Pat’s lay down early marker Win for Wicklow town men

at Arklow hard work again when another interception allowed Tommy Kelly a bit of freedom near the sideline and the big full-forward made his way towards the goal and gave Billy Norman no chance with a powerful finish.

Eamonn Wolfe and Hayden traded scores before excellent work from the impressive Brian Doyle allowed Crowe to add a second point of the night for himself.

The Greystones management employed Dominic Reilly out around the middle of the field and his aerial presence helped ease Eire Óg men back into contention coming up to half-time.

The number 14 fed John Paul Connolly a pass from a kick out who was fouled near the sideline with a free expertly dispatched by Wood. Reilly then almost bagged a goal from himself just on the stroke of half-time only for an excellent block from Padge McWalter with Wood again showing his prowess from the deadball slotting the resulting 45 leaving a 2-7 to 0-6 lead for the Wicklow town men.

The second half was slow to get going but what would enfold shown some real excellent scores for the highlight reel.

The first of these was to come from St. Pat’s corner forward Eamonn Wolfe who found himself in a congested corner near the end line but patient play and a bit of trickery allowed him an angle to curl over the first of two beauties.

Not to be outdone, Danny Wood was keeping the Eire Óg scoreboard ticking over with a free off the ground just along the sideline on the stand side from a difficult angle.

A speculative long-range free from Wood moments later bounced over the bar to reduce the gap to five.

Wolfe added a point almost from an identical angle with 12 minutes of the half elapsed much to the enjoyment of the Pat’s crowd.

Darren Hayden added another free for Eire Óg before Danny Wood saw his effort at goal flash over the crossbar to bring the gap down to four.

With Eire Óg seemingly on the offensive, Pat’s were dealt a blow when Stephen Duffy was shown a red card for a striking offence while Pat’s were after being awarded a free but the Wicklow town men reacted more positively to the incident than many.

Padge McWalter pirouetted his way through a tackle and passed to Ruairi Marron for a point before John Crowe bet his opponent and snuck in along the end line with a neat chip just finding its way over the bar.

Try as they might, the Greystones men just couldn’t find a way passed a dogged Pat’s rearguard and as Tommy Kelly added a third point in a row for Pat’s, it put the game beyond reach for Eire Óg.

A late Danny Wood point and another free from Kelly rounded out the scoring which will have no doubt pleased Robert Hollingsworth in some patches.

A very balanced side age wise who seem determined to go one better this year. ST. PAT’S: Ian Murphy, Emmett Cullen, Padraig Higgins, Ciaran Doyle(0-1), Padge McWalter, Wayne Doyle, Dean Healy, Johnny Delahunt, John Crowe (0-3), Brian Doyle, Conor French, Stephen Duffy (0-1), Tommy Kelly (2-4), Eamonn Wolfe (0-3). Subs: Shane Doyle for W Doyle and Ruairi Marron (0-1) for C French. EIRE ÓG: Billy Norman, Jack Tanner, Jay Kelly, Eoin McHugh, Peter Keane, Justin O’Brien, Craig Smullen, James Leonard, Danny Wood (0-7), Dan Keane, Darren Hayden (0-4), John Paul Connolly, Declan O’Mahony, Dominic Reilly, Sam Thompson (0-1). Subs: Sean Horan for P Keane, Billy Cuddihy for D O’Mahony, John Deeney for E McHugh and Jamie McDonald for D Keane.