ST PATRICKS 2-12
DREADNOTS 0-14

St Patricks became the first team into the Senior Championship quarter-finals when they defeated Dreadnots by four points at Haggardstown on Saturday night.

Victory saw the Lordship side finish top of Group 2 but they were made to fight all the way by a spirited Dreadnots outfit.

Despite not being at their very best, the Pats always looked the more likely winners but it took well-worked goals in either half from Aidan McCann and Danny O'Connor to see off the Clogherhead men.

In an opening quarter that was notable for the number of missed chances from both sides, the Pats got off the mark through Conor Grogan but had a narrow escape when Pat Lynch saw his effort for goal come back off a post. Pepe Smith and the Peter Kirwan pointed either side of a Karl White effort to leave the sides level on 12 minutes.

The Dreadnots then went three clear thanks to Luke Judge and the impressive Kirwan (2), but sensing danger, the Pats upped their game and hit back with an Eamon Carroll point followed by McCann's goal after a fine pass from White on 21 minutes, making it 1-3 to 0-5.

With the final four points of the half shared, the Pats went into the break with a slender one-point advantage.

Padraig Rath levelled just after the restart but scores from White and Paddy Keenan opened up a two-point gap before Dessie Finnegan was given a black card. However, with the Pats still waiting to bring on his replacement they struck for a second goal when Karl White picked out Danny O'Connor and he cut in to find the net and make it 2-7 to 0-8.

The Clogherhead side didn't give up and were unlucky not to cut the gap to one point in the 47th minutes when Liam Shevlin hit the crossbar with a rasping effort. David O'Brien picked up the rebound and was pulled down as he went to shoot but referee Stephen Johnson summed up an inconsistent display by not awarding a penalty.

The game was still in the melting pot entering the closing stages as Pepe Smith's free on 29 minutes cut the gap to 2-10 to 0-14. However, late scores from Paddy Keenan and Danny O'Connor settled the issue in favour of the Pats.

ST PATRICKS: Sean Connor; Kevin Toner, Darren O'Hanlon, Owen Zamboglou; Paudie Mallon, Eamonn Breen, Eoghan Lafferty; Paddy Keenan 0-3, Dessie Finnegan; Aidan McCann 1-1, Karl White 0-3, Ross Murphy; Eamon Carroll 0-2, Danny O'Connor 1-2, Conor Grogan 0-1. Subs: Ray Finnegan for E Breen, Eamonn Breen for D Finnegan (BC), Darragh Lafferty and Evan White.

DREADNOTS: Kenneth Shevlin; Brian Gargan, Derek Shevlin, Conor Murphy; Ryan Gargan, Cian McEvoy, Barry Faulkner 0-1; Pepe Smith 0-4, Padraig Rath; Pat Lynch Peter Kirwan 0-4, Liam Shevlin 0-1; Conor Campbell, David O'Brien, Luke Judge 0-1. Subs: Anthony Williams for R Gargan, Ronan Fitzpatrick for P Lynch. Tweet

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