St Peter's secure crucial win in titanic battle with Moors

As it stands, Rathmolyon, St Peter's and Drumree occupy the qualification spots in the IHC after round three.

St Peter’s 3-19

Donaghmore/Ashbourne 2-20

Two pivotal goals either side of half-time spurred on St Peter’s as they sealed a crucial win over Donaghmore/Ashbourne in an enthralling IHC encounter at Ratoath on Saturday evening. The victory put the Dunboyne side two points clear of their opposition from Saturday in the IHC table.

St Peter’s were dealt a blow just before half-time when their star man to that point, Sean Quigley, suffered a head injury and had to be substituted just before the break. Jason Gleeson’s influence was well curtailed by Donaghmore/Ashbourne in the first-half but when St Peter’s switched the Waterford native into the full-forward line he began to cause a lot of issues for the ‘Moors’ defence. Wing-forward Conor Murphy was outstanding for the black and amber throughout.

From Donaghmore/Ashbourne’s perspective, Louis McIvor really stood out. The Meath u-20 star proved difficult for St Peter’s to manage and he finished with an outstanding tally of 11 points. Michael O’Sullivan impressed when he was introduced in the second-half.

In a hectic start to the contest, St Peter’s took an early lead when Jack Cox played a long ball into Quigley and the former Meath senior hurler made no mistake with the finish to Ben Mather’s net which handed St Peter’s a 1-2 to 0-2 lead. Three points on the spin, two from the hurl of McIvor and one from Davin Jones drew Colm O Mealoid’s side level.

Quigley responded for St Peter’s with a nice point before it was cancelled when Daniel Doherty added his name to the scoresheet. McIvor followed up with a brace of scores to put Donaghmore/Ashbourne ahead by two at the end of an entertaining first-quarter.

St Peter’s then scored three points in the space 60 seconds. Niall Smyth set up Cox before points from Sean Cregan and Quigley edged the eventual winners back in front. Donaghmore/Ashbourne’s two-point lead was restored when McIvor’s free from his own ‘45’ dropped short but was not dealt with well by Shane Nolan and Sean O’Sullivan pounced for a goal.

Quigley rattled off three points in quick succession which swung the advantage back in St Peter’s favour before a brace of points from McIvor and one each for Sean O’Sullivan and Patrick Moran gave Donaghmore/Ashbourne a three-point lead after 25 minutes.

However, it was St Peter’s who finished the half strongest as they scored 1-2 in a row. Their goal came courtesy of Murphy, who under pressure from several Donaghmore/Ashbourne defenders and facing away from the posts managed to strike the ball over his own head and into the net. At the interval St Peter’s led 2-12 to 1-13.

In response to Quigley’s injury just before the break, Gleeson who was quiet in the first-half was switched into the full-froward line and that move proved crucial as within 60 seconds of the restart he raised St Peter’s third green flag before he traded points with Jones.

McIvor kept Donaghmore/Ashbourne’s tally ticking with a couple of impressive frees but a brace of points from Murphy and one from Gleeson handed St Peter’s a 3-16 to 1-16 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Donaghmore-Ashbourne then seized back momentum when in an O’Sullivan masterclass move, a super ball from substitute Michael O’Sullivan was gathered well by Darragh O’Sullivan who then set up Sean O’Sullivan for his and Donaghmore/Ashbourne’s second major. McIvor added two frees either side of that goal. In the 52nd minute, St Peter’s were punished for dissent and McIvor drew the sides level with an easy free.

However, after that all that Donaghmore/Ashbourne could muster was a late Sean Ward point as St Peter’s sealed the win with scores from Conor Gilmartin, Gleeson and Eoghan McCormack.

St Peter’s: Shane Nolan; Eoghan Pearl, Evan McCrudden, Ciaran Lonergan; James Lonergan, Diarmuid Delaney, Jamie McCormack; Jack Cox (0-2), Alan Watters (0-1); Eoghan McCormack (0-2), Jason Gleeson (1-3 one free), Conor Murphy (1-2); Sean Cregan (0-2), Sean Quigley (1-6 three frees), Niall Smyth. Subs: Shane McCormack for Smyth 21m, Eric Lowndes for Quigley 27m, Conor Gilmartin (0-1) for Watters half-time, Rory Callanan for McCormack 56m.

Donaghmore/Ashbourne: Ben Mather; Cian Field, Rhys Thomas, Daragh Walsh; Patrick Moran (0-1), Sam Benville, Eoin Breathnach; Louis McIvor (0-11 seven frees), Tom Ryan (0-1); Davin Jones (0-2), Daniel Doherty (0-1), Darragh O’Sullivan (0-1); Callum Buckley (0-1), Seán O’Sullivan (2-1), JJ McManus. Subs: Michael O’Sullivan for Buckley 36m, Oisin Daly for Benville 40m, Sean Ward (0-1) for Doherty 46m.

Referee: Gus Martyn (Dunderry).