Stefan O’Neill (1-0) for Byrne 41m, Matthew Tuite for McGill 57m, Andrew McEntee for Harford 59m, Martin Fox for O’Brien.

Clann na nGael – Eoin Griffen; Philip Garry, Jack Doherty, Darragh O’Reilly; Paul Tuite, Darren Kelly, Diarmuid O Donnchadha; Cian Swaine, Eoin Kelleher (0-1); Sean Og Tiernan, Darragh Griffen, Ben Corkery (0-6, two frees); Liam Kelleher, Eamon Og O Donnchadha (0-1), Thomas Doyle (1-0). Subs – Darragh Swaine for D Griffen 49m, Killian Swaine for Kelly 53m, Shane McAnarney for L Kelleher 54m, Carl Kelly for Garry 59m.

Referee – Robbie Barrett (Walterstown)