Gerard’s make Pres Bray pay the penalty
Saints win O’Connor Cup
IF the 6-0 scoreline suggests that this was a match void of flowing attacking play then that suggestion is correct. If it suggests it was a tad short of excitement - correct again. But if it suggests that these teams saw this as nothing but a glorified friendly then guess again.
Two penalties would be enough to secure the O’Connor Cup for St. Gerard’s with both three-pointers arriving in the second half at a muddy Dr. Hickey Park.
Both sides admittedly have much, much bigger fish to fry. Pres tackle Newbridge College in the Schools Senior Cup on 31/01, while Gerard’s are in action on 02/02 against St. Fintan’s High School.
But pride is said to come before a fall and both sides were determined to bolster their pride against their local rivals and secure bragging rights.
The first half belonged to Pres. They asked all the questions but unfortunately for them, Gerard’s had all the answers.
It looked for a second like they might make the breakthrough when a crossfield kick found Josh Pyper but the winger couldn’t catch the ball in full-flight.
Elliot Ryan had the chance to convert Pres’ dominance to points with a 25th minute penalty but his effort couldn’t make the distance.
It was a definitely a day for the forwards with the rain constantly teeming down and it had an impact on the surface. Pres showed far more aggression in the first half but lacked a cutting edge.
As for Gerard’s, they spent no more than a couple of minutes in the first half throughout the opening period.
Despite their earlier vast inferiority, Gerard’s took the lead in the 49th minute. Oliver Haydock stood over the penalty and his well-struck effort just about carried over to break the deadlock.
Suddenly Pres, who were so in control earlier, looked vulnerable. A clearance kick from Gerard’s was not dealt with at all by Pres and after fumbling about for a few moments, they were forced to kick it out themselves to leave Gerard’s with a massive gain.
We were almost treated to a try when Ben Watson’s grubber kick looked to have beaten Pres’ covering defender. There were two/ three hungry attackers bombing past him anticipating a simple try but the Pres defender flicked out a hand at the last second and brilliantly prevented a certain score.
A drone was then spotted flying over the pitch. Perhaps it was a scout from Newbridge College or St. Fintan’s High School, perhaps it was from Pres or Gerard’s themselves as they looked for a different way of viewing their performance or perhaps it was just a bored local who wanted to jazz things up a little bit.
Pres had the chance to draw level on 57 minutes but you could tell it wasn’t to be from the moment the penalty left Ben Murphy’s boot.
Gerard’s stamped their dominance on matters further when they hit Elliot Ryan hard causing him to fumble it. Gerard’s hacked it up the pitch and Max O’Reilly hared after it to help his side secure a 50-yard gain and drain further hope from Pres.
Pres seemed to be running out of ideas and lock Jack McGrath tried to force things with kick in behind but Gerard’s snuffed out the threat with ease.
Pres number eight Sam Graham put in a monster hit which would lead to a turnover but it wasn’t long until Gerard’s regained possessio and captain Cormac Foley broke through. He popped it to Max O’Reilly, who fed Paddy Opperman and he thought he’d touched down but it was deemed that he’d strayed over the touchline before reaching the hallowed ground.
A second penalty in the 74th minute - from the boot of Foley - looked to be enough to win it but then from the restart, Foley knocked-on inside his 22 and suddenly Pres had hope again.
The Gerard’s defence would stand tall though as they hung on for a 6-0 victory.
ST. GERARD’S: Jack Kennedy, Max O’Reilly, Oliver Haydock, Cormac Foley, Paddy Opperman, Ben Watson, Jack O’Caoimh; David Carroll, Robert Byrne, Adam O’Reilly, Daniel McGovern, Niall Dooley, Thomas Cahill Hannigan, Donal Aherne, Rory Wilson. PRES BRAY: Davy Maloney, Jack Gallagher, Sam O’Dowd, Aaron Walsh, Josh Pyper, Elliot Ryan, Ben Murphy; Keld Sredo, Darren Magee, Ben Brady, Chris Williams, Jack McGrath, Tom Harbison, Callum McNulty, Sam Graham. VENUE: Dr. Hickey Park, Greystones.