Martin goal paved way
THERE WAS only going to be one likely winner of this local derby in St. Patrick’s Park on Friday once F.C.J. (Bunclody) midfielder Josh Martin soloed in from the left and calmly picked his spot in the far corner of the net just 37 seconds after the re-start.
While St. Mary’s C.B.S. (Enniscorthy) led this Top Oil South Leinster Schools Senior football ‘B’ championship semi-final by 1-2 to 0-4 at the time, they had conceded three points in the lead-up to the interval and subsequently only registered themselves on one more occasion.
F.C.J. didn’t panic after falling four points in arrears by the 20th minute, going on to outscore their rivals by 1-9 to 1-0 in the remainder of the action. Their prize is a final clash against another St. Mary’s C.B.S., this time from Carlow, as the Barrowsiders beat Naas C.B.S. by 2-10 to 0-11 on the same day.
Although Enniscorthy made the better start and hit the front through points from Fiachra Hourihane and Dean Doyle (free), they were dealt a big blow when full-forward Dylan McVeigh had to retire with an elbow injury after ten minutes.
Eddie Black got F.C.J. off the mark from a free, but they were then denied a goal when St. Mary’s netminder James White made a superb stop from a Brian Lambert piledriver.
Black also saw a point attempt rebound off the post before McVeigh’s replacement, his clubmate Oran Carty, left his mark on proceedings when he rifled in a goal after good work from Tom White and Fiachra Hourihane (1-2 to 0-1).
Gradually F.C.J. worked themselves back into contention, and one abiding memory from that firsthalf was the four marks claimed by midfielder Cillian Redmond.
Even though another fine stop from White kept his goal intact, points from Edward Dunbar and Brian Lambert (two frees) left the minimum between them at half-time.
Josh Martin pounced quickly for the F.C.J. goal when play resumed, and Cathal Doyle followed up with a point to leave them ahead by three (1-5 to 1-2).
The Bunclody side blocked off all routes to goal and ensured Enniscorthy didn’t gather any momentum by committing most of their fouls in the middle third of the field.
They broke well whenever possession was regained, and a brace of points from Ciarán Murphy underlined their superiority before Eddie Black (free) and Edward Dunbar widened the gap to seven with ten minutes left. Dunbar also had a close-range effort cleared off the line by St. Mary’s substitute Jack Doyle.
Enniscorthy briefly injected some hope into proceedings midway through the last quarter when substitute Mikey Kelly got on the end of a move featuring Fiachra Hourihane and Nick Doyle to grab a goal from close range (1-9 to 2-2).
They couldn’t get any closer though, with two disagreements marring a tetchy ending as Brian Lambert closed the scoring with an F.C.J. free.
They did lose goalscorer Josh Martin to a second yellow card, but thankfully the game had a sensible and experienced referee in James Owens who was able to keep a lid on any rancour.
F.C.J.: Jack Quinn (St. Patrick’s); Adam Hogan (HWH-Bunclody), Peadar Cowman (HWH-Bunclody), Ciarán Kavanagh (HWH-Bunclody); Niall Murphy (Ferns St. Aidan’s), John Dunne (Duffry Rovers), Liam McGuill (Kildavin-Clonegal); Josh Martin (HWH-Bunclody, 1-0), Cillian Redmond (Kildavin-Clonegal); Ciarán Murphy (Kildavin-Clonegal, 0-2), Brian Lambert (Tinahely, 0-3 frees), Eddie Black (HWH-Bunclody, 0-2 frees); Martin O’Connor (HWH-Bunclody, capt.), Edward Dunbar (HWH-Bunclody, 0-2), Cathal Doyle (HWH-Bunclody, 0-1). Subs. - Liam Pender (Duffry Rovers) for Hogan, temp. (37-40), Pender for Doyle (57).
St. Mary’s C.B.S.: James White (Crossabeg-Ballymurn); Cian Larkin (Starlights), Eoghan Herlihy (Oylegate-Glenbrien), Shane Fenlon (Monageer-Boolavogue); Pádhraig Loughlin (Davidstown-Courtnacuddy), Enda Minogue (Ballyhogue), Nick Doyle (Ballyhogue); Tom White (Oylegate-Glenbrien), David Kehoe (Crossabeg-Ballymurn); Dean Doyle (Ballyhogue, 0-1 free), Cathal Walsh (Monageer-Boolavogue), Ryan Murray (Davidstown-Courtnacuddy, capt.); Fiachra Hourihane (Oylegate-Glenbrien, 0-1), Dylan McVeigh (Starlights), Pierce Murphy (Oylegate-Glenbrien). Subs. -Oran Carty (Starlights, 1-0) for McVeigh, inj. (10), James Kelly (Davidstown-Courtnacuddy) for Murphy, inj. (HT), Jack Doyle (Starlights) for Fenlon (37), Nathan O’Connor (Shamrocks) for D. Doyle (49), Mikey Kelly (Oylegate-Glenbrien, 1-0) for Loughlin (49), Micheál Gahan (Monageer-Boolavogue) for N. Doyle (57).
Referee: James Owens (Kilrush).