St Pat's impress to sink Moate
LEINSTER COLLEGES SFC
St Patrick's CS Navan .................1-3-14 (23)
Moate CS ...................................2-1-8 (16)
KEVIN EGAN
St Patrick’s CS coach Enda Monaghan said after his side’s win against Moate CS last Thursday afternoon that “we probably are in the mix” in a competitive Leinster Colleges SFC where reigning champions Coláiste Mhuire Mullingar and Naas CBS are considered the front runners.
If the Navan school can figure out how to consistently play at the high level they hit in the first half of this game, they’ll be very hard to stop.
“It's probably an ideal game for us in that we scored 1-20 and done a lot of good things, but on the other side of it we wouldn't be happy with a lot of our defensive play and a few rash things we did in the second half. That gives us plenty to build on and also plenty to work on,” he added.
Depending on your perspective, you could see what you wanted in this game. Optimistic St. Pat’s fans would say that they racked up a 1-13 to 0-2 half-time lead playing some scintillating football, strong in the tackle in defence and slick in moving the ball up to their dangerous forward line, before losing intensity when the game was done and dusted.
Moate supporters might point to St Pat’s meekly hooking their first shot wide of the target from 25 metres out and Jack Ryan’s save on a Nathan Reilly goal effort, but how every one of the other 18 attempts on goal from the winners found the target in a remarkable display of efficiency and attacking class.
When St Pat’s were tuned in and firing on all cylinders, they were outstanding. The kickout battle was an even contest with Brian Doyle leading the fight for Moate while Conor Daly was to the forefront of the breaking ball battle, but once the ball was moved up into theforwards, they met with some outstanding strip and swarm tackling, which in turn led to a host of dispossessions.
James Donnelly had three clinical dispossessions, while in the corners, Tadhg Foley and Conor Reuter showed textbook technique, with immaculate body position and reading of the game to dominate their opponents.
With that pressure came some poor shot selection and seven first half wides, while out of the two points that Moate scored, one was a free from Jack Ryan and the other was a close-range effort from Billy Stenson.
And while the contest at midfield was even, the matchups on the St Pat’s 45m line were a landslide, with the home side building on that dominance to create quick transitions and good front-foot ball.
Conall O’Sullivan was the quarterback, Cormac Smith hoisted over two superb kicks from distance, one from open play, Liam Devine was the oil in the machine, while the movement of Reilly and Cahill terrorised Moate and led to the score racking up quickly.
The midlanders were drowning and needed a lifeline coming up to half-time, trailing by 0-13 to 0-2. With a diagonal breeze set to favour Moate in the second half, a goal would have given them a sliver of hope and they got their chance when Doyle’s typically incisive run and measured pass set up Ben Martin just inside the large square.
Martin went low and across Charlie Finnegan’s body but the goalkeeper’s reflexes were sharp as he got a strong right foot on the ball to parry it clear.
20 seconds later, St Pat’s had slickly moved the ball up the field to Cahill, who sidestepped Ryan and slid the ball into an empty net, with referee Patrick Coyle unmoved by Jack Ryan’s justifiable screams for an overcarry.
By now, Moate knew that the only achievable goal was to rebuild some momentum in advance of the next game and to their immense credit, they found the motivation and the fire they needed to do exactly that.
Three defenders crowding a St Pat’s attacker to force a turnover set the tone and while it was only in the dying minutes of the game that they finally put two scores back-to-back, it was a much more competitive contest.
Cormac Smith and Brian Doyle continued to stand out as the star men for their respective sides with Doyle drawing frees and adding one point of his own, while still soldiering manfully in the midfield battle. Ben Martin punched one goal and Tadhg Heavin scored the other from a penalty at the death, awarded for a last-ditch pull on Doyle by James Donnelly that could be described as shockingly cynical or entirely the right thing to do, depending on your moral compass.
Add in Jack Ryan hitting just one of his three long-range frees for double reward, and it could have been closer still. But even at seven points, the final margin felt like the least that St Pat’s deserved, considering the dizzy heights they hit for the first half hour.
St Patrick’s CS - Charlie Finnegan (Seneschalstown 0-2 two-point free); Tadhg Foley (Trim), Billy Birmingham (Ballivor), Conor Reuter (Skryne); Cormac Smith (Clann na nGael 0-7 one two-pointer, one two-point free), Conall O’Sullivan (St. Michael’s), James Donnelly (Bective); Oran Meade (Simonstown Gaels), Seán Smyth (Skryne 0-1); Charles McCarthy (Seneschalstown), Charlie Twomey (Gaeil Colmcille), Liam Devine (Gaeil Colmcille 0-1); CJ Lynch (St Michael’s 0-1), Stephen Cahill (Dunsany 1-3), Nathan Reilly (Simonstown Gaels 0-5 two frees). Subs - Max Chamberlain (Gaeil Colmcille) for Birmingham 47m, Max Condon (Simonstown Gaels) for McCarthy 55m, Harry Butler (Gaeil Colmcille) for Twomey 55.
Moate CS - Jack Ryan; Anthony King Carroll, Aaron Claffey, Tadhg Heavin; Mark Loddick, Billy Stenson, Conor Daly; Kevin Boland, Brian Doyle; Eoin McCormack, Darragh Madden, Lee Corcoran; Seán Mackey, Ben Martin, Alex Mullen Adamson. Subs - John Paul for King Carroll 18m, Harry Hughes for McCormack, Darragh Deegan for Mullen Adamson both half-time, Senan Gilroy for Loddick 56m.
Referee - Patrick Coyle (Meath).
IN BRIEF
Man of the Match
Cormac Smith will be a force to be reckoned with in the Leinster U-20 championship in the Spring on this form as he fired in five scores, four from play, to crown a dominant performance overall. Stephen Cahill was razor-sharp in the opening half but struggled to get on the ball after half-time while James Donnelly also looked very strong in the half-back line, coming up with several turnovers in the tackle. His late foul on Brian Doyle for a black card could be forgiven as the ‘optimal’ play in that game situation as well.
What’s next
Moate Community School now face what is effectively a straight knockout tie against Ardscoil na Tríonóide (Athy) to see who will take second spot in the group and with it, a place in the preliminary quarter-finals. With top spot and a home knockout tie assured, St Pat’s won’t have anything at stake when they take on St Benildus’ College, though it remains to be seen if the South Dublin team even field, considering they lost heavily to two sides that St Pat’s were able to overcome with relative ease.
What they said
“People would say why have St Pat's dropped off the radar in recent years, I don't think we have. I think we've been there or thereabouts, we've been competitive, we just haven't got that bit of luck. Hopefully that comes our way this year when we need it, further on down the line in the championship” – St Pat’s coach Enda Monaghan.