McDermott's men brush the Gaels aside

Wolfe Tones showed plenty of motivation and craft to defeat Simonstown Gaels, 2-14 to 0-10, in the SFC at Pairc Tailteann today.

This was a rousing, impressive victory for the Tones who built on a 1-8 to 0-4 interval lead to get the better of a lacklustre Simonstown side who have now lost two from two.

Tom Gavigan scored the goal for Michael McDermott's side in that opening half when he finished off a sweeping move that included a large cast of players.

The second goal of the game arrived on 58 minutes when Thomas O'Reilly was fouled in the square and Cian Ward calmly, confidently converted the penalty.

Ward put in an very good hour's hard graft scoring 1-3. In all eight players contributed to Wolfe Tones' hefty tally with O'Reilly and Saran O Fionnagain each firing over three points from play.

Simonstown really struggled to make an impact. They brought on Shane O'Rourke, who has had his long-running quest to find fitness, for the start of the second-half and he delivered some sweet passes but even he couldn't spark his team into a giving a sustained response.

Padraig McKeever was by some distance the Gael's main marksman with his six points, four frees. Fragile in defence Colm O'Rourke's team needed a lot more to knock a determined Wolfe Tones side off course.

SCORERS

Wolfe Tones - Cian Ward 1-4 penalty, three frees; Tom Gavigan 1-0; Thomas O'Reilly 0-2; Saran O Fionnagain 0-3; Niall O'Reilly 0-2; Conor Sheppard 0-1; Padraic Diamond 0-1; Stephen Sheppard 0-1.

Simonstown Gaels - Padraig McKeever 0-6 four frees; Sean Tobin 0-1; Shane Barry 0-1; Niall Kane 0-1; Aarron Chinchilla 0-1.

TEAM

Wolfe Tones - Cian Farnan; Brughach O Fionnagain, Adam O'Neill, Conor Sheppard; Niall O'Reilly, Shane Glynn, Daniel O'Neill; Tom Gavigan, Alan Callaghan; Stephen Sheppard, Cian Ward, Thomas O'Reilly; Caolan Ward, Cian O'Neill, Saran O Fionnagain. Subs - Padraic Diamond for Callaghan 37 mins, Oisin Martin for C Ward 45m, Robbie White for S O Fionnagain 60m.

Simonstown Gaels - Robert Burlingham; Nicky O'Brien, Stephen Moran, Mark Gardiner; Mark Devlin, Rory Connor, Niall Kane; Sean Conlon, Brian Conlon; Shane Barry, Conor Sheridan, Josh Carolan; Sean Tobin, Padraig McKeever, Ben Hoey. Subs - Aaron Chinchilla for O'Brien 12 mins, Shane O'Rourke for Hoey half-time; Joe Lyons for Connor 44m.

Referee - Patrick Coyle (Curraha).

Read match report in next issue of the Meath Chronicle