SUPER PAT’S PREVAIL
ey Cup high alongside sponsor Fergal Donoghue from Boom & Platform Hire and d.
with a free to Andy Maher before collecting the return while Shane Murley joined the growing list of yellow cards for Casey O’Brien’s side.
Two Stephen Duffy wides increased the nervousness being felt by all in blue and they might have thought this wasn’t going to be their day when a Stephen Duffy free came back off the crossbar
to Dean Healy whose shot was saved superbly by Travers in the AGB goal.
A foul on Dean Healy and the subsequent moving forward for lip made Duffy’s job easier in the next play but a Healy point from a free and a magical score from Andy Maher off the outside of his right boot pulled AGB level after 10 minutes and this was anybody’s game.
This was the key period for AGB. If they could take the lead and put serious doubts in St Patrick’s heads then the Miley Cup would be making itself comfortable in the town later that evening.
Sadly, from their point of view, they just couldn’t do that for whatever reason. Opportunities that probably would have gone over in any other games failed to dissect the posts on this occasion, going from tricky efforts on a normal day to huge challenges given the import of the occasion.
They had wides from JP Hurley, Philip Healy Karl Kirwan, Daire McBride, Chris O’Brien and Peter Hempenstall as well as shot short to Shane Doyle in the Pat’s goal.
Instead of taking the lead they fell behind to a Paudge McWalter point and a foul on Dean Healy after McWalter broke Mervyn Travers kick out saw Stephen Duffy fire over and double the lead for what was a massive score given the pressure on scoring at either end.
The immense Ciaran Hyland tried to rally the troops with a fine effort after a surge up the field but try as they might they just couldn’t overtake the Pat’s side and Tommy Kelly, held so well all day, finally broke free of Hyland and bombed over a spirit-breaking point from distance.
Anthony Nolan’s final whistle brought joy and relief to the St Pat’s players and supporters. Joy at having achieved back to back titles, relief at having overcome a massive test from a team that has the potential to wrench that cup from their grasp in the very near future.
- St Patrick’s: Tommy Kelly 0-4 (3f), Bryan Doyle 0-1, Conor Ffrench 0-1, Stephen Duffy 0-2 (2f), Patrick McWalter 0-1,
AGB: Philip Healy 0-3 (3f), Darragh Fitzgerald 0-1, Cathal Kelleher 0-1, Andy Maher 0-1. Ciaran
Scorers
Hyland 0-1
Shane Doyle; Patrick O’Keane, Shane Murley, Wayne Doyle; Ciarán Doyle, Conor Ffrench, John Crowe; Dean Healy, Matthew Traynor; Paul Earls, Paudge McWalter, Ciarán McGettigan; Paul O’Brien, Stephen Duffy, Thomas Kelly. Subs: Bryan Doyle for P Earls (3, inj), Jonathan Delahunt for C McGettigan (44), Jordan Pettigrew for B Doyle (44).
ST PATRICK’S:
Mervyn Travers; Tom Maher, James Tyrrell, Jack Hamilton; Karl Kirwan, Ciaran Hyland, Andy Maher; Chris O’Brien, Stephen Hurley; Cormac O’Shea, Philip Gleeson, Darragh Fitzgerald; Cathal Kelleher, Philip Healy, JP Hurley. Subs: Ciaran O’Shea for P Gleeson (H/T), Daire McBride for Cormac O’Shea (46), Tiernan McBride for P Healy (53), Cal Kelly for J Tyrrell (55), Peter Hempenstall for C Kelleher (58)
AGB: REFEREE:
Anthony Nolan (Baltinglass)