St. Michaels 1-17, Na Fianna 3-10.

Dense fog delayed the start of this match in Athboy on Sunday morning but once the action got underway it was a battle royal from there until Marcus Quinn blew the final whistle much to the delight of the St. Michaels supporters. This was a game that Na Fianna came ever so close to clawing back but after putting in a dramatic late surge they eventually had to give way to a superb St. Michaels outfit in this thrilling first round match.

Both sides traded a point apiece in the opening two minutes with Oran Meehan opening the winners account. Ronan Lynch added a second point on 4 minutes and some good work from Jamie Farrelly resulted in him firing over to put two between the sides, another Lynch point on 9 minutes stretched the gap to 3 points. Although Na Fianna were taking the game to St. Michaels they couldn't make their possession count on the scoreboard and it was the 17th minute before they registered their second point which came from a free, goal chances went a begging for them but that was due mainly to the excellent shot stopping by Paul McCormack in the winners goals, St. Michaels on the other hand defended strongly and attacked with pace and had players like Jamie Farrelly, Peter O'Connell, Ronan Lynch, Gary Dolan, Oran Meehan and Ben Tobin who were a constant thorn in the Na Fianna side. On the 20 minute mark Peter O'Connell found Jamie Farrelly from a sideline ball and he made no mistake sending a screamer to the roof of the net to leave it 1-4 to 0-2. St. Michaels teams have a habit of building up leads and then sitting back and admiring their good work and this game was no different, in a 4 minute period Na Fianna reduced the deficit to a single point but St. Michaels regained the initiative and Oran Meehan kicked a fine point on 28 minutes and a minute later Jamie Farrelly punched one over the bar for a 1-6 to 0-6 half time lead.

A Ronan Lynch converted free after Ben Tobin was fouled and a Peter O'Connell point put five between the sides 3 minutes into the second half however some good work from Na Fianna resulted in their opening goal coming on 36 minutes, they followed up 2 minutes later with a point to trail 1-8 to 1-7, a fine individual effort from Peter O'Connell stretched that lead to two points, St. Michaels still held the upper hand in the possession stakes and a Ronan Lynch free after he was fouled heading goalwards stretched the lead further. The same two players combined again when a quick free from Lynch found O'Connell who turned and sent it over to put four between the sides at the three quarter stage. Na Fianna pulled one back but St. Michaels were controlling matters around the middle third and two points each from Gary Dolan and Ronan Lynch left it 1-15 to 1-8 at the 50 minute mark, but once again St. Michaels were caught ball watching and they let Na Fianna back into the game by conceding 1-1 in a 3 minute spell. To their credit they regained the upper hand again through some excellent defending by Sam Briody, Christopher Drew, Jamie Reilly and Lee Morris and a point apiece from O'Connell and Lynch put 5 points between the sides with 59 minutes gone on the clock. Na Fianna kept plugging away and they sent one over the bar in the first minute of injury time and as the seconds ticked away Na Fianna were awarded a penalty when their player was fouled in the square, this was duly sent to the back of the net past the outstretched Paul McCormack, it was a one point game and Na Fianna got the opportunity to level the match in the 4th minute of injury time but the shot was ballooned well wide and the referee called for the ball as McCormack placed it for the resultant kick-out.  

St. Michaels team & scorers:
Paul McCormack, Adam O'Brien, Sam Briody, Christopher Drew, James Reilly, Lee Morris, Matthew Halpin, Peter O'Connell 0-4, Oran Meehan 0-2, Jamie Farrelly 1-3, Gary Dolan 0-2, Ben Tobin, Ronan Lynch 0-6.
Subs: Thomas O'Brien for Ben Tobin, Ollie Reilly for Lee Morris, Michael Murphy for Oran Meehan.

Referee: Marcus Quinn.

Report and photo Pascal Reilly.

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