St Mary’s win by one
pressive Luke Nicholson pointed after a great run from the full back position.
Hailstones had a goal chance on six minutes which went wide of the post, however he had been fouled and converted the resultant free to leave the sides level.
Cian Breheny restored St Mary’s lead with a point on eight minutes after a great run through the heart of the Gaels defence.
The Gaels kept in touch with points from James Carroll and another free from Hailstones.
St Mary’s however started to pull away and in an impressive ten minutes notched up four points in a row, three from Rory Guinan and one from Kyle Cawley to go five ahead.
The Gaels kept in touch with two late points from Hailstones and Ciaran O’Connor to leave three points between the teams at half time.
St Mary’s had two goal chances in the closing stages of the half, the best falling to corner forward Adam Lynch who tried to side step the ball into an open goal only to see the ball roll wide.
Mary’s lost Cian Breheny to injury at half time but did start the second half brightly with Paul Kilcoyne and Rory Guinan extending their lead with points in a free ridden opening ten minutes.
St Mary’s then had two more goal chances which they failed to convert, the first falling to Nathan Rooney coming in from the right at a tight angle but blazed wide on the far post.
This was followed by a great save from Gaels keeper Mark Tuohy who palmed the ball over the bar from Adam Lynch.
The Gaels on the other hand made no mistake at the other end with a well taken goal from Seamus Hailstones which was quickly followed by three points to bring the Gaels level on twenty minutes.
In an exciting closing ten minutes, the Gaels went ahead on four separate occasions only for St Mary’s to draw level each time.
The Gaels were level going into injury time when for the second time in the game they conceded a free after a kick out did not make the 21 yard line.
In the corresponding hop ball, referee Michael Duffy awarded a free to St Mary’s which resulted in a simple tap over for Rory Guinan to give St Mary’s their second one point win of the league.
ST MARY’S: Alan Sheeran, Conor Darcy, Luke Nicholson (0-1), Cian McKeon, Gerard O’Kelly Lynch, Keelan O’Grady, Tony O’Kelly Lynch (0-1), Cian Breheny (0-1), Paul Kilcoyne (0-2), Niall McManus, Rory Guinan (0-6), Nathan Rooney, Stephen Coen (0-4), Kyle Cawley (0-2), Adam Lynch. Subs: Luke Walsh for C Breheny (Inj).
SHAMROCK GAELS: Mark Tuohy, Declan Willis, Paul Higgins, Keith McMorrow, Evan Lyons, Karl McKenna (0-1), Gavin McMorrow, Liam O’Connell, Frank Quinn (0-2), Daire Kearns, Brian Boyd (0-1), James Carroll (0-1), Darragh Hailstones (0-7), Seamus Hailstones (1-0), Ciaran O’Connor (0-1). Subs: Patrick Benson for D Kearns, Ben Tuohy for G McMorrow, David Quinn for L O’Connell (inj).