Cardiff overcame somewhat of a slow start against Brighton Crawley Gaels to secure their place in the Gloucestershire Senior Football Championship Final on Sunday at St Mary’s RFC, Trench Lane in Bristol. Both teams had the benefit of running a close eye over their potential opposition as St Nick’s of Bristol took on St Judes of Bournemouth in the early throw in.

It was wet and windy as the teams took to the field in what was Brighton’s first foray in to the depths of the Gloucestershire Senior Championship, having joined from the London Championship this year. Brighton started well and opened the scoring with a long range point to announce their arrival to the lads from the other side of the Severn.

It did not take Cardiff long to get themselves on the scoreboard as some great work by Dan Corrigan and Ciaran Monaghan enabled Kevin Smyth to find the ever busy Paul Quinn. Like an extra from Dodgeball, Paul ducked, dived and dodged and found himself some space to take his score and level the game. Cardiff built on this as Ciaran Slevin began causing trouble as he exchanged passes with Tack Quinn before taking a lovely point to put Cardiff in front.

Both teams exchanged scores as they started to find their feet in the game. Cardiff made a decisive play as Ollie Harney broke forward from the half back line and delivered a long ball in to the square which deceived the Brighton goalkeeper and found its way into the net. Brighton responded with a few points from frees but were held at bay by the faultless Daire Foley, Cathal Garvey and Cardiff’s own Peter Pan, Barry McDonnell. A great block by Johnny Murray and a commanding claim by goalkeeper Aidan Farrelly ensured that the dew remained intact on the Cardiff net.

The final score of the half was a sight to behold as quick thinking from Farrelly taking a line ball caught the Brighton forward line off guard as he found Daire Foley who fed namesake Des as Cardiff drove right at the heart of the Brighton defence. This resulted in a great passing move culminating in a great score by Ciaran Slevin to send Cardiff in leading 1-5 to 4 points at the half.

The second half started slowly as both teams failed to assert their dominance before Brighton sprung to life. They kicked 2 points unanswered as they piled pressure on the Cardiff back line. Cardiff finally seemed to find their rhythm as, with their backs to the wall, they began to take charge of the game. A move started by Cathal Garvey and some great play from David Tack Quinn put Paul Quinn in on goal and he drilled the ball in to the net to put Cardiff further ahead. This was quickly followed up with a great point from the industrious Will Holten from a very tight angle. Credit to Johnny Murray and Kevin Smyth for their tireless efforts during this tough period of the game.

Another goal followed as Cardiff substitute Jimmy ‘Beyonce’ Knowles picked out Ciaran Slevin who’s handpass was depatched to the net by Duffy to put Cardiff in sight of the County Final. This was followed up by another cracking point from Will Holten and an absolutely booming long range point from Dan ‘Grass’ Corrigan. They call him grass because he’s all over the field. As Barry McDonnell and Daire Foley made telling blocks at one end, centre back Ollie Harney bombed on to take another great score to put the game out of sight.

There was however time for a great point from wing back Johnny Murray who tellingly pointed to the sky as the ball floated between the posts. There has been an ongoing debate ever since as to whether this was more of an Alan Shearer or Georgie Best move. It may just have been an acknowledgement to above for the tactical gust of wind which ensured that the Mayor of Ely Johny Power added Murray’s name to the score sheet.

Cardiff now move on to the county final in 2 weeks where they will face St Nicks of Bristol in Cardiff. It should be an absolute cracker!

Cardiff: Aidan Farrelly, Cathal Garvey, Barry McDonnell, Daire Foley, Johnny Murray, Ollie Harney, Dan Corrigan, Kevin Smyth, Ciran Monaghan, A Duffy, Des Foley, Ciaran Slevin, Paul Quinn, David Tack Quinn, Will Holten.

Subs: Amin Dadger, Jimmy Knowles, Dan McCool,

Management: Marty Dolan, Mossy Burke