ST KEVIN’S REJOICE!
Seventh heaven as Dunlavin side claim Junior ‘A’ crown
ST KEVIN’S CC 7-11 SCOIL CHONGLAIS 3-09 THE final of the Wicklow Post Primary Schools boys Junior football ‘A’ championship between St Kevin’s and Scoil Chonglais took place in well attended, picturesque Stratford on Wednesday.
The pitch was in excellent condition but a strong wind blew straight up the field.
The holders Scoil Chonglais made the better start though playing against the wind and opened the scoring with a second minute pointed free by Sean Doody. However, they suffered a setback a couple of minutes later when wing forward Padraig Bolger received a black card and was replaced by Tom Keogh.
It was nine minutes before St Kevin’s opened their tally with a Niall Flood point but this was quickly followed by an Aaron Kennedy goal and a flurry of points. By the 17th minute they led by 1-5 to 0-1 but then good work by Deano Marcu at the other end led to a Tom Keogh goal.
This was to be Scoil Chonglais’s last score of the half but St Kevin’s added four more points to lead by 1-9 to 1-1 at half-time. Indeed their lead might have been greater at this stage as many of their seven wides were from good scoring positions.
Opinion was divided at half-time as to whether the eighth point lead for St Kevin’s was sufficient as they were to face the strong wind in the second half. Scoil Chonglais started the second half in determined mood and had the ball in the net within two minutes when an Alan Barrett long range free was deflected to the net by Sean Doody. They soon added points by Jack Hanlon and Tom Keogh to narrow the gap to three points.
However, this was as good as it got for the Baltinglass school as St Kevin’s upped their game against the wind and scored three goals in a five-minute spell, two from Aaron Kennedy and a deceptive ball from the wing by Tadhg Miley.
Scoil Chonglais continued to battle bravely and showed up some frailties in the Dunlavin defence as they finished with a total of 3-9 which would be sufficient to win many games.
However, the lethal St Kevin’s attack continued to score regularly with an excellent display of attacking football and were comfortably in front when referee Eddie Leonard blew the final whistle.
After the game the Teacher’s Cup was presented to the winning captain Aaron Kennedy by Schools Games Administrator Jim Murphy.
Scorers - St Kevin’s CC: Aaron Kennedy 3-2, Brian Crowe 2-2, Cormac Burke 1-2, Tadhg Miley 1-0, Shane Daly 0-2, Darragh Dillon, Niall Flood and Alan Miley 0-1 each.
Scoil Chonglais: Tom Keogh 2-1, Sean Doody 1-2, Alan Barrett 0-3. Jack Hanlon 0-2, Darren Walsh 0-1.
St Kevin’s CC Dunlavin: Fabien English, Keith Burke, Tom Moran. Eoin Harkin, Jack Grace, Darragh Dillon, Tadhg Miley, Brian Crowe, David Lawlor, Tadhg Barrett, Aaron Kennedy, Shane Daly, Niall Flood, Mikey Cassidy, Cormac Burke. Subs: Rob Allen, Alan Miley, Kaelan Burke. Also: Dean Flynn. Eamon Clarke, Brian Keogh, James O’Brien, Ryan Mulvey, Colm Daly.
Scoil Chonglais Baltinglass: Oisin Morrissey, Darren Walsh, Evan Frahill, Jack Kirwan, Emilio Faulkner, Tadhg McCarthy Griffin, Pauric White, Sean Doody, Alan Barrett, Jack Hanlon, Cian Leonard, Padraig Bolger, Jack Nolan, Deano Marcu. Jason Kenny. Subs: Tom Keogh, Jordan Brophy, Jack Carroll, William Brien, Ross Frahill. Max Hart.
Referee: Eddie Leonard (St Patrick’s).