St Marys
contested 3 Championship semi-finals at the weekend, winning the Minors boys
and the Junior B, but falling the wrong side in the Senior Championship. First match was the Minor Boys on Saturday afternoon,
and they played with an assuredness and high tempo that never allowed their
opponents Tubbercurry/Cloonacool, a chance to get a foothold in the game. Strong running and slick passing moves
resulted in our lads keeping the scoreboard moving. We ended winning on a scoreline of 5-18 to
1-07. Onwards to the final where
neighbours Drumcliffe/Rosses Point await, and hopefully another impressive
performance to delight their management and loyal support.
Later on
Saturday, a number of the lads lined out for the Junior B semi-final against St
Farnons, which was a cracking match played under lights in the Centre of
Excellence. At the end the St Marys
support were nervously calling for the referee to end proceedings as we stood
on the deadliest of leads in Gaelic, (2 points) and St Farnons were throwing
everything at us. The game started well
for Marys with fantastic point taking from Patrick Maher and Aaron Bennett, and
then a trademark finish to the net from Conor O’Grady. By halftime, St Marys after another flowing
move ended with a goal, were 2-05 to 0-05 to the good. The game continued in the same vein until
the final quarter, when a 7 point lead suddenly vanished as Farnons stepped up
several gears and powered 2 goals. From
then it was backs to the wall and St Marys regained a 2 point advantage
following 3 high quality points from Neil Smyth, Gareth Blake and Aaron
Bennett. The end scoreline was 2-10 to
2-08 and it doesn’t come much closer than that. Well done guys and best of luck in the
final.
The third
semi was our meeting with Coolera in the Senior Championship. This was always going to be a tight affair
and so it proved, with the sides swapping points throughout a well contested
first half. Marys were left to rue 2
good goal chances when Coolera as the half time whistle approached, struck a
goal themselves, and went into the break 4 points to the good. The St Marys side started the second half in
determined mood, posting 3 unanswered points and closing the gap to the
minimum. Then disaster struck, when a
well worked Coolera move split our defence and the green flag was raised once
more undoing all the good work to that time.
Our team stuck to their task but from then to the end of the game
frustration mounted for our guys as the break they needed kept beyond reach and
a series of goal chances were repelled.
The match ended 2-14 to 0-16 in Coolera’s favour with those goals either
side of half time proving decisive. There
ended a promising season for our senior team which gathered a strong momentum
as the Summer progressed. Plenty to be
positive about and we look forward to seeing these guys in action again.
Other teams
in action over the week included our Senior Ladies who played a strong Geevagh
side away on Sunday morning. We were
always going to find the going difficult against an older and more experienced
Geevagh team, and while this was the case, our girls showed their ability and
matched their opponents for much of the game.
Impressive performances by all the ladies and this bodes well for the
future. The Feile boys team had its
first outing away to Enniscrone/Kilglass and were rewarded with a strong
victory by 6-08 to 1-10, and well done to them all.
Saturday saw
the end of another successful Saturday morning coaching season. Turnouts throughout the season were
impressive. Congratulations to all the
players, who participated and honed their skills each week, as was evident in
the numerous blitzes over the Summer.
Thanks to everyone involved in enabling the coaching to run
smoothly. Despite the weather, Saturday
was a fun day with coaching followed by a disco in the Clubhouse at which
certificates were given to each player.