Al’s well that ends well for Joes
St Joseph’s St Mary’s 0-17 0-14
AN excellent display of accuracy with the dead ball from Alan Quigley helped St Joseph’s edge past the Mary’s in a pulsating game of football in Dunleer on Saturday evening.
This Group 1 play-off was played in perfect conditions in front of a big crowd and it was the Dromiskin side who prevailed as they saw off the spirited men from Ardee who played all but five minutes of the game with 14 following Jamie Rooney’s early sending-off.
The Mary’s, last year’s beaten finalists, started well and quickly went two points clear thanks to a couple of close-range Darren Clarke frees.
Daire Smyth then got the Joes up and running with a fine score following an excellent cross-field pass from the boot of Conal O’Hanlon.
In the fifth minute there was a flashpoint between the Joes’ Stefan Potts and Jamie Rooney from St Mary’s. Following consultation with his umpires, referee Paul Finnegan flashed the red card in Rooney’s direction, much to the delight of the travelling Joes supporters.
Derek Mulligan equalised after good work from Alan Lynch, before Darren Clarke’s third free of the game put the Mary’s back in front. Just 30 seconds later the Joes missed a gilt-edge chance as Conal Hanlon’s scuffed his shot wide when one-on-one with the Marys goalkeeper.
Points from Killian Staunton and Conall Smyth gave the Joes the lead for the first time in the game, but the Mary’s came back strongly, dominating the next five minutes, with a couple of points from Ronan Carroll and one from Eimhin Keenan putting the Ardee side 0-6 to 0-4 ahead.
Both sides traded scores in what was becoming an increasingly end-to-end game of football, but it was the Mary’s, defying their numerical disadvantage, who closed out the half strongly with yet another Clarke free kick to put themselves in the driving seat, with a 0-9 to 0-6 advantage at the break.
Daire Smyth and Dean Matthews traded scores at the be- ginning of the second half, before the Marys had a let-off when Alan Quigley dragged his shot wide of the post when clean through on goal.
Dean Matthews smashed a point over the crossbar, but O’Hanlon and Quigley narrowed the gap to leave the scoreboard reading 0-11 to 0-9 with 20 minutes remaining.
It was at this point that Alan Quigley took centre stage, scoring four excellent frees in a 10-minute period, including one from what was seemingly an impossible angle from way out on the left sideline.
Those scores helped the Joes draw level with 10 minutes remaining and at this point it was tough to call a winner.
Conall Smyth’s fitness levels were on full display in the final 10 minutes as he continued to drive his team forward, exploiting inevitable gaps in the Mary’s defence. Points from Quigley, O’Hanlon and substitute Alan McKenna sent the Joes three points clear as the extra man began to yield dividends.
However, the Mary’s bossed in the possession stakes in the final five minutes and ultimately will look back on some wayward shooting as one of the causes of their downfall.
In all the Ardee side shot 14 wides over the hour, compared to just five for the more econom
ical Joes.
Kian Moran elected to point in injury time as the Mary’s reduced the Joes’ lead to two, with time running out.
As the Ardee men desperately sought to conjure another goal chance, an attack broke down and the ball was fed to the outstanding Conall Smyth who ran half the length of the pitch before passing to Alan McKenna who tapped the ball over the bar to seal victory for the Joes.
Defeat means the Mary’s will now face Cooley Kickhams in a relegation play-off final next Sunday.
ST MARY’S: Peter Duffy, Brendan Matthews, John Bingham, Niall Eccles, Conor Keenan, Eimhin Keenan 0-1, Kian Moran 0-2, Robbie Leavy, Ronan Carroll 0-2, Daire McConnon 0-1, Darren Clarke 0-7 (fs), Mark Fay, Dean Matthews 0-1, Alan Kirk, Jamie Rooney. Subs: Karl Faulkner for Dean Matthews (46min), Shane Carroll for Mark Fay (60)
ST JOSEPH’S: Robert Samson, Cian McGuinness, Ben Mulligan, Stefan Potts, David Kerin, Killian Staunton, Alan Lynch, Philip Kinahan, Thomas Smyth, Craig Doherty 0-1, Conall Smyth 0-1, Daire Smyth 0-3, Alan Quigley 0-6 (4f), Conal O’Hanlon 0-3, Derek Mulligan 0-1. Subs: Alan McKenna 0-2 for Stefan Potts, Peter Brennan for Ben Mulligan, Jack Mulligan for Derek Mulligan
REFEREE: Paul Finnegan