The anatomy of Hoolan’s match-winning goal
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GOAL’ Andy Hoolan (partly hidden) puts the ball into the Ardscoil Rís net for the winning score in injury time. (INSET) The tension of Harty Cup action is etched in the faces of CBS Nenagh fans at Cusack Park Ennis on Saturday. 8PhotoS: Bridget Delaney BRIDGET DELANEYImage 2 of 3
The tension of Harty Cup action is etched in the faces of CBS Nenagh fans at Cusack Park Ennis on Saturday. Photo: Bridget Delaney BRIDGET DELANEYImage 3 of 3
GOAL’ Andy Hoolan (white helmet) gets his shot to score the winning goal. (INSET) The tension of Harty Cup action is etched in the faces of CBS Nenagh fans at Cusack Park Ennis on Saturday. Photos: Bridget Delaney BRIDGET DELANEYBy Shane Brophy
If Nenagh CBS were going to break their duck in the Harty Cup final, you couldn’t script it any better.
With Ciaran Foley standing over a free 80-yards out, it was goal or bust, and when the delivery fell short of the 21-yard line, one wondered would referee Cathal McAllister blow the final whistle as the two minutes of added time were up.
But play went on and Austin Duff won possession and played it to Andy Hoolan who moved it on to sub Brian O’Meara, who from 25-yards out at an angle got off a great strike that looked destined for the top scorer of the net, only for Ardscoil Ris goalkeeper Fionn O’Brien to make a great save.
One wondered was that the last chance as the ball rebounded to the right of the goal but another sub, Darragh Treacy kept the ball alive, not once, but twice, handpassing it back onto the danger zone where Eoghan Doughan and Jake Hackett got initial touches before Andy Hoolan wrote his name in folklore with the five-yard tap-in.
“I said to Jack (Peters) will I go into the square and he told me to, and we got the goal out of it,” Hoolan recalled.
“I just ran into the square, Jake Hackett was on the ground, and I just got a little flick, whether it was him or me, it doesn’t really matter as we are Harty champions.”