St. Michaels held out for a hard earned two point victory over Kilmainham in atrocious conditions in Grangegoddan. A gale force wind blew from side to side while the heavy showers carried ice in them which did little to encourage the 30 players on the pitch into producing the type of football they are capable of. 

St. Michaels 1-5 Kilmainham 0-6

Scores were at a premium with St. Michaels first on the board with a point from Oran Meehan in the second minute, Mark Newman levelled matters two minutes later, six minutes elapsed before the sides exchanged points again with a Ronan Lynch pointed free which was quickly followed by a Jonny Quinlan point at the other end. Then on 12 minutes Oran Meehan beat the outstretched Declan Nelson in the Kilmainham goals for the only goal of the match. Kilmainham did have a good goal chance on 14 minutes but Paul McCormack pulled off a point blank save to deflect the ball wide and the resultant '45 was sent wide. The remaining 16 minutes of the half produced just a single point which came from Kilmainham and it left St. Michaels with a 1-2 to 0-3 half time lead.

Kilmainham made the better start to the second half and were back on level terms on 37 minutes, they went one point up four minutes later but St. Michaels were back on level terms on 36 minutes when Oran Meehan sent over his sides opening point of the second half from a free after Matthew Halpin was brought down. Kilmainham failed to score again for the remainder of the second half but they were denied another goal chance by another great save by McCormack in the St. Michaels goals. The match was looking very like it would be heading for extra time in this knockout competition much to the dismay of the few hardy souls who sought shelter in any nook or cranny they could find in Grangegoddan, but Ronan Lynch and Oran Meehan struck for a point apiece in the 29th and 30th minutes to put St. Michaels into the quarter final where they will meet Syddan. Considering the conditions all the players put in an honest hour's work.

St. Michaels team & scorers: Paul McCormack, Sam Briody, Jamie Reilly, John Stafford, Christopher Drew, Philip Rogers, Mark Stafford, David Lynch, Matthew Halpin, Ronan Cassidy, Peter O'Connell, Kevin Cassidy, Oran Meehan 1-3, Ronan Lynch 0-2, Ben Tobin.
Subs: Anthony Briody for Matthew Halpin 52 minutes, Mickey Dunne for Ben Tobin 54 minutes.

Referee: Shane Mooney.

Report: Pascal Reilly.

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