St James’ reel in Tuam Stars with five points on trot to draw

Tuam Stars 1-13

St. James’ 1-13

FIVE unanswered points from St. James’ in the final quarter saw the city outfit come from behind to deservedly snatch a share of the points against Tuam Stars in this entertaining county senior football championship Group 1 opener at Kenny Park, Athenry on Sunday.

Trailing 1-13 to 1-8 at the second-half water break, it appeared all was lost for Pat Fallon’s charges, but coming up the home stretch they dug deep and rallied to reel in their opponents. This never-say-die attitude will stand them in good stead going forward.

Central to the comeback was Galway’s Paul Conroy, who kicked the first point in their revival on 48 minutes and he also shot the last two points from free kicks late on to level up the game.

In between, the lively Matthew Mulvaney – what a ball of energy he was – and Eoin Concannon (free) were also on the scoresheet as a rejuvenated St. James’ converted every opportunity that came their way.

In contrast, Tuam Stars were in freefall in this period, with Brian Mannion and Jamie Murphy missing a plethora of scoring chances, including one each from free kicks. Had they secured even one of those chances, it would have broken up St. James’ momentum.

Indeed, Tuam Stars felt they could still have done that late on. With three minutes of injury-time indicated, referee Shane Hehir blew as the Kenny Park clock hit ’32 minutes’. However, the referee pointed to his watch, noting the three minutes had been played, and, when all was said and done, his timekeeping piece was the only one that mattered.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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