St Patrick’s blown away by the Gaeils
AFTER SURVIVING last year’s relegation battle St Patrick’s are heading into another dogfight to retain their senior status following this defeat in the SFC at sunny Rathkenny on Sunday.
The Stamullen men couldn’t be faulted for their battling qualities but they were always struggling to keep pace with a Gaeil Colmcille side who looked capable of moving up the gears if needed.
However the Kells men didn’t need to be at anywhere near their best to overcome this particular hurdle and continue their winning ways following their opening round victory over Dunshaughlin.
St Patrick’s relied heavily on scoring from place balls and they only managed three points from play for the entire hour. The game was deep into added time when they eventually found the net, the goal coming from a Donal Landy penalty.
Landy, who lined out on the ’40 was the only St Patrick’s attacker to cause the Gaeil Colmcille rearguard any real headaches. The remainder of the Stamullen side’s attack struggled to make an impression against a well organised Kells rearguard.
The eventual winners lost Stevie
Gaeil C’cille 2-14 St Partrick’s 1-10
McManus to an injury inside two minutes but were always in control following their opening goal from Ryan Farnham on 23 minutes. That score left them leading 1-5 to 0-4 and by halftime they had established a 1-8 to 0-4 advantage.
Two Shane Landy points settled St Patrick’s into the match in the early stages and following further points from Niall Mooney and Donal Landy they were on level terms after 17 minutes.
However Gaeil Colmcille dominated the remainder of the half and Evan Sheridan (two), Seamus Mattimoe and Farnham added points to that goal to leave seven between the sides at the break.
Two frees converted by Niall Mooney edged St Patrick’s closer on the restart but their hopes of causing an upset disappeared when Farnham struck to force the ball over the goal line for Gaeil Colmcille’s second goal on 39 minutes.
The lead extended to eight heading into the final quarter and Gaeil Colmcille were content to pick off their points from there to the finish. They introduced Fionn Reilly and Martin Barrett, both returning from injury, to the action in the closing stages with Reilly accounting for two points. Barrett though only saw five minutes of action before he was black carded.
Donal Landy accounted for St Patrick’s only score from play in the second half with less than 10 minutes remaining. His penalty goal on 62 minutes followed a foul on himself and that score only served to put a more respectable look on the scoreboard.
GAEIL COLMCILLE: Justin Carry Lynch; Paul Tormey, Barry Smith, Barry Tormey; Conal Courtney, Cormac Keegan, James Reilly; Cian Doogan, Evan Sheridan 0-2; Oisin Reilly 0-1, Stevie McManus, Liam Ferguson 0-1; Seamus Mattimoe 0-3 (1f), Ryan Farnham 2-1, Brian Hanlon 0-4 (3f). Subs: Fionn Ferguson for McManus (2), Fionn Reilly 0-2 for Hanlon (43), Martin Barrett for F Ferguson (51), Johnny Quigley for Barrett (BC 56).
ST PATRICK’S: Robert Cluskey; David Stafford, David McQuillan, Shane Byrne; Johnny Woods, Diarmuid Quinn, Ivor Kelly; Darren Hagan, John Curtis; Barry Mooney, Donal Landy 1-2 (1-0 pen), Shane Landy 0-4 (3f), Padraig Nulty; Niall Mooney 0-4f, Neil O’Flaherty. Subs: Kieran Lynch for Curtis (h-t), Shane McGinty for Kelly (h-t).
REF: Liam Reddy (Duleek-Bellewstown)