Murphy’s double gets Pat’s over line
TWO late scores from Jack Murphy helped St Patricks record their second successive win as they held off the challenge of Sean O’Mahonys by a single point.
In what was another tight game between these two rivals, Murphy looked to have won it for his side when he edged the Pats ahead at 0-9 to 0-8 in the 25th minutes. The O’Mahonys hit back to level but Murphy made sure of the win when he popped up in injury-time to slot over the winner.
The opening quarter set the tone for this game as the Pats took the lead twice through Gavin Gregory and Cathal Grogan but on each occasion the Dundalk side hit back to level.
The Pats then took a grip of the game with three unanswered points from Danny O’Connor, Grogan and Murphy. However, the O’Mahonys rallied in the closing stages and landed three successive scores through Stephen Kilcoyne and Benny Traynor to go in at the break level at five points apiece.
The Point Road side took the lead for the first time in the opening minute of the second half but O’Connor (2) and Grogan pointed to regain the initiative. Once again, the O’Mahonys responded and looked to have secured a draw but Murphy’s late double saw his side over the line.
ST PATRICKS: Martin McEneaney; Ciaran Murphy, Dessie Finnegan, Jason Woods; Eoghan Lafferty, Rory Duffy, Jack Murphy 0-3; Martin Breen, Darren O’Hanlon; Evan White, Daniel O’Connor 0-3, Aidan McCann; Gavin Gregory 0-1, Cathal Grogan 0-3, Tadhg O’Connor. Sub: Darragh Lafferty for T O’Connor, Sean McGeough for A McCann.
SEAN O’MAHONYS: Kevin Brennan; Cian McEvoy, Liam Dullaghan, Robert Galligan; Keith McLoughlin, Colin Finan, Sean Mathews; Conor Finnegan 0-2, Conor Martin; Stephen Fisher, Ben McLaughlin, Terence Kelly; Stephen Kilcoyne 0-6, Benny Traynor 0-1, Jonathon Connolly. Subs: Conor McGailey, Kyle Carroll. Picture: Ken Finegan/Newspics