NEWTOWN BLUES 1-10

ST PATRICKS 2-6

A Robert Carr point six minutes from the end of normal time proved decisive as Newtown Blues became the only team over the weekend to book their place in the Senior Championship semi-final at the expense of St Patrick's on Saturday evening.

In a tense battle at Dunleer, the Drogheda men fought back from three points down entering the final quarter to complete victory despite finishing the game with 14 men after the dismissal of Andy McDonnell.

The Pats will be bitterly disappointing to have let this game slip from their grasp as they looked to be in pole-position in the third quarter when they held a three-point lead. However, they have been guilty of fading from games in the closing stages over the course of the season and once again were made pay a heavy price for failing to score in the closing 20 minutes.

The game began with the Blues on top and they got off the mark with two Ross Nally frees before Daniel O'Connor and Eoin O'Connor levelled.

The Blues then went two ahead through Nally and Colm Judge before the Pats took the lead for the first time when Daniel O'Connor scored the first goal of the game on 16 minutes, which was quickly followed by a Paddy Keenan point to put his team 1-3 to 0-4 in front.

The lead didn't last too long as the Blues responded with a fine individual goal from John Kermode after 18 minutes.

Keenan levelled soon after and although Nally restored the Blues lead, a late point from Evan White saw the teams go in at the break level at 1-5 apiece.

The Lordship men appeared to have taken control of proceedings when Eoin O'Connor found the net fives minutes into the second half. Andy McDonnell struck a point for the Blues but another Keenan score had the Pats leading by 2-6 to 1-6 on 40 minutes.

However, the Pats couldn't build on that advantage and lost their way in the remainder of the game as the Blues slowly took control. Points from Colm Judge, Hugh McGinn and Andy McDonnell had the teams level going into the last ten minutes.

Carr then popped up to put the Drogheda men in front and despite having McDonnell dismissed, the Blues held out as the Pats failed to find the target in the closing stages.

NEWTOWN BLUES: Dean Martin; John Connolly, Fergal O'Donoghue, Niall Costello; Kevin Carr, Cormac Reynolds, Paul Moore; Andy McDonnell 0-2, John Kermode 1-0; Colm Judge 0-2, Robert Carr 0-2, Ciaran Downey; Ross Nally 0-4, Derek Kierans, Conor Moore. Subs: Emmet Carolan for N Costello, Conor Branigan for C Downey, Ciaran McGinn for R Nally.

ST PATRICKS: Sean Connor; Jason Woods, Darren O'Hanlon, Aaron Rogers; Conor Grogan, Dessie Finnegan, Rory Duffy; Thomas McCann, Paddy Keenan 0-3; Evan White 0-1, Cathal Grogan, Aidan McCann; Ray Finnegan, Eoin O'Connor 1-1, Danny O'Connor 1-1. Subs: Kevin Toner for R Duffy, Daragh Lafferty for E White, Daniel Rice for Cathal Grogan, Ross Murphy for J Woods.

Tweet

Most Read Stories