Drogheda Independent

First blood to St Bride’s in group of death

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ST BRIDE’S sent out a big statement of intent to their Intermedia­te Championsh­ip rivals when they recorded a five-point victory over Clan na Gael at Ardee on Saturday evening.

In what was a lively game from the outset the Knockbridg­e side had the better of proceeding­s throughout but a series of missed chances saw them fail to take full control. They were almost made to pay for those failings when a Billy Smith goal on 27 minutes helped cut a fivepoint lead to just one.

However, the Brides, who deployed Aaron Hoey in a sweeper role, finally found their consistenc­y in front of the posts and led by the impressive Sean Marry they landed five successive points inside four minutes to seal a deserved victory.

It was to prove to be a disappoint­ing evening for the Clans who, despite their best efforts, were unable to find any real rhythm despite them making the perfect start when Mark Newell opened their account with a goal after picking up a Mark McGeown pass.

That goal came after Kevin Hearty had scored the first point of the game and he was to become the star of the first half for the Brides and he had three points on the board inside the first quarter along with a Conall Devin free to put his side 0-4 to 0-3 in front. However, the Clans enjoyed their best spell of the game with points from Billy Smith (2) and Leo Martin to take the lead.

The Brides didn’t help their cause with a total of seven wides but Hearty wasn’t found wanting in the 27th minute when he slipped the ball under Sean Smyth to send his side in leading by 1-5 to 1-4 at the break.

The Knockbridg­e men were playing with the greater cohesion in the second half and with Paddy Reilly and Conor Deane getting on top in the middle, and the half back line of Mark Hoey, Andrew Smith and Michael Keane driving forward the took control of the game.

Again they were guilty of missing chances but with Sean Marry coming to the fore and Reilly finding his range they opened up a 1-11 to 1-6 gap on 27 minutes.

The Clans were give hope when Smith pounced to fire home a loose ball before a Robbie Curran point reduced the deficit to 1-11 to 2-7.

However, the Brides response was impressive and Marry completed a fine second half display with two quick-fire points before Sean Brennan, Andrew Smith and Reilly landed scores to seal victory despite a late Clans point from sub Ciaran O’Connor.

ST BRIDES: Conall Devin 0-1 (f); Ronan Bailey, Killian Kirk, David Kettle; Mark Hoey, Andrew Smith 0-1, Michael Keane; Paddy Reilly 0-3, Conor Deane 0-3; Sean Marry 0-5 (1f), Kevin Hearty 1-3, James Costello; Ciaran Deane 0-1, Sean Brennan 0-1, Aaron Hoey. Subs: Padraig Mackin for D Kettle, Bernard Laverty for J Costello, Aaron Devin for K Hearty.

CLAN NA GAEL: Sean Smyth; Ian Carr, Craig Long, Micheal McDonnell; John Byrne, Stephen Fitzpatric­k, Kevin Carroll; Leo Martin, Robbie Curran 0-4 (3f); Conall McKeever, Mark McGeown, Ray McCabe; Paul Gore, Mark Newell 1-1, Billy Smith 1-2. Subs: Tiarnan Reilly for I Carr, Ciaran O’Connor 0-1 for L Martin, Jason Cullen for R McCabe BC, Leo Martin for M Newell.

REFEREE: Stephen Murphy.

 ??  ?? Hugh McGrane (Naomh Fionnbarra) tracks the run of Shane Meade.
Hugh McGrane (Naomh Fionnbarra) tracks the run of Shane Meade.
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