Cortown's Anthony Boyle (right) seen here playing against Eastern Gaels in last year's Junior B FC clash played his part in helping his team defeat St Pat's. PHOTO: DAVID MULLEN/WWW.CYBERIMAGES.NET.

Cortown recover to record deserved victory

Published: Wed 1 May 2024, 4:39 PM

Last updated: Wed 1 May 2024, 4:43 PM

Cortown ...1-12

St Patrick's... 0-8

Recovering from an underwhelming first half performance, Cortown came good to defeat St Patrick’s and register their second win of their Div 10 campaign on Tuesday night.

Cortown got the perfect start to the contest with a goal inside the first minute of the match. Elliot Reilly, who struck the match winning score on Sunday against Summerhill, showed a clean pair of heels to escape the clutches of the Pat’s defenders and slot inside the near post.

It was the perfect start for the hosts, but wind assisted St Pat’s got on top and kicked a series of points to wrestle back the initiative.

Davy Rispin raised a white flag from a free whilst Luke Carberry curled over a cracking point to narrow the gap.

The Stamullen outfit again chipped away and opened up a two-point half time advantage, 1-2 to 0-7.

Luca Brady was introduced at the break and Cortown cut a rejuvenated outfit at the beginning of the second half and quickly levelled things up.

Rispin added a couple of points from a free and a mark, the latter coming from a pinpoint Brady ball. This brought a noticeable shift in momentum with Rispin and a booming effort from Stephen Fitzmaurice nosing Cortown in front for only the second time.

Pat's responded with their one and only score of the second half, but a rampant Cortown continued to excel with frees from Fitzmaurice and Rispin supplemented by an excellent Charlie Smith effort from 35 metres.

Cortown were much more solid in the second period too with chairperson skipper Coyne, Decky Clarke, Micky Costello and Ciaran Keating all making telling contributions.

The visitors picked up two late red cards on the field whilst manager and Pat’s and Meath legend Cormac Sullivan was also sent off for his protests and remonstrations.

Carberry and Rispin (free) added some gloss on the scoreboard for the men in yellow to cap off another fine home win at Fortress Cortown. After such a heavy fixture schedule, Cortown have somewhat of a break to their next League Div 5 game against Trim on Sunday week.

Cortown - Butch Casserly; Skipper Coyne, Decky Clarke, Micky Costello; Kevin Muldoon, Charlie Smith (0-1), Ciaran Keating; Elliot Reilly (1-0), Declan Coyne; Anthony Boyle, Davy Rispin (0-7 five frees one mark), Ivor O'Halloran; Stephen Fitzmaurice (0-2 one free), Luke Carberry (0-2), John McGearty. Subs - Luca Brady for Boyle, Micheal Reilly for Fitzmaurice, Cormac Farrell for Muldoon, Justin Reilly for D Coyne.