Perhaps the best year ever for St. Pat's
November 27, 2011
When St Patrick's commenced their SFC campaign with a victory over Walterstown and followed that with a win against defending champions Skryne they looked to be well on course for a place in the knockout stages, but two minimum margin defeats followed which derailed their qualification prospects.
Their two visits to Pairc Tailteann in the 2011 championship brought disappointment when they lost to Dunboyne in the third round and Duleek/Bellewstown in the fourth and after that they had a long wait before their fate was known as they had a bye in the last round. Things didn't work out favourably and they were edged out by Walterstown on score difference for second place. To say it hurt was an understatement.
Ciaran O'Hare, a former player with Erin's Isle in Dublin, was again at the helm this year when an obvious aim was to do better than last year when they failed to reach the quarter-finals after winning once, drawing twice and losing twice in a six-team group. Four points was never going to be sufficient to maintain their interest in the championship.
There was a consolation last year in the form of promotion to the top flight of the A League, though disappointment followed when they were well beaten by Navan O'Mahonys in the Division 2 final. They warmed well to the greater challenges of the top division this term and finished second behind the Navan men, before again losing to them in the final.
When the draw for the SFC was made back in the spring St Patrick's would have viewed their opening game against Walterstown as one they could definitely win to kick start their qualification bid and that's how it turned out as they triumphed by 1-12 to 0-11 at Dunshaughlin.
Niall Mooney's goal midway through the second half was vital to the win, but it was Walterstown who started the game best as they opened up a 0-4 to 0-1 advantage after only seven minutes. St Patrick's soon settled and reeled off six successive points courtesy of Daithi Whyte (three), Barry Campbell, Darren Hagan and Finian Everard to lead by 0-7 to 0-4 by the 23rd minute.
Walterstown finished the first period on the front foot as they got back to level terms (0-7 each) at the interval. They led twice in the first six minutes of the second half, but Mooney's goal following a centre from substitute Ronan Kearns put the Stamullen men in the driving seat.
Everard, Donal Landy and Whyte landed late points to seal a victory which set them up nicely for a tricky looking second round assignment against Skryne at Ashbourne. St Patrick's did themselves no favours by kicking 11 wides, but such wayward shooting didn't prevent them from recording a deserved 2-8 to 1-8 win.
Skryne, who were playing their first match in defence of the Keegan Cup, took the lead inside 10 seconds with a point from Mark Battersby, but the response from St Patrick's was highly encouraging. A very good move ended with Whyte palming past Felim O'Rourke for a goal on two minutes and when Niall Whearty found the net in the fourth minute they were ahead by 2-1 to 0-1.
Skryne gradually settled, finished the first half best and reduced the deficit to 0-7 to 2-4 by half-time. They were level a minute into the second period after Eabhann Connolly saved well from Kevin Mulvaney, but Ian Davis was on hand to goal from the rebound, and at that stage the champions looked more likely to prevail.
Brian Byrne suggested that that would be the case when he edged them ahead, but they failed to score for the remaining 28 minutes as St Patrick's notched the remaining four points to secure a great win. Whearty had them level from a free at the three-quarter stage, Whyte put them back in front, but their supporters were then made to sweat as chances to kill off the game were squandered.
But the scores eventually came again as Whyte and the brilliant Mooney found their range and St Patrick's had secured a victory which suggested they were well on their way to the quarter-finals. But from the great high of a victory over the champions came two lows in the form of those minimum margin losses suffered at the hands of Dunboyne and Duleek/Bellewstown.
Their only win of the 2010 SFC came against Dunboyne, but the St Peter's men got their revenge this year when they came from behind to win by 0-12 to 0-11. This game was unusual in that referee Joey Curley had to retire with an injury at the interval and was replaced by Colm McManus.
It was also a game dominated by the wind which favoured St Patrick's in the first half. They used it to race into a 0-5 to 0-0 lead inside the first five minutes thanks to points from Whyte, Ciaran Calvey, Donal Landy and Barry Campbell (two frees) and the advantage stood at 0-9 to 0-3 at the break after Whearty, Campbell, Landy and Campbell again had hit the target.
It was touch and go at that stage whether a six-point advantage would be enough and when Dunboyne had cut the deficit to 0-8 to 0-9 by the three-quarter stage the answer appeared to be no. Finian Everard gave St Patrick's hope with a point, but they managed only one further score, from Whyte near the end, as Dunboyne just did enough to win.
Duleek/Bellewstown chose the fourth round against St Patrick's to secure their only group win, but the 1-12 to 1-11 success didn't drag them clear of the relegation scrap. What it did do was spell the end of the Stamullen side's title dream - in the most painful circumstances - though they didn't know it at the time.
