Clans come back to force Pats draw

CLAN na Gael produced an excellent second half comeback to claim a share of the spoils with St Patricks.

Pats looked to be on course for victory when a Danny O’Connor goal two minutes after the restart put them into a commanding sixpoint lead.

However, the visitors failed to add to their tally as the Clans dominated the remainder of the game and deservedly claimed a draw thanks to a point from Robbie Curran two minutes from time.

First-half goals at either end from Mark McGeown and Conor Grogan saw the Pats retire with a 1-7 to 1-4 interval lead.

And just two minutes after the restart the visitors doubled their lead when Danny O’Connor added a second goal from the penalty spot.

That score put the Pats firmly in control but the Clans kicked the next five points through Curran (3), Micheal McDonnell and Jason Cullen to cut the gap back to the minimum with ten minutes left.

That set up a tense finale and after both sides had chances it was the Clans who struck the final score from Curran to claim a share of the points.

CLAN NA GAEL: Aidan McCabe; Ian Carr, Donal Boyle, Kevin Carroll; Paul Crewe, Stephen Fitzpatrick, Micheal McDonnell 0-1; Ray McCabe, Robbie Curran 0-6; Conall McKeever, Mark McGeown 1-2, Billy Smith; Mark Newell, JJ Quigley, Paul Gore. Subs: Tiernan Reilly for D Boyle, Chris Noonan for R McCabe, Leo Martin for McGeown, Jason Cullen 0-1 for M Newell.

ST PATRICKS: Sean Connor; Cormac Barry, Darren O’Hanlon, Jason Woods 0-1; Leonard Gray, Owen Zamboglou, Eoghan Lafferty; Thomas McCann, Dessie Finnegan; Ross Murphy 0-1, Paddy Keenan 0-3, Aidan McCann; Conor Grogan 1-0, Danny O’Connor 1-2, Tadhg O’Connor. Subs: Cathal Grogan, Aaron Rogers, Rory Duffy, Sean McGeough.