Through fierce examination by Gaels
keep the St Mary’s forward scoreless). St Mary’s had mutiple threats in attack, among them Nathan Rooney, Emlyn Mulligan and Kyle Cawley – both Mulligan and Cawley landed superb points from play in that first-half.
Despite their attacking prowess, St Mary’s were clearly shook by how Shamrock Gaels turned things around in the 10 minutes after half-time.
Lee Deignan’s goal shot was saved – 11 seconds following the restart – and the five points that followed from Shamrock Gaels included an outrageous score from distance by David Quinn.
St Mary’s, thankful for goalkeeper Jack Teape’s saves, reacted positively by scoring four points in seven minutes, going from being three points down, 1-10 to 1-7, to being a point up, 1-11 to 1-10. They held on, never falling behind again.
Player of the Match: Paul Kilcoyne
St Mary’s: Jack Teape, Ryan Feehily, David Phillips, Fionn O’Hehir, Ryan Madden, Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch, Tony O’Kelly-Lynch, Michael Munnelly, Paul Kilcoyne (1-0), Kyle Cawley (0-3), Emlyn Mulligan (0-1), Scott Lynch, Stephen Coen, Cian Breheny (0-3), Nathan Rooney (0-6, 5f)
Subs used: Liam O’Kelly-Lynch, Jay Cox (0-1), Patrick Maher, Adam Lynch, Johnny Martyn
Shamrock Gaels: Daniel Lyons, Karl McKenna, Evan Lyons, Ben Tuohy, Ciaran O’Connor, Paul Higgins, Sean Carroll, Dillon McDermott, David Quinn (0-5, 4f), Conor McMorrow, Liam O’Connell (0-1), Conor Sheridan (0-1), Shane Deignan, Lee Deignan (1-5, 1 ‘45’, 1f), Darragh Hailstones
SIDELINE VIEW: St Mary’s boss Mark Breheny, watched his side win for a second time in this year’s Homeland SFC.