One of Duleek/Bellewstown's points came from a Peter Curran penalty after two minutes as they edged into a 0-8 to 0-7 interval lead and a goal on 44 minutes from Ciaran Byrne proved a huge boost as it helped to increase their advantage to 1-9 to 0-8. St Patrick's were in trouble, but they played their best football in the last 10 minutes.
Landy gave them hope when he goaled from a penalty on 57 minutes after Cormac Sullivan had been fouled by Ricky Nolan. That score left them two points in arrears and that soon became one when Campbell split the uprights. But, unfortunately, they were unable to get the equaliser which would have made all the difference.
St Patrick's had a bye in the last round of group games, which meant a long and anxious wait before they would know their fate. When the action eventually resumed in early August, Skryne defeated Dunboyne and Walterstown beat Duleek/Bellewstown. Of huge significance was the fact that the champions were out, despite their success, and so too were St Pat's.
Dunboyne topped the group on six points, followed by Walterstown, St Patrick's and Skryne on four. With the calculators working overtime they revealed bad news for St Pat's and Skryne and it was particularly painful for the Stamullen men. Walterstown's score difference of plus six was one better than O'Hare's team and three superior to Skryne's.
It was Dunboyne and Walterstown who would progress to the quarter-finals. For the other two there was just misery.
From their 12 matches in the A League Division 1, St Patrick's won nine and lost three and their tally of 18 points left them in second place behind O'Mahonys on 21. The Navan men defeated them by 1-10 to 2-4 in the early stages of the competition at Brews Hill back in March and they repeated that success in the final under lights at Ashbourne in November.
O'Mahonys won by 1-15 to 0-8 when the teams met in the Division 2 final last year and this time they triumphed by 2-9 to 1-7, with a brace of goals at the start of the second half proving decisive. Seven wides in the first period proved costly for the Stamullen men who were on level terms (0-4 each) at the interval.
The eventual winners scored the first two points and it took St Patrick's until the 15th minute to open their account when Barry Campbell scored. Niall Mooney slotted over an equaliser four minutes later and Niall Whearty and Brian Calvey were also on target before the change of ends.
A blistering start to the second half steered O'Mahonys firmly in the direction of a first Mooney Cup annexation in 16 years and shattered St Patrick's hopes of the title. Alan Forde and Niall McKeigue goaled and with a 2-5 to 0-4 lead after 34 minutes the Navan men were in a very strong position.
St Patrick's scored 1-3 in the second period, including a Mooney goal, but they were beaten decisively.
The St Patrick's team in the final was: E Connolly; D Stafford, K Whearty, A Mooney; R Russell, D Hagan, R Kearns; B Calvey (0-1), C Calvey; N Mooney (1-1), B Campbell (0-2), F Everard; D Landy (0-1), N Whearty (0-1), D Whyte. Subs - JP Ryan for N Whearty, A Reilly (0-1) for B Calvey, B Mooney for A Mooney, S Landy for Kearns.
Coach Ciaran O'Hare, who will again be at the helm in 2012, was pleased with his team's consistency this year, but disappointed with their championship exit.
"We were very disappointed not to qualify in the championship," he said. "We were in a five-team group and I suppose it was a disadvantage not to be playing in the last round. But that's the way it goes.
"Duleek/Bellewstown had a 20 metre free at the end of their game against Walterstown. If they had put it over the bar we would have got through. I wasn't there, but if I was I would probably have ran onto the field and took it myself! In the end there was only a point in the score difference between ourselves and Walterstown, but that's the way it can work out. Those are the rules.
"We started the championship well with a four-point win over Walterstown and then beat Skryne. We were on a roll at that stage, but there was a break after that which broke the momentum. But it's the same for everybody.
"We lost our other two games by a point. In the Dunboyne match neither team managed to get a foothold. It was a tense game and both teams played poorly. The Duleek/Bellewstown game was a local derby. We were disappointed with the way we played in that one. We just didn't perform. The goal they got in the third quarter was the key to their win."
Exiting the championship many weeks later represented a huge disappointment, but O'Hare was pleased with St Patrick's overall consistency this year.
"We were consistent all year," he added. "That was reflected in the league where our only defeats were by narrow margins. O'Mahonys beat us by five points in the final. They got two goals in the first few minutes of the second half and they killed us off.
"Overall, we were happy with the league, but disappointed with the way the championship worked out. But there's a good future there. We have a lot of talented young players."
St Patrick's reached the quarter-finals of the Feis Cup thanks to victories over St Michael's by 2-16 to 1-5 and Nobber by 3-10 to 0-10, but they were eliminated at the last eight stage by Blackhall Gaels who later lost the final to Dunshaughlin.
Juniors promoted in the reserve league
The St. Pats Junior team had a positive year with a mixed run of results that saw them miss out narrowly in the championship to make the knockout stages but they did make the Division 4 Reserve League Final which saw them finally promoted to Division 3 after four years of trying.
