St Patrick’s were dumped out of the U21 championship at the quarter final stage on Friday night after a lacklustre performance against St Manchan’s. While some poor officiating certainly didn’t help matters, lack of commitment and preparation throughout the year took it’s toll.
Gary Blong opened the scoring after two minutes after some good play from Cian Lawton and Shane Forde. St Manchan’s responded with 1-2 in the next five minutes and straight away St Pat’s were on the back foot.
A Sean Doyle point in the seventh minute reduced the deficit to three points but St Manchan’s kept plugging away and hit three points without reply. A Stuart Cullen point in the thirtieth minute left five between the sides but St Manchan’s again cancelled this out with a point of their own.
Half Time:
St Patricks 0-3 1-6 St Manchan’s
Sean Doyle opened the scoring in the second half with three minutes on the clock but again St Manchan’s pointed within a minute from a close range free.
A horrendous mistake in the back line allowed St Manchan’s in for a second goal and the game looked dead and buried. The introduction of Dan Moloney sparked a huge revival for St Patrick’s as his size and strength combined with some much needed passion caused mayhem for St Manchan’s.
Derek Kelly pointed after some great work from Moloney and within minutes Stuart Cullen had scored 1-1. A Sean Doyle free for a foul on Dan Moloney left just a goal between the sides but controversy soon struck when a somewhat comical decision to award a penalty was given against St Patrick’s.
This was the final kick in the teeth for St Patrick’s and they failed to recover from then with St Manchan’s chalking up another 1-4. Late points from Sean Doyle(2) and Philip Farrell left a ten point margin at the final whistle.
Full Time:
St Patrick’s 1-10 4-11 St Manchan’s
Man of the match: Dan Moloney
Team Sheet:
Peter O’Neill, Aaron O’Connell, Mark Young, Andrew Forde, Gary Blong(0-1), David Hanlon, Sean Moriarty, Derek Kelly(0-1), Cian Lawton, Ciaran Hurley, Philip Farrell(0-1), Shane Forde, Dan Ryan, Sean Doyle(0-5), Stuart Cullen(1-2)
Subs: Dan Moloney for Sean Doyle(inj), Sean Doyle for Cian Lawton, Cian Lawton for Dan Ryan, Jamie Dolan for Dan Moloney(inj)
