St Patrick’s stay on course
COOLEY KICKHAMS 0-7
ST Patricks remain on course to qualify from Group C after a convincing away win against local rivals Cooley Kickhams.
The Lordship side did most of the damage in the opening half as a trio of points from Cathal Grogan and a well taken goal from Jack Murphy helped the visitors into a 1-6 to 0-2 half time lead.
Cooley and St Pats came into this game off the back of opening day victories in Group C beating the Young Irelands and the Dundalk Gaels respectively.
Cooley began the game brightly with Michael Carron giving them the lead in the opening minute but they would score just one more point in the opening half as the visitors began to take complete control of the game.
A trio of points from Cathal Grogan put St Pats in the driving seat before a well taken goal by Jack Murphy put some distance between the sides.
Thomas McCann and Tadhg O’Connor scored in quick succession to leave Cooley trailing by 1-6 to 0-1 with half time approaching although the home side did manage to have the last say of the half with a Fearghal Malone score just before the break. Cooley needed a quick start to the second half to get back into the game and managed to do just that with early scores from Carron and Malone.
However, Pats were looking dangerous on the break and refused to let Cooley back into the contest as the excellent Cathal
Grogan scored two points in quick succession to restore his side’s eight-point cushion. Cooley rallied late in the half with three unanswered points but it was a case of too little too late as the men from Lordship claimed local bragging rights.
ST PATRICKS: Martin McEneaney; Jason Woods, Eoghan Lafferty, Barry Dunne; Conor Grogan, Darren O’Hanlon 0-1, Ciaran Murphy; Jack Murphy 1-1, Thomas McCann 0-1; Aidan McCann 0-1, Cathal Grogan 0-5, Tadhg O’Connor 0-1, Jodie Keenan, Martin Breen, Joseph Connor. Subs: Leonard Gray for T O’Connor, Dessie Finnegan for E Lafferty.
COOLEY KICKHAMS: Cian Rogan; Dean McGreehan, Keith White, James O’Reilly 0-1; Ross Magennis, Patrick Hanlon, Gerry Malone; James Loughran, Emmet Rogan; Patrick Johnston 0-1, Peter Thornton, Aoghain McGuinness; Fearghal Malone 0-2, Michael Carron 0-3, Declan Sheelan. Subs: Conor McGuinness, Michael Rafferty, Michael John Hanlon, Alex Woods, Emmet McGuigan.