St Michaels 0:12 Walterstown 2:14

The last time Walterstown visited Carlanstown , in the league, was the evening the Blacks were relegated to Division 3, and the early signs were not good, with the Walterstown squad severely depleted.

St Michaels were first to register a score, with three points in the first ten minutes and their superiority in the opening minutes was reflected on the score board. Walterstown had to wait for thirteen minutes before scoring their first point via the boot of Brian O Connell.  Less than a minute later Walterstown forward Joe Geoghegan had to go off after suffering a heavy blow to the face and was replaced by Sam McCabe. Walterstown's Stephen Davis pitched in with two points, (one a free) and despite St Michael’s early domination they were not stretching their lead. Sam McCabe made a surging run into the Michael’s area on 20 minutes, and laid of the ball to the on rushing Conor Cullen, who returned the ball to Sam, and he coolly slotted the ball into the net. Michaels scored another two points before Conor Lenehan, on a surging run from defence forced a good save from Michaels keeper. Sam McCabe pointed again just before the break and Micheals went into the break one point up.

Half Time St Michaels 0:08 Walterstown 1:04

After the break Walterstown continued to improve and Barry O Connell scored a fine point to tie the sides. Then that man again, Sam McCabe rifled the ball into the net for his and Walterstown's second goal shortly afterwards. Walterstown were now playing with a bit of style and Stephen Davis and David McGuire scored good points from play. The O Connell brothers were linking up well, with Barry supplying Brian for a fine point.  Mark McCormack also pointed with a fine point and was joined on the score board by Alban Crosbie and Joey Coogan. Walterstown were well on top now, and had an eight point lead going into the final few minutes of the match, Michaels needed goals but Ciaran Murphy was unfased between the posts and was backed up with some great defending from Davy Reynolds and Cathal McGuinness. Michael’s did grab two more points but these were cancelled out by points from Brian O Connell and Conor Lenehan.

Eoin Carroll and the Walterstown management team will have been absolutely delighted with the performance of the team, who gave it their all and hit their stride after a ropey opening, and with nine different players registering scores. Onwards to round three!

Walterstown: Ciaran Murphy, Conor Lenehan (0:01), David Reynolds, Conor Cullen, Cathal McGuinness, John Geoghegan, Stephen Davis (0:03(1f)), Conor O Sullivan, Alban Crosbie (0:01(f)), Mark McCormack (0:01), David McGuire (0:01), Barry O Connell (0:01),  Joe Geoghegan (Sam McCabe 2:01) , Brian O Connell (0:04), Joey Coogan(0:01)

Ref: Pat Clarke

St Michaels Report

St. Michaels 0-12, Walterstown 2-14.

Walterstown qualified for the next round of the Corn na Boinne competition with a hard fought victory over hosts St. Michaels on Saturday evening in Carlanstown. There was little between the sides throughout the opening half with just a point separating the sides at the break.                                     

Patrick Tobin opened the scoring for the home side with Shane McCormack following on with two pointed frees. Walterstown made a much slower start only opening their account 13 minutes into the half and they posted 1-3 in the next 7 minutes. St. Michaels enjoyed a purple patch in the second quarter which started with a Patrick Tobin point and they followed up with two minors from Shane McCormack and a fine effort from Oran Meehan to lead by one. Walterstown levelled the match on the stroke of half time, however St. Michaels won their own kick out through Davy Lynch who found Meehan in space and he split the posts for an 0-8 to 1-4 interval lead.                        

A hectic start to the second half saw Walterstown on level terms after 40 seconds, the added their second major a minute later and although Shane McCormack pulled two back the visitors were on a roll adding two more points in quick succession. The wheels came off the St. Michaels wagon as they failed to trouble the score keeper again until the 52nd minute when Mark Stafford popped one over from open play by which stage Walterstown were home and hosed leading by 2-12 to 0-11. McCormack sent over another free to complete the St. Michaels scoring while the visitors added a further two points in the dying minutes to advance to the next round.                          

St. Michaels: Darren O'Connell; Harry Dunne, Christopher Drew, Alan Reilly; Ciaran O'Reilly, David Lynch, Ben Reilly; Mark Stafford (0-1), Matthew Halpin; Shane McCormack (0-7), Shane McDonnell, Lee Morris; Ben Tobin, Oran Meehan (0-2), Paddy Tobin (0-2).  
Sub: Jason O'Donnell for Ben Tobin 55 minutes.

Referee: Pat Clarke.

Report by: Pascal Reilly PRO.

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