The year started well with League victories against St. Marys Donore, Dunsany, Rathkenny, St. Vincents and many others. The championship was not quite as successful but a great result against Moynalty in Pairc Tailteann where the team fought from nine points down to snatch a draw at the death will live long in the memory. The team were very unlucky against Walterstown in the definitive game of two halves where a storm force wind blew down the field. St. Pats were losing by 2-10 to 0-0 at half-time but the game ended 2-12 to 2-10 in Walterstown's favour. The two points they scored against the wind crucial. Heavy defeats to Donaghmore/Ashbourne and St. Vincents followed but the result of the year for this junior side was undoubtedly the victory over table toppers Ratoath in a thrilling game. Ten mins into the game, St. Pats were now down to the bare 15 players with no more subs on the bench. Every one of the 15 rose to the occasion and took the game to a very strong Ratoath outfit for the remainder of the game. Ratoath showed their own strengths too and dominated for periods but their only reward was three points in the first half thanks to determined defending from the Pats rearguard. At half-time the scores read 0-5 to 0-3 in favour of St. Pats.
The second half proved to be a superb 30 minutes of football with both teams going at each other at a ferocious pace. The strong running of Shane Landy, Neil O'Flaherty and David McQuillan opened up the Ratoath defence time and time again which resulted in points for Landy (0-4) and O'Flaherty (0-4). St. Pats opened opened up a five point cushion but with 10 minutes to go, Ratoath scored 1-1 in a three minute spell to leave just a point between the teams. It was all to play for at this stage. Ratoath threw everything bar the kitchen sink at the Pat's backline but Niall Black, Jack Stillman and Karl Heffernan held firm in the full back line with great support from McQuillan and Frawley. Landy and O'Flaherty scored one more point each in a tension filled final few mins to win by two points on a score-line of 0-11 to 1-6.
Team: Kieron Russell, Jack Stillman, Niall Black, Karl Heffernan, Tommy Reilly, David McQuillan (0-1), John Frawley, Shane Dowling (0-1), Bryan Mallon, Shane Landy (0-), Martin Mc Kenna, Richie Folan, Fergus Minogue (0-1), Gavan Duffy, Neil O' Flaherty (0-4). Subs: Stephen Mc Loughlin for Fergus Minogue, Conor Rothwell for Tommy Reilly.
Unfortunately, St. Pats lost their final game to Boardsmill and that effectively ended their interest in the Junior B Championship but they did go on to contest the Reserve League final after going through the league campaign unbeaten.
The old adage that 'goals win games' was never more relevant than in this final when a wonderful competitive game of football was played out between St. Patricks and Rathkenny. On the night, it just wasn't to be as Rathkenny defied the odds and recorded a second league final win over the same opposition in four years, 3-7 to 2-7.
The game started brightly for St. Pats as they dominated possession and went into a quick lead as Brian Calvey, Neil O'Flaherty and Shane Landy slotted over points. However, St. Pats were guilty of wasting many chances too and during one five minute period in particular, they kicked three shots short into the goalie's hands and three wides in quick succession. On 20 minutes, Niall Black won possession in the full back line and the ball was played up the field at pace to end up at the feet of the highly talented Shane Landy who coolly stroked the ball to the back of the net to leave the scores at 1-4 to 0-2. Ronan Kearns tore up the field from centre back to score a superb point to extend their lead. Against the run of play, Rathkenny won a penalty and a free and scored both to leave only 2 points between the teams at half-time.
St. Pats couldn't have gotten a better start to the second half as Neil O'Flaherty ran a full 40 yards before crashing the ball to the back of the net and what looked like game, set and match for the boys in green and white. Rathkenny then scored three points on the bounce to leave just two in it.
With 12 minutes to go came the crucial part of the game. A high speculative ball was sent in to the St. Pats square which came off the crossbar and was punched to the net by Murt Donnelly. Two mins later, Rahtkenny had another goal. It was cruel on St. Pats who dominated for so long in the game.
St. Pats can have no complaints as they had plenty of chances to win but it just didn't go for them on the night. Best for St. Pats in a highly entertaining night for football were Shane Dowling, Brain Calvey, Ronan Kearns, Niall Black, David McQuillan, Neil O'Flaherty and Shane Landy.
Team: Kieron Russell, David McQuillan, Niall Black, Mark McPhilips, Shane McGinty, Ronan Kearns (0-01), Shane Dowling, Brian Calvey (0-01), Martin McKenna, Shane Landy (1-04), Alan Vickers, Bryan Mallon, Paul Markey, Neil O'Flaherty (1-01), Stephen McLoughlin. Subs: Colin Folan for Paul Markey, Eoin Moynihan for Stephen McLoughlin, Tommy Reilly.
Many thanks to the hard work and commitment of the team management, selectors and players throughout the year and here's hoping 2012 will be just as enjoyable and will bring with it some success.
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