Tipperary school Abbey CBS reach All-Ireland final after thrilling victory

Abbey CBS Tipperary 3-10 St Attracta's Tubbercurry 0-19

Abbey CBS win 3-0 on penalties, after extra time

Regardless of what the future holds, and how The Abbey fare in their All-Ireland final against St Joseph’s of Donaghmore, Tyrone, it’s unlikely that any game in the school’s history will be remembered as fondly as their remarkable, incredible, epic All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Senior Football B Championship semi-final against St Attracta’s of Tubbercurry, Sligo in Tuam last Saturday.

Finals are about winning, and silverware, but this was sport on a deeper, more visceral level. Human endeavour, resolve, faith and mental resilience were all demanded in boundless qualities to come through this contest, and ultimately the Tipperary Town students dug deep, and then deeper still, to find their way through against a Sligo school that deserved so much more than agonising heartbreak for the performance they produced.

To appreciate the scale of their achievement in this penultimate step in their attempt to lift the Paddy Drummond Cup, one must start by relating the depth of the hole in which the Abbey found themselves.

When St Attracta’s centre forward Michael Clifford pointed a free in the 28th minute of the first half, the score was 0-9 to no score in favour of the south Sligo school. And in every facet of play, the Connacht champions were rampant.

These are heady times for Sligo football, with their first Connacht minor title in over half a century won in 2021 and an Under 20 title added last year, and the level of expectation and self-belief coursing through teams from the county has exploded as a result.

They played like it, exerting immense pressure on The Abbey in defence, controlling set plays and restarts to ensure a steady flow of possession, and unlocking the Munster champions’ defence time and again with sharp, clever attacking football.

A Robbie McGrath free finally got the Abbey off the mark a minute before half-time, and when Joe O’Dwyer followed up with another score there was a hint of a revival, particularly when frees from Orrin Jones and Cian O’Dwyer were added after the break.

Yet St Attracta’s came again with the next three points, and even when Liam Carew won the possession that was ultimately converted into Joe O’Dwyer’s goal at the start of the fourth quarter, it still felt like the misfiring Abbey attack would struggle to muster up the scores that were needed to retrieve the deficit.

Thankfully, the players didn’t let those feelings weigh them down. Bill Quirke added the next point and suddenly the gap was just three points, though St Attracta’s continued to pose a threat.

Robbie McGrath got a vital touch on a lateral pass that would have left Josh Flynn with a tap-in goal, Darragh O’Brien did brilliantly to clear a soccer-style effort from Flynn off the line, and with every bullet that the Abbey dodged they grew in stature, while their Sligo opponents only became more nervous.

The stage was set for a moment of magic, and The Abbey duly delivered.

Orrin Jones was the man who fired in the crucial goal from the penalty spot, but perhaps his biggest role was the silky manner in which he won possession and set the attack in motion by getting a great pass away to Eoin Doocey, even while being fouled.

Doocey in turn displayed great footwork to turn a two-on-two attack into a situation where Daniel O’Dwyer was in behind the defence with just the ‘keeper to beat, which forced a wild and rash challenge and a subsequent easy penalty decision from referee Aaron Clogher.

The Roscommon referee was to take the spotlight too, after it looked like Gavin Cussen would be the unlikely hero for the Abbey.

Orrin Jones’ long shot rebounded off the upright and back into play, and the Arravale Rovers man was on the scene with a first-time shot that drew a stunning save from Conor McDonagh, then deflected over the bar.

Five minutes of stoppage time had been signalled, and five disjointed, interrupted minutes had been played when the white flag flew to acknowledge Cussen’s point – so there was no surprise that Clogher extended the game further.

However tension levels skyrocketed as St Attracta’s piled on the pressure, and the clock ticked through seven minutes, eight, and more, and still no whistle.

Finally, in the tenth minute of overtime, Clifford nailed a 40 metre free off the ground that was as impressive a pressure kick as has ever been nailed in the famous old stadium in north Galway.

So to extra-time, with The Abbey having to process the remarkable circumstances in which they had victory snatched from them, while the Sligo students needed to put the fact that they coughed up a nine-point lead into the annals of history, and treat the “new game” of extra time exactly like that, a completely new chapter in their story.

St Attracta’s handled their challenge much better, and for the first 14 minutes of the extra 20, they produced some sublime football, adding five more points.

Aiden Marren relocated from midfield to full forward and the rangy Tourlestrane player thrived in his new environment, helping his school into an 0-18 to 2-9 lead.

This game was never going to end like that, though.

Liam Carew earned and won a free, and it fell to substitute Daniel O’Dwyer to play the role of hero again, intercepting a kickout and showing incredible composure to slot in the goal that left them a point up. That could have been all, but there was much more to come.

With the Abbey packing their goalmouth, Clifford threaded an eye of the needle pass into Marren, who with his back to goal, dummied left, turned right, and traversed the black spot in one majestic, fluid movement.

And so, one of the greatest schools’ games that will be played all year, was given the ultimate crown of thorns; a penalty shootout.

Step forward Robbie McGrath, who produced two fantastic saves, while Orrin Jones, Liam Carew and Darragh O’Brien all made the twine dance, ushering in incredible scenes of elation, devastation, celebration and pain.

Meanwhile, the few fortunate neutrals who happened to be in attendance finally drew breath, and mentally offered up a quiet thought of appreciation for having been privileged enough to be there.

Abbey CBS: Robbie McGrath (Galtee Rovers; 0-1f); Emmet Bonner (Galtee Rovers), Darragh O’Brien (Aherlow), Gavin Cussen (Arravale Rovers; 0-1); Evan Kennedy (Galtee Rovers), Colin O’Grady (Oola), Paddy Downey (Oola); Bill Quirke (Galtee Rovers; 0-1), Liam Carew (Aherlow; 0-2, 1f); Eoin Doocey (Arravale Rovers), Orrin Jones (Kickhams; 1-1, 1-0 pen, 0-1f), Shane O’Grady (Oola); Joe O’Dwyer (Kickhams; 1-2, 0-1 mark), Conall Grogan (Galtee Rovers), Cian O’Dywer (Galtee Rovers; 0-1f).

Subs: David Ryan (Arravale Rovers) for Kennedy (28 mins), Daniel O’Dwyer (Galtee Rovers; 1-1) for Liam Carew (39 mins), Seán Lewis for O’Dwyer (54 mins), Gavin O’Meara (Arravale Rovers) for Carew (60 mins), Carew for Grogan (68 mins), Shane Quigley (Arravale Rovers) for Cussen (74 mins).

St Attracta’s: Conor McDonagh; Aaron O’Hara, Dylan McLoughlin, Eoghan Scanlon; Kyle McDonagh (0-1), Conor Johnston, Stephen Donoghue; Tommy Ross, Aiden Marren (0-8, 5f); Cian Gallagher, Michael Clifford (0-6, 5f), Josh Flynn (0-1); Conor McArdle, Ciarán Gorman (0-1), Tom Bailey (0-1).

Subs: Daithí Murphy (0-1) for McArdle (43 mins), Diarmuid Henry for Gorman (56 mins), Adrian Walsh for Donoghue (60+5 mins), Oisín Frizzell for Ross (78 mins), Tadhg Horkan for Bailey (80 mins).

Referee: Aaron Clogher (Roscommon).