Impressive Colaiste Choilm coast into knockout stages

COLAISTE Choilm, Tullamore coasted into the knockout stages of the Leinster Colleges Senior Football Championship with a comfortable win over Patrician of Newbridge in Kilcormac's Faithful Fields on Thursday afternoon.

Leinster Colleges Senior Football Championship round 2

Colaiste Choilm, Tullamore 2-15

Patrician Secondary School, Newbridge 1-7

It was an impressive display by Colaiste Choilm, who were well focused and on their game in all sectors. It was a definite improvement from their first round win over St Joseph's of Rochfortbridge and with the capacity to play even better, the Tullamore school look to have decent prospects.

The winners of Patrician and St Joseph's will join them in the knockout stages and suggestions that Colaiste Choilm were a step ahead of the other teams in this group proved to be accurate here.

Playing against a swirling wind that blew all over the place, Colaiste Choilm built a powerful foundation in the first half and were in control with a 2-7 to 0-4 half time lead.

They were particularly good in the first twenty minutes as they moved fluently, tackled dilligently and won most of the 50-50 battles.They had six points on the board before Patrician registered their first point from a Jack Mahon free in the 17th minute.

Two goals in the space of a minute killed the game off. The first was a fluke as a Niall Furlong free in the 20th minute from 40 metres flew straight to the net and the second arrived a minute later when Luke Bourke finished very well. With Kildare legend John Doyle offering encouragement from the sideline, Patrician improved coming up to half time as Colaiste Choilm's intensity levels dipped. They got the closing three points to give themselves some sort of a chance for the second half, even if it was very much in the slim category.

Colaiste Choilm's second half performance was very impressive. They showed their intent from the start as they played with great focus, leaving the visitors under no illusions about their superiority. They attacked with great ferocity from the throw in, registering five points in a blistering opening five minutes to lead by 2-12 to 0-4.

There was simply no way Patrician could rescue the game from here. It threatened to get messy for a brief couple of minutes as there were a couple of flare ups but Colaiste Choilm held their discipline and in fairness to Patrician, they kept things calm as well and it was clear that they weren't trying to start a row.

Their first second half point came from a 36th minute Sam Ryan free and Ryan Kearney got in for a very good 44th minute goal - Harry Redmond and Ben Loakman added points. That made it 2-12 to 1-7 but the gap was just too big and Newbridge were only in the hunt for consolation scores.

Having relaxed for a few minutes, Colaiste Choilm knuckled down again as Jack Connolly got two points – the first one should have been a goal while the second one was a free – and Ryan Kenny also got a free as they coasted home.

Much tougher battles lie ahead of Colaiste Choilm but this was still an impressive display by them. Their work ethic was very good, their focus on doing the right thing stood out. This was represented all over the field, from the very impressive Brian Malone at corner back, where he never put a foot wrong defensively and used the ball so well up to his Ballinagar club mate Robbie Gallagher at the far end of the field – Gallagher got three first half points and nearly always did the right thing on the ball as he roved deep at times.

Malone was part of an excellent full back line with Ryan Conway and Ben Heffernan very good beside him and they never gave the Patrician full forward line a sniff of it. Cillian Martin was superb at midfield and Cillian Bourke was on the verge of having an excellent game but was just a bit sloppy on the ball at times as he gave some away – the Tullamore man will be very influential from here on.

Up front, Niall Furlong led the attack impressively when Patrician were mildly competitive, Jack Connolly was lively, sharp and incisive inside and Ryan Kenny played his way into the game.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Ryan Conway (Colaiste Choilm): A three way choice between Brian Malone, Ryan Conway and Cillian Martin. Martin put in another tour-de-force at midfield but Conway gets the nod here. He used his strength and physicality to great effect at full back, stopping raiding attackers in their tracks, turning over ball, winning clean possession and using it well.

THE SCORERS

Colaiste Choilm: Jack Connolly 0-6 (3f), Niall Furlong 1-2 (goal from a free), Luke Bourke 1-1, Robbie Gallagher 0-3, Ryan Kenny 0-2 (1f), Ben Heffernan 0-1.

Patrician, Newbridge: Ryan Kearney 1-1, Eoin Curtain, Jack Mahon (f), Cian Byrne (f), Ben Loakman, Harry Redmond and Sam Ryan (f) 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

COLAISTE CHOILM, TULLAMORE: Sean Kavanagh; Brian Malone, Ryan Conway, Ben Heffernan; Jack Daly, Ter Guinan, Eoghain Spain; Cillian Martin, Cillian Bourke; Luke Bourke, Niall Furlong, Dan Bourke; Jack Connolly, Robbie Gallagher, Ryan Kenny. Subs – Gary Merriman for Luke Bourke (40m), Eoin Dunne for Cillian Bourke (50m), James Kelly for Guinan (50m), Steven Doran for Dan Bourke (56m), Cian Malone for Furlong (57m).

PATRICIAN COLLEGE, NEWBRIDGE: Cathal Moore; Tom Stapleton, James Loughman, Adam Joyce Bowles; Padraig Daly, Conor Walsh, Josh Hanley; Sean Hennessy, Conor Sheerin; Eoin Curtain,Jack Mahon, Ryan Kearney; Cian Byrne, Joe Dunne, Ben Loakman. Subs – Harry Redmond for Dunne (26m), Sam Ryan for Mahon (HT), Jack Butler for Hennessy (33m), Eoghan Dunne for Hanley (33m), Ian McLoughlin for Loakman (62m).

Referee – Jamie McDonnell (Rosenallis).

REFEREE WATCH

Jamie McDonnell had a very good game. He got most calls right, flashed cards when needed and restored control quickly when things briefly threatened to get out of hand in the second half.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Niall Furlong's 20th minute goal from a free was fortunate but it gave Colaiste Choilm a 1-6 to 0-1 lead and it was over as a contest at an early stage.

VENUE WATCH

Considering the rain that has fallen in recent days, the main pitch at Faithful Fields was in remarkable condition. It allowed the ball to move fast and it was also good to see a nice crowd of parents and interested supporters present.

TALKING POINT

It is great to see Colaiste Choilm competing well at this grade of football and it would be great to see them making further progress.

WHAT'S NEXT

Colaiste Choilm are in the knockout stages while Patrician face St Joseph's of Rochfortbridge in a winner takes it all game.

STATISTICS

Wides: Colaiste Choilm – 3 (0 in 1st half); Patrician – 5 (5 in first half half).

Yellow cards: Colaiste Choilm – 2 (Luke Bourke and Niall Furlong); Patrician – 3 (Padraig Daly, Conor Walsh and Ben Loakman).

Black cards: 0.

Red cards: 0.