St Colmcille's claim Premier FC 3 crown in style

St Colmcille's cruised to the Premier FC Div 3 title with a comfortable 1-13 to 0-5 victory over Walterstown at Pairc Tailteann this afternoon.

Play was scrappy and disjointed in the opening quarter and it took almost six minutes before JP Wallace opened the scoring for the winners.

The lively Joey Coogan responded for Walterstown, but that was the only time they were level as Ben Wilde and Adam McCabe, in quick succession, extended St Colmcille's lead before a wayward sideline gifted a point to Mark Whearty to make it 0-4 to 0-1.

Coogan was causing St Colmcille's plenty of problems and he doubled his and Walterstown's account in the 21st minute, but it was still the Seasiders who pressed on with the excellent Ewan Coughlan converting a free before Wilde put four between the teams.

Walterstown did manage the closing point of the opening half when Jack Doyle pointed brilliantly from distance, but with the wind in their faces for the second-half Walterstown were left with an uphill struggle as they trailed 0-3 to 0-6 at the break.

Both sides made personnel changes at the break and it was James McElearney who made an instant impact with a point for St Colmcille's within two minutes.

Six minutes later the substitute was the centre of attention again as he struck a penalty, after Coughlan had been fouled, off the butt of the post.

However that miss didn't provide Walterstown with the boost they needed and between the 42nd minute and the 45th minute St Colmcille's added points from Wilde (free and a '45'), Stephen Emmett and McCabe to stretch their lead to 0-11 to 0-3.

Adam Barrett responded with a pointed free before the second water break, but within seconds of the resumption a superb run by McCabe set-up Eanna Walsh for a stunning goal which firmly put the issue beyond doubt.

The closing quarter was scrappy. St Colmcille's lost Emmett to a black card, but they still outscored Walterstown with Mark Murray and Ross Molloy pointing either side of a Stephen O'Keeffe score to ensure victory for the happy east Meath side.

SCORERS

St Colmcille's – Ben Wilde 0-4 one free, one '45; Eanna Walsh 1-0; Adam McCabe 0-2; Ewan Coughlan 0-1 free; JP Wallace 0-1; Mark Whearty 0-1; James Elearney 0-1; Stephen Emmett 0-1; Mark Murray 0-1; Ross Molloy 0-1.

Walterstown – Joey Coogan 0-2; Jack Doyle 0-1; Adam Barrett 0-1 free; Stephen O'Keeffe 0-1.

TEAMS

St Colmcille's - Lee McGuinness; Con Gordon, Ciaran Ward, Eoin Sweeney; Aaron Lynch, Ian Mullen, Oran Kinch; Adam McCabe, JP Wallace; Ben Wilde, Eanna Walsh, Lorcan Hughes; Ewan Coughlan, Ferdia Quigley, Mark Whearty. Subs – James McElearney for Hughes half-time, Stephen Emmett for Ward 40 mins, Jamie Duffy for Kinch 46m, Mark Murray for Coughlan 50m, Ross Molloy for Wilde 55m.

Walterstown – Ciaran Lydon; Darren Finnegan, Dan Halligan, Cormac Freeman; Jonathan Murchan, Harry Beggy, Kashif Ali; Adam Cummins, Christopher Farrelly; Jack Doyle, Adam Barrett, Eoin O'Leary; Stephen Davis, Joey Coogan, Andrew Moran. Subs – Aidan O'Connor for Murchan 20 mins, Stephen O'Keeffe for Moran, Jamie Flynn for Davis both half-time, John Moran for Cummins 55m, Cathal McGuinness for Ali 56m.

Referee – Peter Skelly (St Brigid's).