Super St Mary’s hit the Gers for six
LIKE Senior counterparts Newtown Blues, the favourites tag didn’t weigh too heavily on the shoulders of St Mary’s as they put on a scoring masterclass to capture the Minor Championship crown on Sunday afternoon.
In windy conditions the Ardee boys amassed one of the biggest county final totals in living memory against a game Geraldines team who posted a decent tally themselves but couldn’t contain the sharp and skilful opposition forwards.
In particular, Jonathan Commins had one hand on the Man of the Match award after 15 minutes and despite being substituted before the end he helped himself to an outstanding individual haul of 2-13.
The Haggardstown/Blackrock side had the wind at their backs in the opening half but were on the back foot from the start and Commins struck the upright with a point attempt before converting a free in the fourth minute to open the scoring.
Barely 60 seconds later the ball was in the Geraldines net as a lightning-quick passing move involving Ciaran Keenan, Conor Hennessy and Shane Matthews ended with Commins firing decisively past Ciaran Peelo.
Commins then had a point effort blocked down by Dylan Sharkey and the St Mary’s number 10 was off target from a subsequent ‘45, but Geraldines made full use of their first visit to the opposition half to muster a goal of their own.
There was a good bit of soccer involved as 16-year-old Conor Soraghan dribbled forward and Jack Reid then booted low across the square from the endline towards David Murdock who scrambled the ball past keeper Alan McGauley.
Soraghan immediately added a point and Feidhlim Joyce then took a pass from Murdock and cut in from the right before sending an angled effort over the bar to tie the scores at 1-2 apiece.
St Mary’s Geraldines 6-21 2-10
Even better was to come for Geraldines as Joyce kicked a straightforward free and captain Ben Mooney then converted a much more difficult one from out near the stand to put his team two points ahead.
After that disastrous start it was a scarcely believable turnaround, but it proved to be a mere blip from St Mary’s point of view as they wrestled back control of the game in the blink of an eye.
Commins fired high over the bar at the end of another slick passing move, and by the 14th minute he had scored his second goal of the final, applying a sweet finish after great approach play by Keenan, Conor Gillespie and Matthews.
On 17 minutes Commins converted a ‘45 and he then took his tally of successive scores to 1-3 with another fine effort that stemmed from tenacious play from Keenan to hold off the hard-tackling Geraldines centre back Dan Corcoran.
Conor Gillespie then got in on the act with a long-range point and Commins made it 2-7 to 1-4 from a free he had won himself.
Geraldines couldn’t even get their hands on the ball at this stage and their defence was soon pulled part again as Hennessy and Carl Gillespie combined to put Matthews in the clear and he unselfishly squared to Conor Gillespie who drilled a low shot past Peelo - 3-7 to 1-4.
Gers had just brought on their first substitute at this stage in the hope of shoring things up and in the run-up to half-time they managed to put the brakes on the runaway train, matching Mary’s score for score.
A Mooney ‘45 and Joyce free sandwiched efforts from play by Hennessy and Conor Gillespie and that left the scoreboard reading 3-9 to 1-6 at the half-way point.
Nevertheless, with the wind now at their backs, St Mary’s had one hand on the Fr Larry Murray Cup and the other close by, and when Keenan and Matthews added their names to the scoresheet within two minutes of the restart the Gers’ challenge seemed to be crumbling.
However, just as they did in the first half, the boys in green enjoyed one purple patch and this one yielded 1-3 without reply, starting with a good Joyce point after Soraghan did well to retain possession.
Reid then converted a free before setting in motion the move for the goal, with Conor McGowan’s fast hands putting Soraghan away before Joyce popped up to slam the ball past McGauley.
Flynn Kieran added a brilliantly judged point from the right wing and that left Geraldines just five points in arrears - 3-11 to 2-9 - coming up to the 40-minute mark.
Serious questions were being asked of the favourites, but once again they had all the answers and this time there would be no way back for Gerry Hoey’s charges as St Mary’s produced a devastating burst of 3-10 in the last 20 minutes, to just one point in reply.
Commins took the game by the scruff of the neck by posting seven points in a row, one of which came from a solo run from his own half and another from his weaker left foot.
Goal four for St Mary’s was another score of high quality as Conor Gillespie teed up Gavin Kirk for a great finish, and substitute Tristan Knowles then sent over a classy point before Commins took his own tally to 2-13 with a free in the 55th minute.
Joyce briefly interrupted the Ardee boys’ flourish with a point, but St Mary’s weren’t finished yet as Knowles put Keenan through for a fifth goal - 5-20 to 2-10.
Captain Philip Trainor then sauntered up from full back to send over a point, and two of the other St Mary’s subs combined to raise yet another green flag as Andrew Bingham teed up Tiernan Corrigan for an easy finish.
Geraldines keeper Peelo gained one small measure of personal consolation on a difficult afternoon when he saved a last-minute penalty from Bingham, but it was very much St Mary’s day and on this evidence the future looks very bright for senior football in Ardee and possibly for the county team as well.
ST MARY’S: Alan McGauley; Cian Taaffe, Philip Trainor, Killian Scott; Lorcan Dixon, Donal McKenny, Gavin Kirk 1-0; Liam Jackson, Conor Hennessy 0-1; Jonathan Commins 2-13 (0-6f, 0-1 ‘45), Conor Gillespie 1-2, Ciaran Keenan 1-1; Carl Gillespie 0-1, Joe Mulholland, Shane Matthews 0-1. Subs: Tristan Knowles for Matthews (48min), Andrew Bingham for Carl Gillespie (52), James McDonald for Keenan (57), Tiernan Corrigan 1-0 for Kirk (57), David Conlon for Commins (57).
GERALDINES: Ciaran Peelo; Eoghan O Hora, Matthew Fee, Ross Kelly; Dylan Sharkey, Dan Corcoran, Padraig Cunningham; Ben Mooney 0-2 (1f, 1 ‘45), Jack Reid 0-1 (f); Conor Soraghan 0-1, Flynn Kieran 0-1, David Murdock 1-0; Oisin Meegan, Conor McGowan, Feidhlim Joyce 1-5 (0-2f). Subs: Jack Connolly for O Hora (22min), Ronan Green for Murdock (31), Liam McDonnell for Meegan (50), Oisin Geoghegan for Sharkey (52).
REFEREE: Anthony Briscoe