ST. MICHAELS FALL SHORT
Sunday May 5th 2019,
AFL Division 2, round 8
Full time: St. Michaels 0-13, Bective 2-12,
Half time: St. Michaels 0-06, Bective 2-04.
Two first half goals fired Bective to their second win of their division 2 campaign at the expense of their hosts St. Michaels in this bottom of the table clash on Sunday afternoon in Carlanstown. The two majors helped the visitors to a four point interval lead which was just about enough to hold off a spirited St. Michaels fightback in the second half.
A Ciaran Lynch free after three minutes opened the scoring however the first of the Bective goals came straight from the kick-out and they added their opening point 30 seconds later for an early three point lead. Shane McDonnell reduced the deficit with a good effort from play however the killer second goal arrived on 10 minutes and bore a strong resemblance to the first as they found a route through the heart of the St. Michaels defence all too easy before planting it in the back of the net for a 2-1 to 0-2 lead.
Twelve minutes elapsed before the next score arrived which came from the boot of the hard working Davy Lynch who chipped over after receiving from McDonnell out on the right flank. Bective replied immediately with two quick fire points from play before Shane McCormack sent over two good efforts from play. Bective added their final score of the half from a free while Ben Reilly popped one over at the opposite end in injury time to reduce the visitors lead to 2-4 to 0-6 at the break. Bective also had a goal disallowed for a square ball in the opening half.
Two points in the opening five minutes of the new half stretched the visitors lead to double scores before St. Michaels hit back with points from Davy Lynch, Christopher Drew and McDonnell. Bective kept plugging away and added a further two points, one from a free, Shane McDonnell replied with a great effort from play for the home side which was followed with a converted free from Ciaran Lynch to reduce the deficit to just three points, St. Michaels needed a goal badly at this stage, however it never looked like coming as Bective made it a 4 point game once again with nine minutes left on the clock and would have added their third major but for a great goal line stop by Christopher Drew. McCormack and McDonnell finished out the scoring for St. Michaels with a brace of points but again the Bective lads widened the gap in the final five minutes with a further three points, one from a ’45 to collect two valuable points to move them off the bottom of the table.
St. Michaels team and scorers:
Darren O’Connell; Ciaran O’Reilly, Sam Briody, Harry Dunne; Paddy Clarke, Christopher Drew (0-1), Ben Reilly (0-1); Davy Lynch (0-2), Matthew Halpin; Paddy Tobin, Shane McCormack (0-3, 1f), Lee Morris; Daithí O’Reilly, Shane McDonnell (0-4, 1f), Ciaran Lynch (0-2, 2f).
Subs: Paddy Callaghan for Morris 30 minutes, Justin McPhillips for D. O’Reilly 50 minutes.
Referee: Peter Skelly.
Report: Pascal Reilly PRO.