SENIOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIV. 1 ROUND 10
NAAS 2 – 13 ST. LAURENCES 1 – 10
Naas remained top of Div. 1 with Moorefield and Celbridge on fourteen points after a six point victory over St.Laurences at Naas and with one game left looked to have qualified for the semi-final. This was not an easy victory and Naas had to pull out all the stops in the final quarter to win.
A Conor Mellett goal in the 26th.minute gave Naas a one point half-time lead 1 – 3 to 0 – 5. Matters were fairly even at the start of the second half, but an 8th minute goal by Chris Fenner put Laurences ahead 1 – 7 to 1 – 5.a Naas resurgence led by Joey Cocoman put them two points clear with two minutes remaining. Then Ronan Joyce goaled for Naas for an emphatic victory.
The referee stopped the game for half an hour in the second half while a St.Laurences player was treated for a serious leg injury.
Naas opened the scoring after five minutes with a Joey Cocoman point. A second Naas point was followed by four unanswered points for St.Laurences from Chris Fenner(2) and Padraig O’Neill(2). Then Shane Gibbons pointed for Naas to leave one between them. In the 26th. minute Conor Mellett scored a goal for Naas. Laurences answered with a point from Brendan Gorman. Naas led 1 – 3 to 0 – 5 at the interval
Naas started well in the second half with two Brian Kane points. Laurences answered with two of their own from Chris Fenner and Stephen Murphy. The visitors took the lead on the 8th. minute with a Chris Fenner goal. They added a point by Shaun Fahey to lead by three. Two Joey Cocoman points reduced the arrears to one point after eighteen minutes. The teams traded points from Shaun Fahey (St.Laurences and Davy Shaw (Naas). Laurences led 1 – 9 to 1 – 8 after twenty minutes. Naas got on top now and scored three points in four minutes from Conor Mellett, Shane Bergin (free) and Brian Kane. An Ailin McDermott point put Naas two ahead. In the 29th. minute a Conor Mellett shot for a goal was saved Ronan Joyce was on the far post and scored the rebound. Joey Cocoman completed the scoring.
Naas: Barry Reynolds, Davy Shaw (0 – 1), Shane Bergin (0 – 1), Shane Gibbons (0 – 1), Brian Kane (0 – 3), Eoghan Bateman, Ailin McDermott (0 – 1), David Gahan, Ross Bergin, Joey Cocoman (0 – 5), Ronan Joyce (1 – 0),John Joyce, Conor Mellett (1 – 1), Philip Cocoman, Aidan Begley.
St.Laurences: Shane Connolly, Cian Crowe, Eoin Clifford, David O’Driscoll, Brendan Gorman (0 – 1), Stephen Mahon, Adam Stynes, Mark Glynn, Padraig O’Neill (0 – 3), John O’Driscoll, Shaun Fahey (0 – 2). Stephen Murphy (0 – 1), Chris Fenner (1 – 2), Art Blanchfield, Tommy O’Neill, Sub: Tom Glynn (0 – 1).
Referee : Killian Jones.
