Éire Óg 3-05 St Colmcille's 1-17 Having exited the championship, St Colmcilles caused as mild shock when defeating their hosts at Oxford in the League. Colmcilles welcomed back Paul Dolan from suspension, Aaron O'Byrne from injury and Garvan O'Callaghan. Playing against a strong wind in the first half St Colmcille's used the hand passing game to get within range of the Oxford goal. Chris Lee and Paddy White continuously combined to get the ball out to Chris Marley and Adrian O'Rourke who pointed at every opportunity. Despite the advantage of the wind, Éire Óg kept their long range efforts to a minimum and chose to point from close range with cousins Stephen and Thomas Gaughan being particularly effective. As St Colmcilles pulled away, Oxford started to go for the goals and were rewarded with a penalty. Stephen Gaughan's attempt at goal rebounded off the bar and when an Oxford player fell to the floor in the resulting melee, a foul was called and the penalty was converted. Some astute tactical changes in defence in the first half by Adrian Slavin had kept Oxford's points tally to a minimum. They failed to use the wind to build a lead and ended the first half two points down. St Colmcilles continued to successfully go for the points in the second half. This allowed them to maintain a clear lead despite Oxford's two second half goals. Paul Dolan soloed from midfield and scored a goal himself to ensure that Oxford's hopes of a comeback were squashed. Stubborn defending from Neil Whitworth, Plunkett McGreavey and Jason Lohan also drew out frustrations from the Oxford forwards which allowed St Colmcilles to pull away and win the game convincingly. Best for Éire Óg were Ryan Bartlett, Damian Perks and Ralph Jones. Éire Óg are at home to St Vincents in the League whilst St Colmcilles next match is against Cambridge Parnells at Cotlandswick on 6th September after which the league finalists shall be known. Herts Senior Football League Sunday 17 August at 3pm Cambridge Parnells v St Dympnas (Coldhams Common, Cambridge) Éire Óg v St Vincents (Oxford) Saturday 05 September Race Night in Irish Centre, St Albans in aid of Under Age Development Tweet

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