Peter’s one step from glory
St. Peter’s had a glimmer of an opening in the fifth minute. The ball was worked well between Peter Barry and Ben Moore to David Gouldson, but the wing-forward’s fisted effort was well blocked by Mark Jackson.
A driving run down the left wing ended with Rory O’Connor tapping over his first score. Dylan Lyne was fouled in the twelfth minute and Barry O’Connor made no mistake from 20 metres out to the left of the posts.
After Brian Deeny was dragged back, Devereux made it 0-4 to nil but Wicklow ended the opening quarter with their first score, a well-taken dead-ball from the impressive Conor Byrne.
Peter’s dodged a bullet seconds later when Cal Connolly’s point attempt dipped low and clanked the post.
A blocked Lyne shot resulted in a ‘45 that Rory O’Connor played short to his cousin, Barry, who nailed his second point. When Rory also got his second moments later, St. Peter’s looked to be coasting, leading by 0-6 to 0-1.
A period of pressure at the other end saw Cathal Kelleher point, and then against the backdrop of a loud crowd, Mark Jackson cantered forward and drilled a free that would have been a lot trickier had it not been moved in for backchat.
Momentum is a fickle thing, and it disappeared quickly for Wicklow. Devereux started the Peter’s run with a stunning point from a tight angle, and Ben Moore plucked a long Rory O’Connor ball out of the sky and pointed before Barry O’Connor converted another dead-ball.
With a 0-9 to 0-3 lead at the break, clearly a quick St. Peter’s start to the second-half would have killed off the Wicklow hopes. However, they took 14 minutes to register their first point against a light breeze.
The Garden county boys managed to pull three points back in that time and largely dominated possession-wise and territorially. Kelleher scored again, Jackson registered his second free, and Mark Barrett clipped over a nice minor to make it 0-9 to 0-6.
Every time Wicklow got within touching distance, St. Peter’s were able to respond. Devereux’s best point of the afternoon, a left-foot boomer from the left of goal, broke the scoring hiatus. He added a free after a foul on Barry O’Connor two minutes later.
The Wexford school had a chance to wrap up their final place when Rory O’Connor flew through but his shot whizzed just wide of the post. Then it was Wicklow’s turn to have a spell, with Luke Evans and Ross Coogan reducing the arrears to a goal (0-11 to 0-8).
With ten minutes left, and the game on a knife-edge, St. Peter’s prevented their opponents from scoring again until the second-tolast touch of the game.
In between they further enhanced their lead with Devereux and the marauding David O’Keeffe putting them 0-13 to 0-8 ahead going into added time.
Four minutes into overtime Cathal Kelleher flew away on the right wing.
Maybe the cynical foul was the way to go but to their credit, the Peter’s defenders tried to halt him fairly. It didn’t work, and he fed across goal for Evans to punch to the net.
Despite having conceded an injury-time goal in consecutive games, St. Peter’s were able to relax after the kick-out, with referee John Hickey’s whistle going immediately to signal a final place for the Wexford school for the first time in over two decades.
In that decider, St. Peter’s will play Moate, conquerors of Good Counsel, looking for only their second-ever Leinster ‘A’ title, their first since 1992.
That fixture is down for decision on Friday in O’Moore Park, Portlaoise, at 1 p.m.