Kildare GAA: St.Patrick's take out Scoil Mhuire after incredible goal
Leinster Schools 'A' Round 2
St. Patrick's Navan 1-11
Scoil Mhuire Clane 0-7
St. Patrick's Navan came out on top in a competitive Leinster Schools fixture against Scoil Mhuire Clane. St. Patrick's pulled away late on to give this scoreline some shine after a hard and even battle.
The crucial turning point came in the 45th minute with the game's first and only goal. St.Pat’s Matthew Kealy was struggling for options as the Navan team looked to regain the lead with the teams tied on 0-7 each.
Kealy looked long into the full-forward line and appeared to put too much power on his pass into Cian Commons. With the ball flying over Commons’ head, he improvised and added some pace to the ball with a clever punch and placed the ball perfectly into the bottom left corner. It was an exceptional piece of skill, innovation and it was the moment that changed this game.
The game to that point had a certain flow to it, the Navan team visiting Clane were undoubtedly more in control of the ball. However Clane’s positional play was superb and the worth ethic of their team has to be commended as forward stars such as DJ Percival played much deeper to win the ball and get their team up the pitch.
Following the opening score of the game from St.Pats’ Neil McGinley, the teams would score in bursts and each enjoyed spells of good play. Clane responded with a couple of their own which included an absolutely stunning outside of the boot effort from DJ Percival, who was superb at both ends of the field in this game.
In a tight and tense first half both sides had to rely on their free-takers and St.Pats could no doubt rely on their number seven Matthew Kealy who converted 0-4 from set-pieces in the opening half. Following Kealy’s final effort of the opening half an hour, the teams entered the break 0-6 for the Navan outfit to Clane’s 0-5.
It was fast out of the blocks from the restart as St.Pats looked to leave their mark early. However Clane would manage early pressure well, forcing wides and turnovers. They would get their chance down the other end too as Cormac Denagher slotted over a free kick to draw the sides level.
The two teams were never separated by more than two points before Cian Commons’ goal, which would do the damage with the teams drawn level. With the home side on the ropes, the St. Pats team seemed settled and took control of the game from that point on.
The goal was followed by well-taken scores from Robbie Finnegan, substitute Ben Corkery and two from Cian Commons put the visitors out of sight for victory in a tough game.
Scorers
St. Patrick's, Cian Commons 1-3, Matthew Kealy 0-4 (0-4 frees), Neil McGinley 0-1, Andrew Canavan 0-1, Robbie Finnegan 0-1 (0-1 frees), Ben Corkery 0-1.
Scoil Mhuire, DJ Percival 0-3 (0-3 frees), Cormac Denagher 0-2 (0-2 frees), James Ralph 0-1, Adam Fitzpatrick 0-1.
Teams
ST.PATRICKS: Luke Healy; Luc Doyle, Breandán McGuinness, Cormac Liggan; Lorcán O'Connor, Danny Waters, Matthew Kealy; Darren O'Brien, Tadhg Martyn; Ciaran Quinn, Robbie Finnegan, Andrew Canavan; Billy Smyth, Cian Commons, Neil McGinley.
Subs: Ben Corkery on for Ciaran Quinn (43 minutes), Oisin O'Neill on for Andrew Canavan (55 minutes), Sam Kirwan on for Neil McGinley (55 minutes).
SCOIL MHUIRE: Hugh Muldoon; Enda Keane, Conor Sullivan, Cian Burke; Calum Doran, Daniel Colbert, Ethan Farrell; James Keely, James Donlon; Adam Fitzpatrick, Cormac Denagher, Rhys Vaughan; Darragh Mullahy, DJ Percival, James Ralph.
Subs: Tadhg O'Donoghue on for Ethan Farrell (43 minutes), Sean Dunne on for James Donlon (50 minutes), James O'Donoghue on for Cian Burke (50 minutes), Ronan Doorey on for DJ Percival (59 minutes).