Weakened Cille’s play second fiddle to Ratoath

WITH attacking options thin on the ground, St Colmcille’s never threatened to swap places with Ratoath by finishing top of the pile in Group C of the SFC at Duleek on Friday evening.

The seasiders went into the game with key forwards Graham Reilly, Ben Brennan, James Conlon and Ciaran Kelly all absent for a variety of reasons and that greatly inhibited their hopes.

Both teams were already assured of their place in the last eight and as a result this tie lacked the cut and thrust of championship football. Ratoath won pretty much as they pleased to preserve their unbeaten record, but there will hardly be a rush of money on Fergie Power’s side for outright honours on the basis of this display.

Without coming under serious pressure at any stage, Ratoath only showed fleeting passages of what they are capable of and will need to resurrect their shooting boots if they are to get their hands on the Keegan Cup for the first time ever.

A tally of 15 wides, nine of which came in the opening half, left plenty of scope for improvement entering the knockout stages. Ratoath played well until they got into the final third of the pitch and it was hit and miss after that.

The depleted Cille’s made it as awkward as possible for their opponents, getting behind the ball in large numbers, and that limited the eventual winners’ scoring opportunities.

Without so many regulars, Conor O’Byrne was left to plough a lone furrow up front for most of the hour. To his credit he gave Conor McGill plenty to think about, especially in the opening half when kicking two fine points, his side’s only scores of the half. However, he didn’t have the support or the supply in the second half to cause the Ratoath defence much disruption.

Ratoath 1-11 St Colmcille’s 1-5

Neither side created much in the way of clear-cut goal chances and both majors were of the fortuitous variety. Jack Reynolds did have an opportunity from close range on 13 minutes, but his effort was smothered and eventually cleared by Conor McGill.

The opening goal a minute later left Ratoath leading 1-3 to 0-1 and followed a short kickout by Andrew Beakey which was intercepted by Eamon Wallace who set up Bryan McMahon for an easy chance.

The Cille’s goal came courtesy of substitute Eanna Walsh whose delivery from the left wing deceived both keeper Shane Duffy and the lurking Conor O’Byrne and ended in the net on 42 minutes. It left Des Lane’s side trailing 1-3 to 1-8, a similar position to where they were at half-time, behind 0-2 to 1-4.

Quite apart from their wayward shooting in that first half, Ratoath also spurned a gilt-edge goal opportunity on 24 minutes when Conall Aherne had a penalty blocked by keeper Beakey. The Cille’s netminder reacted swiftly, diving to his left to keep out Aherne’s kick.

Eamon Wallace (two), Aherne and Bryan McMahon hit the Ratoath points in the opening half and St Colmcille’s hopes were further dented prior to half-time when Jack Reynolds limped off with an injury.

Ratoath enjoyed their best spell in the third quarter as they stretched their lead out to eight points by the 39th minute.

St Colmcille’s responded with that goal from Walsh, but they were unable to make further inroads as Ratoath hit back with successive points from McMahon, Cian O’Brien and Eamon Wallace to restore their eight-point advantage.

The winners failed to add to their tally in the final 10 minutes as Cille’s closed the gap with points from Tomas O Hoistin and David O’Byrne.

RATOATH: Shane Duffy 0-1 (‘45’); Darragh McGill, Conor McGill, Ciaran O Ferraigh; Brian O’Connor, Brian Power, Darragh Kelly; Cian O’Brien 0-2, Ben McGowan; Joey Wallace, Eamon Wallace 0-3 (1f), Conor Rooney; Conall Aherne 0-2, Gavin McGowan, Bryan McMahon 1-2 (1f). Subs: Cian Rogers 0-1 for G McGowan (14), Emmet Boyle for Kelly (49), Keith McCabe for E Wallace (55), Gareth Rooney for C Rooney (57), Jack McGowan for B McGowan (58).

ST COLMCILLE’S: Andrew Beakey; Ciaran Ward, Jamie McDonnell, Ian Mullen; Adam Lynch, Karl Mullen, Cathal Hilliard; Ruairi O’Grady, Robbie McCloskey; Jeff Kavanagh, Danny McMahon, James McElearney; David O’Byrne 0-2 frees, Conor O’Byrne 0-2, Jack Reynolds. Subs: Eanna Walsh 1-0 for Reynolds (28), Tomas O Hoistin 0-1 for Kavanagh (46), Shane Crilly for Hilliard (57).

REF: Cormac Reilly (St Mary’s)