Clinical Clan na Gael achieving their goals
CLAN NA GAEL ST BRIDES 4-10 0-16
CLAN na Gael moved two points clear in second place in the Division 1 following victory over St Brides in a high-scoring encounter at Clan na Gael Park.
It was the home side who got off the mark the first on seven minutes from their first attack through Billy Smith and the same player doubled their advantage within a minute. Two misplaced short kick outs in a row allowed the JJ Quigley to tag on another point before Smith got in for the first goal of the game to see his side lead 1-3 to no score after nine minutes.
St Brides reduced the deficit to four with just over a quarter of an hour gone on the clock with points from Sean Marry and Michael Keane but the Clans also finished the half strongly as a goal from Robbie Curran saw them lead by 2-5 to 0-6 at the break.
After the restart the hosts were quickest out of the blocks and extended their lead to six.
However St Brides moved up a number of gears and enjoyed a purple patch with six unanswered points to leave the match all square with 42 minutes played, as Paddy Reilly, Sean Marry and Cathal McKenna were on target.
Both teams then exchanged pointed frees but a comeback still appeared to be on the cards.
The game turned when the Brides were awarded a free in front of the posts but after the referee threw the ball up, the Clans broke and Smith scored the third goal.
The Brides fell apart after that controversial goal and the Clans finished with 1-4 as Mark Newell scored another three-pointer.
St. Brides did manage to see out the game with three late unanswered points to bring their tally to 0-16 but The Clans had enough done to see out the win. CLAN NA GAEL: Sean Smith; Tiernan Reilly, Donal Boyle, Kevin Carroll; Paul Crewe, Stephen Fitzpatrick, Micheal McDonnell; Ray McCabe, Robbie Curran 1-3; Conor Noonan, Mark McGeown 0-2, Conall McKeever 0-2; Paul Gore, JJ Quigley