Summerhill in final.
SUMMERHILL COLLEGE 5 ST. LOUIS CS KILTIMAGH 1
SUMMERHILL College are through to the Dr Tony O’Neill Connacht Cup final after a deserved 5-1 win over St Louis Community School Kiltimagh at the Showgrounds on Monday afternoon.
The Sligo school were comfortably the better side, with the difference between the teams particularly evident in the second half when the wind was at the backs of the winners.
Better in possession and more creative up front, Summerhill were inspired by an outstanding display from Kailin Barlow who was a constant thorn in the side of the visitors, and capped off his fine individual display with a neatly-taken second-half goal to follow up his stunning opener after just a matter of seconds.
Conditions were less than ideal with a strong wind and heavy showers making the astro-turf surface even faster than usual. St Louis’ performed well for long stages, particularly in a closely-fought first half but never seriously threatened once they went 2-1 down before the break.
Summerhill got off to the best possible start, with the ball nestled in the St Louis net after just a matter of seconds.
The Sligo side netted after less than ten seconds, when Kailin Barlow’s audacious attempt having received possession from the kick-off found its way over the St Louis keeper Conor Canny.
Despite dominating much of the early exchanges, Summerhill were pegged back when the visitors equalised after seven minutes.
A defensive lapse allowed Ronan Clarke the opportunity to finish and level matters.
With Kailin Barlow dominating much of the exchanges, Summerhill however went in at the break 2-1 in front.
Daniel Gray Harrigan was on target, after he received Josh Gilligan’s pull-back which came as a result of excellent build-up from the right-back.
Upon the resumption, Summerhill quickly set about confirming their advantage.
Josh Gilligan - who put in a hard-working performance before being substituted - saw his long-range effort go narrowly over before Kailin Barlow’s effort also missed the target.
However, Summerhill were now well in the ascendancy and eventually got their third when Barlow’s excellent delivery from a corner was met with a powerful header from Jason Devaney to put them 3-1 up.
Soon after, and the game entered the final quarter, a ball bounced wide on the edge of the area but Barlow got there and nicked it beyond keeper Conor Canny to put Summerhill 4-1 up.
Sean McAteer also netted for Summerhill in the closing stages to open up a four-goal gap.
It was just reward for the Sligo school and capped off a well-drilled performance that was good enough to send them through to the provincial showpiece.
Summerhill: Killian Barrett, Josh Gilligan, Jason Devaney, Bryan Lynch, Rian Gorman, Canice Mulligan, Daniel Gray Harrigan, Sean McAteer, Niall McDermott, Kailin Barlow, Conor McKeown.
Subs used: Jack Davitt, JJ McGowan
St. Louis CS Kiltimagh: Conor Canny, Sean Niland, Stephen Clarke, Dan Duffy, Cormac Caulfield, Jack Niland, Ronan Clarke, Stephen Gill, Aidan Cosgrove, Jamie Johnston, Sean Murphy.
Subs used: Jack O’Connor, Thomas Guillespe.