Joyce crowns Cappataggle comeback with late winner

CAPATAGGLE 2-10

GORT 1-12

THE architect of red-letter days before in Cappataggle colours, Damien Joyce once again proved his enduring value at this level, being in the right place at the right time to herald an unlikely victory for his side in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Cappataggle played second fiddle to Gort for long spells of this Group 2 contest, particularly in the first half. They trailed 1-10 to 0-5 at half-time, and were still four points in arrears of their South Galway opponents with a minute of normal time remaining.

Cappy’s late 1-2 haul had seemed improbable in those circumstances, and armed with this knowledge, it’s a fair summation to make that Gort will be kicking themselves. A win on Saturday would have brought them level with Loughrea and Sarsfields on five points at the top of the group. Not being able to hold on, has let Cappy jump ahead of them to four points and under pressure in terms of claiming one of the two top spots.

Perhaps, more importantly in the grand scheme of things, Aidan Harte retired with a hamstring injury after only 14 minutes. While Gort didn’t miss his presence for the remainder of the first half, they could have done with his ability to get to loose balls when their full-back line and general goalmouth area was being blitzed with balls late on.

Michael Garvey was sprung from the bench to provide Cappy with a target on the edge of the square six minutes into the second period, and it turned out to be an inspired move by Tony Nevin and his backroom team. Cappataggle were actually nine points in arrears at that stage, but had a strong wind at their backs, an element they would make optimum use of in the remaining period of the game.

Garvey had an indirect and direct hand in 2-3 of the 2-5 Cappy scored while he was on the field of play. In the 42nd minute, he got to a James Skehill puckout and fed Jarlath Mannion, who rifled a shot into the roof of the Gort net. At 1-11 to 1-6, there was suddenly hope for Cappataggle.

That hope gathered momentum in the 59th minute through their second goal. Dan Nevin dropped a free right in on top of Garvey, who flicked the sliotar to the net, whilst competing with Gort full-back Ronan Burke, past an advancing Gavin Lally.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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