St Peter's secure survival in style

St Peter’s 2-1-13 (21)

Kilbride 0-3-5 (10)

St Peter’s made sure there was no danger of them having to contest the SFC relegation semi-finals with an emphatic win over Kilbride in Ashbourne on Sunday.

With the wind at their backs, St Peter’s laid down a marker early on and led 1-6 to 0-1 by the end of the first quarter. They kept the scoreboard ticking in the second quarter and led at the break by 11 points.

Donal Lenihan, who finished with 1-8, found the back of the net shortly after the restart which pretty much killed off any potential hopes of a Kilbride comeback.

The men in green and red raised a few orange flags in the third quarter but in truth the result never really looked in doubt.

John Harkin made a particularly strong start to the contest as he set up Lenihan for the former county man’s first score before he registered a two-pointer and a point himself.

In the 10th minute, a three-up breach from Kilbride gave Charlie Gallagher the opportunity to take aim for a two-pointer but his effort fell just short. However, Luke Faherty did not deal with the danger well and let the ball slip into the net.

David O’Leary got Kilbride off the mark but his point was immediately cancelled out by Eoghan McDonald. Cathal McKeon did well to win a St Peter’s kick-out and from that developed a move which saw Andrew McWeeney register Kilbride’s second point.

However, St Peter’s finished out the half well as Lenihan struck a fine two-pointer. He followed it up with another score before Harkin slotted a ‘45’ on the cusp of half-time and at the break David Gallagher’s side led 1-10 to 0-2.

Lenihan pretty much put the game to bed with 1-1 within nine minutes of the restart. Three two-point frees, a brace from O’Leary and one from Josh Harford gave the Kilbride supporters something to cheer. Warren Rogers reduced the gap back to nine points with 10 minutes left on the clock.

In the 58th minute, Harkin clashed with Aaron Duggan and Kilbride were awarded a free out. However, one of the Kilbride Maor Uisce’s made his feelings known about the challenge and was handed a yellow card by referee Andrew Smith.

When the Kilbride backroom team member continued his complaints, he received a second yellow card from Smith, the free was overturned and handed to St Peter’s which Lenihan converted.

Lenihan traded scores with Fiachra Coffey late on before the final whistle confirmed a conclusion that never really looked in doubt.

St Peter’s: Colin McCabe; Jack Hayes, Seamus Lavin, Cian O’Dwyer; Ciaran McCormack, Liam Byrne, Mark Furlong; Shane McEntee, Charlie Gallagher (1-1, 1-0 free); Eoin McCrudden, John Harkin (0-4 one ‘45’), Luke Carolan; Eoghan McDonald (0-2), Donal Lenihan (1-8 three frees, one two-pointer), Michael Murphy. Subs: Jason Gleeson for McCrudden 44m, Fergal Watters for Byrne 48m, Cian Tobin for Furlong 60m.

Kilbride: Luke Faherty; Cian Harford, Ronan O’Leary, Aaron Duggan; Finn White, Timmy Farrell, Andrew McWeeney (0-1); Caolan Howard, Cathal McKeon; Daniel Boyd, James Gavin, Gareth Rooney; Josh Harford (0-2 two-point free), David O’Leary (0-6 two two-point frees, one free) Adam Malone. Subs: Mark Demspey for McWeeney, Fiachra Coffey (0-1) for Malone both 43m, Warren Rogers (0-1) for Rooney 44m.

Referee: Andrew Smith (Dunshaughlin).