St. Patricks 3:05
Ballinlough 0:03

St. Patricks welcomed the Intermediate Champions to Stamullen for the opening round of the Feis Cup, the weather most inclement wet and wild and did not give the footballers any respect at all to allow for good football to be played.

It took a full 14 mins for the opening score to come, from a free from the St. Pats Shane Landy. The cross winds did not help and much of the attacks from both sides yielded no scores. However after some fine work from the St. Patricks back line of Diarmaid Quinn, David Mc Quillan and David Stafford the ball was carried all the way to the other end and a fine goal was the result from Niall Mooney. Alan Vickers added another point before the whistle was heard for the half. Glad of the break from the winds and rain as even the supportors headed for the inside of the St. Patricks fine clubhouse. Half time : St. Patricks 1. 02 - Ballinlough 0 :00

Second half begin with yet a lot more wides from both sides, however Ballinlough got on the score board first in the second half and both sides trying to play, St. Patricks pressed hard and a point from Neil O' Flaherty (free) got them back on track again. Goals followed from each of the Landy brothers Shane and Donal and a point from Niall Mooney and Donal closed out the game for St. Pats. Tireless work from the whole team from start to finish including all 6 subs used to get the result for St. Patricks considering the cruel conditions on the day. Everyone glad to hear the final whistle on the day.

St. Patricks - Robert Cluskey, Diarmaid Quinn, David Mc Quillan, David Stafford, Shane Mc Ginty, Ray Russell, Andrew Mooney, Finian Everard, Shane Dowling, Barry Mooney, Niall Mooney, Ciaran Calvey, Shane Landy, Alan Vickers, Neil O' Flaherty - Subs : Brian Calvey for Shane Dowling, Adam Byrne for Diarmaid Quinn, Donal Landy for Neil O' Flaherty, Andrew Reilly for Ray Russell, Cormac Everard for Andrew Mooney Seamus Byrne for Robert Cluskey.

St. Pats Progress in Feis Cup

St. Pats ran out deserved winners against Ballinlough in the opening round of the Feis Cup played in blustery conditions in Stamullen on Sunday afternoon.

Ballinlough Report

St. Patricks:     3-5
Ballinlough:     0-3

Both teams struggled to settle in the opening period, with the strong wind keeping scores to a minimum. The home side eventually opened the scoring in the fourteenth minute, when Shane Landy converted a free from a tight angle. Minutes later their lead was extended when Niall Mooney powerfully found the back of the Ballinlough net, after a period of good pressure by his side.

Ballinlough struggled to build any meaningful attacks with a number of moves breaking down in the middle third of the pitch. The adverse weather conditions didn't help their cause, and on another day a number of scoring opportunities could have found their mark.

The visitors young keeper, Lorcan Gibney, was called into action just before the break, expertly saving a one on one chance, before an Alan Vickers point increased St. Pats lead with the last action of the half. This left the 'Lough trailing by 1-2 to 0-0 at the change of ends.

St. Pats continued their purple patch at the start of the second half with another fine score. It wasn't until the thirteenth minute of the period when the Reds got their first score of the contest, when substitute Johnny Reilly fired over the black spot after some patient build up by his side. Moments later, Reilly got his second score of the afternoon when his high ball into the area deceived Robert Cluskey in the St. Pats goal and bounced over the bar.

Shane Landy got the home sides second major score of the afternoon soon after, before Paul Monaghan reduced the deficit with a well taken point from the right hand side.

A flurry of late scores for St. Pats added gloss to the scoreboard, but things are sure to be closer when the two sides meet again in the League in two weeks time.

Ballinlough: L. Gibney, E. Smith, P. Muldoon, R. Farrell, Junior O'Reilly, B. Smith, J. Baugh, L. Maguire, M. Geraghty, J. O'Keefe, S. Geraghty, Cian Mallen, J. Tunney, M. McCullen, J. O'Higgins. Subs: Johnny Reilly (0-2) for J. Baugh, P. Monaghan (0-1) for J. O'Higgins, K. Rothwell for J. Tunney, Colm Mallen for J. O'Keefe.

Tweet

Most Read Stories