Kilmacud Crokes - All Ireland Club Football 7s Champions 2019
Whilst the Champions of Munster and Leinster couldn't be separated first day out in their battle to lift the Sam Maguire Cup, Dublin's kilmacud Crokes claimed the 2019 All Ireland Club Football 7s title.
The prestigious tournament, hosted by Kilmacud Crokes was another fast paced exhibition of football with a number of tightly contested games.
Clubs from Ulster, Leinster and Connacht contested the knockout stages. In the 1st Quarter-Final Galway's Killererin battled bravely but struggled to contain the counter attacking play of the hosts (Kilmacud Crokes) who scored 3-08 from play (61% shot conversion) to book a semi-final meeting with Galway kingpins Corofin. For their part, All Ireland Club Champions Corofin dominated the 2nd Quarter-Final with a convincing 5-06 (5-03 from play: 72% conversion) v 0-06 win over Ballymun Kickhams.
The 3rd Quarter-Final was a tightly contested battle between Down's An Riocht and Thomas Davis of Dublin with no quarter given and no goals conceded. An Riocht's Ronan Campbell maintained his 100% scoreable free conversion rate in the final minute of normal time as the game ended in a draw 0-07(5f) apiece. The Mourne men's clinical finishing in the penalty shootout saw them progress 3-1 with goals from Rory Cunningham, Ronan McAlinden and Ronan Campbell.
The 4th Quarter-Final threw up the second penalty decider of the knockout stages as a highly competitive encounter between Down's Carryduff and St. Patrick's of Wicklow ended 2-09 each. Following some initial excellent play by the Mourne men, St. Patrick's battled back with a goal by Dean Healy 2mins from the end followed by a pointed free from Paul Earls to tie the game in the dying seconds. Carryduff's Goalkeeper Josh Connery was the hero in their 2-0 penalty shootout win, scoring his sides first goal and saving Conor Reid's first effort for St. Patrick's. Sean McGonigle then converted Carryduff's second penalty as Josh Connery made his second penalty save to set up an all Down Semi-Final clash against An Riocht.
The semi-finals served up two intriguing games. First up was the powerhouse clash of the defending All Ireland Football 7s holders Corofin against hosts Kilmacud Crokes. Aidan Jones' goal halfway through the first half was a crucial score for the Dublin Club Champions. In a game of fine margins Kilmacud Crokes greater shot from play accuracy (67%) and 3 score saving blocks saw them dethrone the holders on a scoreline of 1-10(1f) to 0-09(2f).
In the subsequent all Down Semi-Final clash of An Riocht and Carryduff, it was the Kilkeel side who reached their first final, winning 3-13 v 1-11. Two early goals set the platform for An Riocht's victory as Deaglan Morgan's 2nd minute goal was followed by a penalty less than 3 minutes later. This was converted by the impressive Ronan Campbell, the game's top scorer with 2-03(1-02f).
The Final was end to end with both sides trading points in the early stages until Ben Shovlin's goal in the 5th minute allowed Kilmacud Crokes to gain some breathing space. The hosts led 1-06 v 0-05 at the break but the Down side driven on by Deaglan Morgan, Ronan Campbell and Conor Clarke fought back with a late flourish in the second half scoring 1-04. However the composed team play of Kilmacud Crokes, their greater shot accuracy (67% v 50%) and the impressive link play by Cillian O'Shea saw the hosts claim the All Ireland Club Football 7s Title with a 2 point win.
Performa Sports - All Star Football 7s Team 2019
The 2019 All Star Football Team is based on collated stats from the knockout stages of the tournament (Quarter-Finals to Final). Individual player performances were measured using a consistent set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) including Kickouts, Attacks, Shots from Play, Scoreable Frees, Turnovers, Frees Conceded, Bookings and Possessions Lost. Each KPI was assigned a weighted value ranging from -3 to +3 to add a layer of influence to the impact of the KPI - we've labelled this as a Performa Sports Rating (PSR). This PSR value provides us with a deeper insight into the influence each player has on the pitch. All of the data was collected using the Performa Sports iPad app which allowed us to produce a data driven team selection.
Congratulations to Kilmacud Crokes,the 2019 All Ireland Club Football 7s Champions who also won a Performa SportsGAA Analysis and Coaching software license to add to their existing Performaset up for the club's player pathway analysis and competing teams. Joe Turleyfrom Performa Sports presented winning Captain Karl Dias and Manager JohnnyMagee with their prize and tournament stats.
