| Emmetts romp to historic win
 By
Graham Clifford
When you keep your opponents scoreless from play in an All-Ireland final
you deserve to walk away with the cup.
London champions Robert Emmetts did this thanks to formidable defending
on Sunday while at the other end giving an exhibition of score taking which
any inter county side playing at Croke Park would have been proud of.
Galway champions Killimordaly found space and time on the ball impossible
to come by as every Emmetts player battled for each ball like their lives
depended on it to the delight of manager Mick O’Dea.
The Cork man maintained his 100 per cent record at Croke Park. In 2005 he
led London to Nicky Rackard Cup glory and on Sunday in front of the Hogan
stand he led Emmetts to Intermediate success — the first club side
from outside of Ireland to lift an All-Ireland trophy.
Emmetts got off to the perfect start when the unstoppable John Quinlan pointed
after just 30 seconds. Quinlan’s positional sense, free-taking accuracy
and awareness of where his teammates were when on the ball proved to be
major features over the hour.
After Niall Earls equalised after two minutes from the placed ball Jim Ryan
was on hand to maintain Emmetts’ advantage with a long-range effort
in the third minute.
Killimordaly seemed to be settling into the game early on though John Dillon
at half-back for Emmetts was making a menace of himself disrupting the Galway
men’s sorties.
The Galway side hit the lead by 0-3 to 0-2 in the ninth minute when Earls
pointed from a free after a foul on midfielder Paul Madden.
It would be the last time that the Connacht champions would maintain ascendancy
on the scoreboard as the Emmetts’ juggernaut clicked into gear.
The London boys hit 1-4 without reply as a shell-shocked Killimordaly resembled
a dazed boxer on the ropes waiting for the bell to sound to end the round.
Quinlan who would finish the day with a personal tally of eight points
knocked over two frees in the 12th and 14th minutes before Tadhg O’Callaghan
pointed in the 17th minute after a goal-line clearance by Killimordaly.
With Quinlan and Ryan winning the majority of the balls played into them
it was only a matter of time before they combined to hurt the Galway men.
In the 20th minute Quinlan went on a mazy run. As he lined up to shoot for
goal just outside the penalty area his shot was blocked. The quick-minded
Quinlan ran to retrieve the ball as it rolled towards the corner, he doubled
back, found Ryan in space and his fellow county man picked his corner perfectly
to score past a despairing Paul Kilkenny in the Killimordaly goals.
Another Quinlan free a minute later stretched the London side’s lead
to 1-5 to 0-3 and the writing was already on the wall for Killimordaly.
Kevin McMullen, who started in place of Sean Kelly, pointed before the break
as did Quinlan again to leave the half-time scores
1-8 to 0-4 in Robert Emmetts favour.
Killimordaly upped their game after the break but still couldn’t manage
a score from play in the second half-hour.
Emmetts outscored their opponents by 0-6 to 0-4 in the second-half with
a 32nd minute long-range effort from O’Callaghan being the pick
of their scores.
When Killimordaly’s key free taker Clement Earls was taken off after
twisting his ankle 10 minutes into the second-half there was no looking
back for Robert Emmetts though they did have Colm Buckley to thank on more
than one occasion for making some excellent blocks in the Emmetts’
goal.
Sean Kelly was introduced for Brian Keane and he made a handful of himself
at wing-forward. At the back Captain Fantastic Fergus McMahon and Séan
McLoughlin were as reliable as ever while the gifted Brian Foley and John
Dillon played like men possessed.
Every Emmetts player including substitutes Philip McArdle and Pat Jordan
seemed to have the beating of their men and this was as worthy an All-Ireland
win as any seen at the Mecca of Gaelic games.
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