I made an unplanned trip to Mohill today so Iāll only get to catch the match on the radio - thatās of his Highness decides to play ball.
A lot of Fenagh cars going through the town. Must be living locally.
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SOH one point up at half time.Fenagh could possibly be futher ahead after getting a fairly soft penalty.Theyve kicked a few bad wides.SOH look very dangerous up front.Tom Prior has been totally anonymous in the first half.Id say hes touched the ball 3 times.I thought he wasnāt even playing at one stage.McKeown will surley make an appearance for the last 15/20 mins.Fenagh need to get quicker ball into the forwards.Its going in too slow.A cagey enough game so far but i expect it to open up in the second half.Ill stand by my earlier prediction.Fenagh by 2.
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Disaster for Fenagh,3 pts up in injury time after being fairly poor it must be said and conceded a last second goal from Tom Prior to salvage the draw for SOH.A porter/whiskey fueled report will follow later from @Chancer.
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Fenagh were 1-05 to 0-13 down ten minutes into the second half with Wayne McKeon coming on.
Surprised to hear it ended in a draw and even more shocked to hear of a last minute SOH goal to level it.
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McKeown had to go into goals to replace Maxwell who got injured.Fenagh got a goal and were all over SOH in the last 10 minutes.The McGovern brothers are supposed to be heading back to Oz on tuesday with the replay booked in for Saturday week.
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Would I have taken the draw with 15 to go - Iād have bitten your arm off.
That said the old failings (1999 V Manor) goal at the death came back to bite us.
We live to fight another day and today will bring our lads on a tonne.
Epic performances from Riordan & Fergal ably backed up by several others, notably Donal and Conall McGovern who put in a great shift on Tom Prior.
We squandered a few chances, blew a few possessions through over-elaboration, a quiet if careful performance from Ryan (1G Pen) but weāve been in a final, marched behind the band * and live to fight another day.
Weāll do it Saturday week. Thereāll be no winter hereabouts 
- The Kiltubrid pipe band are the very essence of county final.
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Kickouts were very predictable ,long out to the middle every time.Not one short one the whole game.Ye actually won every one of Mckeowns kickouts when he came on.Need to go short the odd time to mix it up.Ryan plays way too far out from goals for my liking,same with Leitrim last year.There were 2 or 3 fouls on the lead up to the goal which should have resulted in a free out for Fenagh but the ref either missed or didnt bother giving them.Riordan is surely the best corner forward in the county atm.Ye have a great chance in 2 weeks again.I didnāt think ye played very well today until the last 10/15 minutes when ye looked to be cruising after going 3 up.
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What was Priorās goal like?
A net buster.Here it is
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It was a replica of Kellyās goal for Manor (1999) that sank us at the death. As @Massey said the last minute was a passage of broken play with possession being lost, fouled or spilled with Eoin McLoughlin being a clear victim but the ball eventually broke to Prior who dispatched a whizzer over Andrews head.
We were really, and Iām being honest here, very lucky a minute earlier when the immortal āhigh, lobbing, dropping ballā broke in the small square and your relation (I think) flung himself on the loose ball before being fouled.
We didnāt get the breaks from the ref (Kevin Mallon - Bornacoola) at the death but there again some thought the penalty was soft. Swings/Roundabouts. Weāre still in itā¦
A great, if poignant moment, as the Willies championship winning team of 1976 were guests of honour at halftime. It was their 1st title as Aughawillan , their previous was as Kiltyhugh in 1923. Anyone I spoke to in the last few weeks are indeed sad to see their slide to Intermediate.
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Good man Gary.
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From the Mohill correspondent Eamon Duignan on Facebook.
No more than many of us there was always something about the Williesā¦.
Some Legacy
There they were. Ready to walk on to the field at half time in the county final. The 1976 County Final winners Aughawillian. The Willies had won the championship for the first time in 53 years. Impossible to believe 1976 was 50 years ago. When I saw them in the tunnel, ( I wonāt say they were warming up, lets say they were keeping warm) I started shaking because this was one serious bunch of lads . In 1976 I was sixteen years old, and over the next few years I watched them play, I watched them never surrender, and I watched them win. I had the bad fortune to play against them and the good fortune to play alongside many of them on the county team in the early 80ās and appreciate just how good some of the Willieās were.
