THE LONG wait for a trophy has ended for Rugby Gaels after they beat rivals James Connolly to lift the Kennedy Cup.
The Gaels had gone eight years since winning any silverware but this time around they recovered from a slow start to win by 24 points (3-15) to 13 (1-10).
It was a proud day for the club who have made great strides this year both on and off the pitch and the trophy was a fitting reward to the management team of Mick Treacy and Paul McGrath who put in countless hours to get the Gaels to where they are now.
Connolly were a couple of points ahead when Ben O’Riordan was harshly called for a foul and the quickly taken free caught the Gaels defence napping.
The resulting shot came off the luckless Joe O’Sullivan and past the stranded Joe O’Brien into the Rugby goal.
The Gaels responded with points from Connor Shaw, Alex Baalham Donaldson, Sean Breen and Ryan Ward.
The dynamic midfield partnership of Lewis Fairgrieves and Fenton Collins were getting the upper hand and when Brandon Clarke fed Mike Cremin to score a goal just on half time, Rugby were in front by 11 points (one goal and eight points) to Connolly’s ten (one goal and seven points).
The Gaels started the second half brightly extending their lead with an excellent goal from Connor Shaw.
With half backs Stephen Clarke and Ciarán Beesley in control in defence Rugby continued to press against a tiring Connolly.
Neil Merrigan on as a replacement grabbed Rugby’s third goal with a lovely side foot finish following neat work from Danny Walsh.
The scoring was complete when substitute Adrian Roche capitalised on a loose ball deep into injury time to take Rugby’s margin of victory to eleven points.
