SUPER SAINTS DOUBLE UP
THE manner in which they won their first ever Senior Championship title suggested St Fechin’s were more than one-hit wonders, and they certainly backed up that theory with a devastating display at Dowdallshill on Sunday.
Their opponents Knockbridge embarked on a famous five-in-arow back in the ‘Noughties’ and this Fechin’s outfit look capable of scaling similar heights in the years to come after claiming a sweet double.
The defending champs made a dream start when Michael Ryan slipped full forward Seaghan Conneely in for a goal on five minutes.
That was their first score, but they built on it impressively against a strong breeze.
Paddy Lynch was in an unerring mood over dead balls and he also chipped in with one from play as the Termonfeckin men took a firm grip on the contest, leading 1-2 to 0-1 after 10 minutes.
Shane Fennell was similarly on point at the other end to keep Knockbridge in touch, while the excellent Robert Wallace was their main threat from open play, but the reigning champions adjourned with their two-in-a-row hopes on track, courtesy of a 1-7 to 0-5 lead.
Wallace cut the gap to give Knockbridge a sliver of hope, but with the wind at their backs, Fechin’s wasted no time in putting the issue beyond all doubt.
Conneely and man-of-thematch Ryan replied with points before the latter rifled his team’s second goal to the roof of the net after just four minutes, making it 2-9 to 0-6.
Knockbridge rallied and were rewarded with points from Wallace, Gerard McKeown and Shane Fennell, from a free, but Ryan took advantage of some confusion in the ‘Bridge defence to fire to an unguarded net on 44 minutes.
A long David Stephenson punt ended up in the back of the net three minutes later, underlining that it just wasn’t to be Knockbridge’s day.
That fourth goal broke any resolve Knockbridge had left and Lynch and Ryan continued to make them suffer with Lynch helping himself to four more points and Ryan bringing his tally to 2-3 for the afternoon.
Kevin Hearty fired over a consolation for Knockbridge, but a miserable day at the office for the Reds was compounded by a straight red card for Shane Kettle shortly after Fechin’s fourth goal.
The elusive Ryan suggested afterwards that Fechin’s were already eyeing a three-in-a-row and it’s difficult to see who will stand in their way given the depth of their squad and the young players they are bringing through the ranks with each passing season.
ST FECHIN’S: Stephen Hackett; Niall Devlin, Darren McDonnell, Robert Moynagh; Micheal Byrne, Cathal Ryan, Oisin Byrne; Cormac McAuley, Donal Ryan; Vincent Hynes, Paddy McCormack, Paddy Lynch 0-10 (5f, 1’65); Michael Ryan 2-3, Seaghan Conneely 1-1, David Stephenson 1-0. Subs: Paul Mathews for M Byrne (43), Barry Devlin for V Hynes (51), Conor Mathews for D Stephenson (55), Brian Stephenson for M Ryan (58), Caoimhin Seery for P McCormack (60).
KNOCKBRIDGE: Shane Kerrigan; David Deane, Conor Kerrigan, Mark Wallace; Ricky McKeown, Shane Fennell 0-4 (3f), Adrian Wallace; Gerard McKeown 0-1, Shane Kettle; Kevin McNally, Gavin Kerrigan 0-1, Robert Wallace 0-4; Gavin Kane, James Costelloe, David Kettle. Subs: Kevin Hearty 0-2 for K McNally (ht), Brian Dunne for R McKeown (36), Andrew Smyth for C Kerrigan (51), Conor Deane for G Kane (51), Liam Molloy for G McKeown (56).
REFEREE: J Keoghan (Meath).