This 1976 Championship winning team lit a bonfire in Aughawillian and nobody in Leitrim could find a fire extinguisher. Between 1976 and 1994 they played in 14 senior county finals ,winning eight, drawing one and losing five. Even more remarkable during the period they lost three successive finals 1996-1998, and won three successive finals 1992-1994. Three Aughawillian icons played in all fourteen finals, Mickey Quinn, Frank Smyth, and Pat Flanagan. Six Aughawillain players hold the most senior championship medals in the county, Noel Flynn (9, Seven Ballinamore, two Aughawillian), Patsy Prior, Mickey Quinn, Frank Smyth, Pat & Martin Flanagan all hold eight winners medals. Mickey Quinn won an All Star in 1990 without having played in Croke Park
One of the stalwarts of the 76 team was Frank Darcy. All Leitrim GAA clubs with Dublin based players were grateful to Frank Darcy.
Frank was deeply involved in coaching and training the teams over the years. Frank was the go-to man in Dublin where a lot of the Aughawillian players were based in that period. Frank was the Dublin trainer and Tuesdays & Thursdays nights were spent in the Phoenix Park. Someone said that āFrank spent more time in the Phoenix Park than the President.ā Frank welcomed any other club player in Leitrim that wanted to train with them on one condition āNo messers.ā If you were going training with Aughawillian you were training with winners. The training was professional, and some Leitrim clubs ( Fenagh) joined these weekly sessions. Frank and Pat Priorās involvement did not stop with Aughawillian, and both participated in Leitrim teams over the years , Pat was manager of Aughawillian in 1989 and Manager of the Leitrim Minor team when in 1998 when they won the Connacht minor championship. Frank was the Dublin trainer and selector for Leitrimās Senior success in 1994. Not only did Frank himself contribute enormously he brought his two sons Declan & Kenneth to play for Aughawillian and Leitrim and the rest is history as they say. Declan Darcy famously lifted the Nestor Cup in 1994 when Leitrim beat Mayo 0-12 to 2-4 on a never to be forgotten day for Leitrim supporters.
Not only did the 1976 win propel the mens team to future success, the ladies saw what could be done and in 1978 established ladies football on a formal basis in the county and went on the become as successful or more successful than the men. The Quinn sisters, Maeve,Deirdre, and Mary have the unique distinction of winning seven All Star awards, Maeve has three, Mary & Deirdre has two each.
So hereās to the memories, the legendary figures, and the unyielding spirit that has defined Aughawillian. Who would have thought one victory in 1976 could set off an unstoppable chain reaction.
Thanks to the 1976 team for igniting a legacy
Eamonn Duignan
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Iām directing YouTube to delete that particular clip.
Youāre dining out on it now since 2008.
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its an exact replica of todays goal,the ball fizzing over the Fenagh goalies head.At least ye didnāt lose today though.
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A wonderful encapsulation of the spirit of themā¦.
Youād never have vanquished them until you were home with the cup.
Every club in the county feared them but respected them in equal measure.
County final night aside the senior championship next year will be the poorer without them.
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Rural clubs in Leitrim will be under serious pressure in the coming years.Those bastards planting Sitka and the lack of planning permission forcing people into towns/villages are killing clubs like Aughawillan.
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100% the local authority is the issue. Thereās less than 30 children in Lisgrudy NS which where all the Willies went to school. Thereās about 100 going to Fenagh NS courtesy of more relaxed planning at the turn of the century.
Aughawillan are in a potentially tight spot. Itās an awkward parish - Ourtrough (Kilmore diocese)- encompassing the Willies, the Neddies and Drumreilly and Ballinamore SOH themselves. The Neds and Drumreilly (a fabulous set-up) have realistic(sh) ambitions of regaining senior status on their own (not gonna happen) but itās difficult to see an amalgamation given the history and traditionā¦.
There may be no choice but to amalgamate unfortunately
Coughsā¦. Youāre fortunately well away from the politics of South Leitrim football. Eamon Duignanās F/B article captured it beautifully - you mightānt love them, you probably feared them, they provided more experts of the ādark artsā than others, they never gave in without taking you to the wireā¦
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