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St Mary’s
St Mary’s
2-15 St Farnan’s 1-6
Cathal
Mullaney
Another
Minor title has found a home at St Mary’s following their capture of the Expert
Electrical Division One League crown last Thursday evening at the Sligo GAA
Centre of Excellence at Scarden.
2-15
to 1-6 winners over a one-dimensional St Farnan’s, St Mary’s had impressive
performers in Nathan Rooney, who chipped in with nine points, while Ryan
Feehily, Kyle Cawley and Paul Kilcoyne also showed up well for the Ballydoogan-based
side.
Finnian
Cawley was unable to recreate his heroics from Sligo’s Minor league campaign to
inspire his St Farnan’s side, and though he supplied four points, the Dromore
West outfit were heavily reliant on Cawley and Paddy O’Connor, another county
minor player, to find scores against the defensively solid winners.
Initially,
St Farnan’s struggled to quell the attacking threat that was Nathan Rooney. The
full-forward, son of current Sligo Minor boss Aidan Rooney, scored seven points
inside the opening 13 minutes in an outstanding personal display, with four
coming from play. St Farnan’s eventually brought back a sweeper to prevent
possession reaching Rooney, and it was somewhat effective.
That
said, the damage was already done. 0-7 to 0-1 down after Rooney’s scoring
spree, St Farnan’s were dealt a harsh blow when a defensive mix-up resulted in
Kyle Cawley netting a 25th minute goal, to put eight points between
the sides (1-7 to 0-2).
Finnian
Cawley and Paddy O’Connor were St Farnan’s only scorers over the hour, and
between them they contributed three points in the opening half, but their side
trailed 1-8 to 0-3 at the break.
The
second half followed a similar patter, with Nathan Rooney adding another two
points in the early stages of the half, while Oisin Kelly, Paul Kilcoyne and
Kyle Cawley also fired over.
Conor
Darcy bagged 1-1 in a four minute period in the final quarter, to further
extend his sides lead, and though St Farnan’s scored 1-1 of their own in the
final seven minutes – Paddy O’Connor the goalscorer – this was a mere
consolation as St Mary’s ended as deserving 12-point winners.
St
Mary’s: N Cawley; R Allen, H Mousa, T O’Kelly-Lynch; O Kelly (0-1), R Feehily,
K Conlon; S Mulligan, P Kilcoyne (0-1); C Darcy (1-1), K Cawley (1-1), N
McDermott; J Hargadon (0-2), N Rooney (0-9, 5fs), Neil Murray. Subs: Nathan
Hargadon, Shane O’Hehir, Jack McDonagh.
St
Farnan’s: K Devaney; F Ryan, C Gillen, P Flynn; J Weir, E Kilgannon, F Kilgannon;
F Cawley (0-4, 2fs), M Devaney; K Kilrehill, P O’Connor (1-2), N Crean; S Mulligan,
G Calpin, C Gordon. Subs: C Murray
Referee:
Ciaran McGovern