McCabe shines for Dowdallshill

Dowdallshill Westerns 1-10 0-13 Naomh Mairtin B

DOWDALLSHILL began their Division 3 campaign with an entertaining draw with the Westerns on Saturday evening in St Brigid’s Park.

Star of the show for the home side was corner forward Aidan McCabe who scored 1-8 in total, including three pointed frees in the closing few minutes to grab the draw from the jaws of defeat.

The visitors, lining out without their county star Tommy Durnin, played with the aid of the breeze in the opening half and were 0-8 to 0-3 ahead coming up to the break when a well-worked move resulted in Conor McGailey setting Aidan McCabe up for the only goal of the game. Aidan also kicked a 45’ and a free in that opening half - along with a fine point from play from the impressive minor McGailey - to leave their side just 0-8 to 1-3 behind.

The early stages of the second half saw the Hill pile on the pressure and they took the lead at 1-7 to 0-9 with three points from McCabe, along with one from league debutant Johnny Burke who produced a fine performance. However the Hill then came under severe pressure as the men from Reaghstown scored four unanswered points through Anthony Durnin (2), Ciaran Scriven and Trevor Baylon to take what seemed a winning lead.

However, the introduction of veteran Gerry McShane saw the game take a final twist. Showing all his guile, Gerry caused havoc in the Westerns rearguard and it was he who won three late frees which were all converted by ace marksman McCabe, the last one from a very acute angle with the final kick of the game. THESE two second teams produced an entertaining Division 3 contest that saw St Bride’s defeat Naomh Mairtin by just two points in their opening league encounter.

Aided by a strong breeze, the visitors dominated the first half and raced into a commanding 10-point lead, with goals from James Costelloe, Cathal McKenna and veteran Aaron Hoey being the highlights of the half. Eamonn Mc Quillan gave his side a late lifeline when he volleyed to the bottom corner from a well-placed pass to leave the scoreboard reading 3-7 to 1-6 at the interval.

With the elements in their favour, the hosts tagged on a number of points after the restart before a well-converted penalty by substitute Greg Fahey left it all square going into the final 10 minutes. However, late points from Aaron Devin, Michael McKenna and James Costelloe in reply to a solitary point from Mark McCullough concluded the scoring to give St Bride’s a two-point win.