Five-star Glyde put St Nicholas to the sword

CTI BUSINESS SOLUTIONS IFC GROUP B GLYDE RANGERS 5-17 ST NICHOLAS 0-3

AS expected, Division 3 league leaders, Glyde Rangers, had little difficulty in getting their Junior Championship Group 2 campaign off to a winning start against St Nicholas in Louth Village on Saturday. In contrast to the high intensity meeting between Roche and Lannleire that preceded the game, this encounter provided little in the way of entertainment.

The gap between the teams in terms of their positions meant that there was very little prospect of an upset and Glyde had put any tiny idea of a shock out of the question. Four goals inside eight minutes just before the end of the first quarter from Trevor O’Brien (2), Brian Duffy and Niall Sharkey had the game as good as over at that stage.

O’Brien finished with a personal tally of 2-7 while Niall Sharkey caught the eye with his speed and eye for a score as he added 1-7.

The Drogheda men may have come into the game without any real expectations of victory but, to their credit, they gave it everything they had over the hour. Despite being second best in most sectors, they couldn’t be accused of a lack of honest effort as they battled gamely to the final whistle.

Philip Kirwan accounted for all three of their points from placed balls in the opening half of the game. Any suggestion that Glyde might take the game for granted was dismissed within 20 seconds as Trevor O’Brien landed the first point. He fired over another before Kirwan responded at the other end.

O’Brien then kicked his third point before Brian Duffy crashed in the first goal of the game on seven minutes, with O’Brien (2) and Niall Sharkey also raising the green flag to make 4-3 to 0-2 in the 16th minute.

After that initial burst, Glyde took their foot off the pedal somewhat and added just three more points before the break to lead by 4-6 to 0-3 at half time. It really was all one-way traffic in the second half as O’Brien and Sharkey continued to find their range, while Alan Brennan chipped in with two points. In fairness to the Tallanstown men they did pass up a number of goal chances and were content to take their points.

Glyde put the seal on the victory when substitute, Barry Brennan, raced clear to score the fifth goal two minutes from the end.

GLYDE RANGERS: David Brennan; Conor McCullough, Cein Sheridan, Gerard Farrell; Aaron Devlin, Mark O’Brien, JP Boyle; Dion Conlon, David Devaney; Gavin Duffy 0-1, Brian Duffy 1-0, Alan Brennan 0-2; Trevor O’Brien 2-7, Niall Sharkey 1-7, Conor Sheridan. Subs: Shane Sharkey for B Duffy, Barry Brennan 1-0 for D Devaney, Kevin Kane for M O’Brien, Peter Duffy for D Conlon, Niall Bird for G Duffy.

ST NICHOLAS: Darryl Smith; Jack Downey, Shane Finnegan, Ciaran Brannigan; Ciaran Floyd, Darren Thornton, Alan Gregory; Declan Heeney, Keith Cluskey; Vinny O’Hare, Philip Kirwan 0-3, Jason O’Boyle; John Heeney, Eddie Carr, Stephen Hodgins. Subs: Gavin Thornton and Ciaran O’Brien.

REFEREE: David J McArdle