St Nicholas show no mercy to Clan na Gael
ST NICHOLAS CLAN NA GAEL 10-21 1-2
ST. Nicholas showed no mercy when they obliterated Clan Na Gael in their opening round match of the new Under-20 Football championship on Thursday evening last.
It was a bitterly cold night as the grass glistened from the frost as both teams lined out.
Surprisingly, there was no Donard man on the starting fifteen for the Nic’s.
St. Nicholas turned in a stellar attacking display against the Kilmac/Enniskerry combination team.
Tom Lawlor, Niall Flaherty, along with Paddy Kelly were the stars for the victors.
Midfielder, Paddy Kelly knocked over the first score of the night with a long-range point as Nic’s hit the ground running. Points followed from Daire Wright and Tom Lawlor.
Shane O’Rourke cut through the Gael’s rearguard and fired home Nic’s first major of the evening in the seventh minute.
The lively Tom (Mossy) Lawlor swung over an excellent point that left the East Coast side shellshocked at this stage.
Clan na Gael could not cope with the power and pace of a fastmoving Nic’s unit. Niall Flaherty knocked over a powerful point, high between the posts, into the floodlit sky.
Tomas Lawlor set up Niall Flaherty to rifle home a second goal for the home side, matters would only get worse for the visitors, as Nic’s showed no sign of taking the foot off the gas.
Brian Nolan goaled before Mossy pointed, to put the result beyond doubt with only twenty minutes on the clock.
Clan na Gael finally broke up the field after good work by Sean Clarke who set up Ethan O Mahony, to fire home a goal for the visitors a minute later.
It was immediately cancelled out, by a brace of goals from Tom Lawlor, who was on fire.
A brilliant left-footed point by Paddy Kelly, was followed by another major by Niall Flaherty. Nic’s closed out the half, tagging on three more points, as the half time whistle sounded with the score reading 6-12 to 1-00.
St Nicholas completely dominated proceedings for the next half hour on the scoreboard.
Shane Figgis fired over the opening point before Daire Wright, netted Nic’s sixth major in the next attack.
Sam O’Callaghan got Gael’s first point of the game in the 40th minute. Mart Caplis was in top form,tagging on a brace of points after great work by Mark Reid and MJ Moran.
Finally a Donard man, James Eager broke through three tackles and rifled over a sweet point, the only Donard man, on just for the second half.
The N11 side battled valiantly, but Nic’s applied more gas to the pedal.
It was all about Mossy Lawlor for the rest of the game, as the young man was unstoppable raising, another three green flags.
Jamie Nally knocked over a fine point for the Gaels. The home side drove on and closed out the game with further score from Paddy Kelly and Marty Caplis.
On this form, St Nic’s looked a formidable force, no doubt they will come up against bigger obstacles in the next couple of rounds, while Clan na Gael will have to regroup for the next stage.
Scorers - St Nicholas: Tom Lawlor 5-05, Niall Flaherty 3-05, Daire Wright 1-02, Marty Caplis 0-4, Shane O Rourke 1-0, Pat Kelly 0-2,Brian Nolan 0-1, Shane Figgis 0-1, James Eager 0-1.
Clan na Gael : Ethan O Mahony 1-00, Jake Nally 0-1,Sam O Callaghan 0-1.