Pettit on the mark
Captain leads way with vital scores
THE ACCURACY of captain Shane Pettit was the vital component in Power Park recently when St. Peter’s College made a winning start to Group A of the Top Oil Leinster Schools Senior football ‘A’ championship.
Visitors St. Mary’s (Edenderry) did make them sweat in added time when they pulled back 1-1 to turn it into a one-score game, but it wasn’t enough as the full-time whistle sounded on the kick-out after their point.
Peter’s faced the wind blowing towards the Summerhill Road end first on a bitingly cold day, and they did well to restrict their rivals to an interval lead of 0-6 to 0-4 despite losing influential full-back James O’Leary to injury after 20 minutes.
And with Pettit shooting the lights out from play and placed balls, they hit 1-5 without reply on the re-start to leave them with a valuable two points to take into their remaining clashes with Westmeath schools St. Joseph’s (Rochfortbridge) and Coláiste Mhuire (Mullingar).
The centre-forward from St. Fintan’s accounted for an impressive 1-8 from the winning tally of 1-11, while St. Mary’s had a sharpshooter of renown also in lively number 13 Jack Smyth who registered all bar two of their tally.
This duo shared the game’s first four points, and Pettit also had a goalbound effort deflected out for a ’45 via a defender and a goalpost, before Conor Mahoney picked out Conor Kehoe to give Peter’s a 0-3 to 0-2 lead in the 16th minute.
Smyth levelled from his second successful free before the departure of James O’Leary led to his clubmate, Leigh Newport, dropping back to the edge of the square, with David Codd introduced at centre-back.
And even though St. Mary’s hit three of the four points recorded from that stage to half-time, with Shane Pettit knocking over one for Peter’s from a free, the hosts were always going to be in with a big shout once they denied their rivals from the Offaly/Kildare border a goal.
And that was due largely to a fine save by Cian Byrne in the 23rd minute, as he dived to his right to keep out a Jack Smyth piledriver after good work by big midfielder Shane Flynn.
Two Pettit points, after a pass by, and a foul on, Conor Mahoney, respectively drew Peter’s level (0-6 each) six minutes into the second period, and Justin Moran swung his boot at a breaking free to give them the lead from a tight angle.
They did enjoy a let-off when Oisín Milmoe shot low and wide on a rare Mary’s breakaway, while Edenderry netminder Eric Corcoran saved from substitute
Paul Hearne after an inaccurate handpass by a defender across his own square initially got him into all sorts of bother.
Shane Pettit floated over the ’45 that followed to make it 0-8 to 0-6, and he landed the decisive blow from a penalty in the 45th minute.
Jack O’Leary handpassed to Conor Kehoe who was pushed as he prepared to shoot, and the team captain tucked the spot kick that followed into the top left corner.
He then stretched the gap to six from a free before St. Mary’s finally grabbed a second-half score when Jack Smyth’s placed ball was tipped over by Cian Byrne in the 52nd minute (1-9 to 0-7).
Pettit’s final point, from play, was followed by the dismissal of corner-back Stuart Hession for a combination of yellow and black cards, and that meant his 14 colleagues had to up the workrate to see out the closing stages.
Smyth converted another free before David Codd picked out James Dixon who utilised his fresh legs to kick a good point on the run via the left post.
Mary’s netminder Eric Corcoran made a fine double save from substitutes Tomás Murphy and Paul Hearne, and there was a nervous finish after Oisín Milmoe set up midfielder Ben Smullen to shoot low to the corner of the net in the third of four added minutes (1-11 to 1-8).
Indeed, when St. Mary’s then earned a free to the right of the posts, they summoned their tallest substitute, Robert Bergin, off the bench with the sole purpose of trying to get a fist on Jack Smyth’s lob and direct it to the net for an unlikely equaliser.
Instead, it was a defender’s hand that deflected the ball over the bar, and Pat Kehoe’s final whistle arrived immediately after Cian Byrne’s kick-out.
St. Peter’s: Cian Byrne (St. Mary’s, Rosslare); Stuart Hession (Volunteers), James O’Leary (Our Lady’s Island), Hugh Peter Manley (Shelmaliers); Zac Firman (St. Martin’s), Leigh Newport (Our Lady’s Island), Leigh Whelan (Ballyhogue); Conor Mahoney (Glynn-Barntown), Jude Bates (Kilmore); Justin Moran (St. Anne’s, 0-1), Shane Pettit (St. Fintan’s, capt., 1-8, 0-5 frees, 1-0 pen., 0-1 ’45), Luke Kavanagh (St. Martin’s); Conor Kehoe (Sarsfields, 0-1), Jack O’Leary (St. Fintan’s), Dylan O’Neill (Shelmaliers). Subs. - David Codd (St. Martin’s) for James O’Leary, inj. (20), Paul Hearne (Shelmaliers) for O’Neill (HT), James Dixon (Crossabeg-Ballymurn, 0-1) for Bates (51), Tomás Murphy (Blackwater) for Kehoe (56), Diarmuid O’Leary (St. Martin’s) for Moran (60+3).
St. Mary’s: Eric Corcoran; Lee Pearson, Liam Farrell, Mark Coffey; Conor Denehan, Seán Coffey (capt.), Tomas Von Eng; Ben Smullen (10), Shane Flynn; Ben Lynch, Craig Thompson, James Jones (0-1); Jack Smyth (0-8, 6 frees), Loughlin Walsh, Oisín Milmoe. Subs. - Daniel Farrell for Walsh (HT), Dan Dowling for Jones (47), Robert Bergin for Lynch (60+4)..
Referee: Pat Kehoe (Carlow).