Strong show from holders
ST MARY’S COOLERA/ STRANDHILL 4- 15 0- 7 REIGNING champions St. Mary’s got their Senior Football Championship campaign off to the perfect start as they cruised to victory over a struggling Coolera/ Strandhill side at Markievicz Park on Saturday afternoon.
St. Mary’s held a 2- 08 to 0- 04 lead at the half- hour mark, and showed all the hallmarks of a side who are keen to fight to retain their league title this year.
Coolera/ Strandhill have lost a number of players in the last 12 months, which has seen their numbers dwindling, and there was little they could do to contain a strong Mary’s side.
The current champions held a three point lead after six minutes thanks to scores from Nathan Rooney and Mark Breheny. Coolera/ Strandhill edged back to within a point thanks to two scores from Keelan Cawley, who looked their best attacker on the day.
Two Breheny points extended the lead, before a Kyle Cawley goal meant that the result looked ominous after a mere 15 minutes.
Youngster Cawley could very well have scored his second goal of the afternoon seconds later, but he sent his effort just wide of the post following good work from Rooney.
Breheny extended the scoreline to 1- 06 to 0- 02, before Moloney brought Coolera’s tally to three points for the day.
Mary’s and Coolera exchanged scores thanks to Stephen Henry and Diarmuid Mulcahy, before a Mark McGoldrick goal put St. Mary’s out of sight, although there was some debate over whether or not the goal should have stood.
Matters got even tougher for Coolera/ Strandhill at half- time, as Kyle Cawley’s second goal of the afternoon made it 3- 08 to 0- 04 - grim reading for fans of Coolera/ Strandhill.
Again, the sides exchanged points after the interval but Breheny’s score took the scoreline to 3- 10 to 0- 05 before a goal from the impressive Nathan Rooney stopped the momentum of their opposition.
They clawed their way back to get two points on the board, but it was never going to be enough as Mary’s continued to attack with Breheny’s three points in the last few minutes summing up an incredibly difficult afternoon for Coolera/ Strandhill who will face a tough year.
St. Mary’s: Fintan Ruddy, Kevin Coen, Luke Nicholson, Liam Henry, Stephen Henry, Johnny Davey, Johnny Lynch, Paul Kilcoyne, Dylan Corcoran, Christopher Kelly, Mark Breheny, Gerard O’Kelly- Lynch, Kyle Cawley, Mark McGoldrick, Nathan Rooney.
Coolera/ Strandhill: Kevin Kelly, Martin Gillen, Peter Laffey, Duirmuid Loftus, Enda Mitchell, Keelan Cawley, Aran O’Boyle, Francis Gaughan, Ciaran Moloney, Mark McCallion, Diurmuid Mulcahy, Ryan McEnroe, David Joyce, Adrian McPartland, Karol O’Neill.