Junior ‘C’ joy for Pat’s against Kilcoole
Junior ‘C’ joy after tough battle with Kilcoole
THE Junior ‘C’ footballers of St Patrick’s capped off a fine year by getting the better of Kilcoole in the county final in Pearse’s Park, Arklow, on Saturday afternoon following a tough, tense encounter.
In almost perfect conditions for a football final both sides powered forward from the word go. St Pat’s hit the opening score of the game through a free from John Connors but Kilcoole responded in kind with a free from Jordan Murray to level matters early on.
Pat’s started to gain a foothold in their half-back line with centre back and county hurling star Andy O’Brien clearing a huge amount of ball, one of which he fired into full-forward Andrew Conway who duly fired over between the sticks.
O’Brien himself managed to make his way up the field and found himself getting the ball in the scoring zone which resulted in a fine point.
Almost against the run of play Kilcoole went looking for scores. The first of these was a major turning point when full-forward Gary Coady fired the ball into the back of the Pat’s net.
The men from the Goosebank kept the pressure on Pat’s with two more points, another from Murray from a dead ball, before centre forward Chris Farrell dissected the posts from long range.
With both defences coming out on top for the next few minutes it was getting tighter, this was before Pat’s broke through the Kilcoole defence and after some fine play John Connors managed to find the back of the net which was followed by George ‘Bee’ O’Brien adding to the scoring with another clever point from play.
With the game heading towards the half-time whistle scores were still at a premium with Kilcoole only hitting two more points, both from play, through Coady first before Murray landed a second one over the bar.
In nearly a mirror image, Pat’s fired over the last two scores of the half; that man Connors again doing the business before midfielder James Kavanagh hit the last point of the half leaving Pat’s ahead by the minimum at the break
The second half was much tighter and more tense than the first. This was evident before the ball was even thrown in when Pat’s selector Michael Neary was not allowed back on the sideline for the second half.
Eventually referee Kieran O’Shea got the game back underway after a lot of heated debate.
The opening salvos of the second half were much like the first with both defences keeping scores at a premium. This meant that scores had to come from dead balls - Murray and Connors cancelling each other out in the early stages.
This game was going from end to end but scores were very difficult to come by due to some fine defending.
Coady managed to finally find space in front of the goal to land the equalising score.
With the game now in the melting pot, Pat’s managed to slide ahead again through another dead ball from Connors.
Then came the turning point in the game. From the resulting kick-out Pat’s managed to win the ball and drive towards the Kilcoole goal. This resulted in a penalty to the Wicklow Town men.
John Connors stood up to take it. Kilcoole keeper Luke Doyle managed to get his foot to the shot but unfortunately for the Goosbank side Connors was first to react to the loose ball which he hammered into the net.
Connors added one final point to the St Pat’s tally to cap off a fine individual display. Kilcoole knew they needed to get scores as the game was heading towards the final whistle.
The subs they made brought a new energy to their side.
Chris Farrell fired over the first score in this mini revival before substitute Brian Devereux managed to narrow the gap. Kilcoole needed that goal but try as they might Pat’s managed to keep them at bay and they held on for a sweet victory.
Scorers - St Patrick’s: John Connors 2-5 (3f), Andy O’Brien 0-1, James Kavanagh 0-1, George ‘Bee’ O’Brien 0-1, Andrew Conway 0-1.
Kilcoole: Jordan Murray 0-4 (2f), Gary Coady 1-2, Chris Farrell 0-2, Brian Devereux 0-1.
ST PATRICK’S: Ricky Quinn; Robin Mooney, Dale Quinn, George O’Brien; Michael Connors, Andy O’Brien, Christy Moorehouse; James Kavanagh, Terry Healy; John O’Brien, Gerry Connors, Kevin Coady; John Connors, Andrew Conway, George ‘Bee’ O’Brien. Subs: Patrick Murphy for J O’Brien, Mikey Griffin for G Connors.
KILCOOLE: Luke Doyle; Ronan Whelan, Eoin O’Brien, Charlie Maguire; Tyrone Houlihan, John Dunning, Kevin Condon; Darren Burke, James Scullion; Eoin O’Brien, Chris Farrell, Patrick Woods; Conor Scullion, Gary Coady, Jordan Murray. Subs: Brian Devereux for R Whelan, Evan Vines for J Dunning (B/S).
REFEREE: Kieran O’Shea (Tinahely)