MICHAEL’S SUFFER FIRST DEFEAT IN IFC
Tuesday August 13th 2019, IFC Group B, Round 3
Full time: St. Michaels 0-08, Castletown 1-11,
Half time: St. Michaels 0-06, Castletown 0-06.
St. Michaels suffered their first defeat of this campaign as their neighbours Castletown jumped to the summit of the Meade Potato Co. IFC group B table after this clash in Drumconrath last evening. In what was a fairly evenly contested match throughout, Castletown inflicted the serious damage in the final four minutes when they added 1-2 without reply to seal victory.
While the exchanges were as competitive as one would expect for a local derby, the quality was lacking overall with both sides squandering many chances in front of the posts and when St. Michaels were reduced to 14 men with the dismissal of Mark Stafford to a second yellow with a little over 10 minutes remaining it was Castletown’s experience and guile that served them well at the end.
After an evenly contested opening half, both sides went in at the break on level terms, 0-6 apiece, Shane McCormack opened the scoring with a point in the first minute and it was tit for tat from there to the short whistle with Ciaran Lynch (0-3), Shane McDonnell (0-2) and Mark Stafford (0-1) on target for St. Michaels. Darren O’Connell put in a good hours work and kept his side in the game with some great blocks in both the first and second halves.
Castletown pulled away with three unanswered points in the opening ten minutes of the second half, St. Michaels didn’t open their second half account until the 44th minute when the hard working Shane McDonnell sent one over on the run. Ciaran Lynch pointed from a free four minutes later for what proved to be his sides final score of the match and to leave it a one point game.
Try as they might St. Michaels failed to get deliveries into their forwards who were starved of good ball for the entire second half. Castletown fared no better as they went a full 17 minutes without working the umpires and it wasn’t until St. Michaels went down a man that they began to get a grip of the game when they posted two minors in the 27th and 28th minutes and it didn’t get any easier for St. Michaels as they tried to work the ball down the field from their own kick-out which Castletown’s substitute Kenny Smith latched onto before billowing the net in the 59th minute for the final nail in the St. Michaels coffin.
St. Michaels team and scorers:
Darren O’Connell; Ciaran O’Reilly, Sam Briody, Ben Reilly; Alan Reilly, Matthew Halpin, Harry Dunne; Shane McCormack (0-1f), Mark Stafford (0-1); Ray Reilly, Paddy Clarke, Lee Morris; Oran Meehan, Shane McDonnell (0-2), Ciaran Lynch (0-4, 2f).
Subs: Paddy Tobin for Lee Morris.
Referee: Brendan O’Brien.
Report: Pascal Reilly PRO.
GOALS GALORE IN CARLANSTOWN
Wednesday August 21st 2019
Masita ladies SFC Round 5
Full time: St. Michaels 6-15, St. Ultans 2-11,
Half time: St. Michaels 3-09, St. Ultans 1-05.
Up until last evening these two teams were keeping each other company at the bottom of the Masita Ladies senior Championship with no points to their name, so this was a “must win” game for both clubs.
With all things being equal, when St. Michaels began this game, little did they expect such a resounding victory, but St. Ultans had no answers to their direct style as they completely outplayed the luckless visitors on their home turf in Carlanstown.
Player of the match Erin Lynch set up this victory with a fast clinical start, putting her side 2-2 to 0-2 up after only 10 minutes play, her opening majors coming in a three minute spell between the 6th and 9th minutes and also adding a point either side of her two goals.
There were few questions asked of the home side by St. Ultans for the remainder of the opening half as St. Michaels who brought Lisa Keenan out of retirement and welcomed back Mary Carpenter, Sarah Bradley, Ellen Cassidy and Mary Clinton following their summer travels continued to pick off their scores with Sinéad McCormack (1-2), Lisa Keenan (0-2) and (0-1) apiece from Seona Lynch and Hayley Doyle giving their side a 3-9 to 1-5 lead at the short whistle. St. Ultans found the back of the net on 29 minutes.
The trend of play through the first half was to become more pronounced on the resumption as St. Michaels took control with Megan O’Brien (0-1), McCormack (0-1) and Yvonne Farrelly (1-0) all raising flags in the opening 2 minutes.
St. Ultans never gave up hope and enjoyed their best spell in the third quarter when they posted 1-5 without reply to cut the deficit to 7 points, however their dominance was short lived as a penalty conversion from Keenan on 47 minutes brought the St. Michaels girls back to life and when Erin Lynch completed her hat-trick two minutes later the opening points of the championship were in the bag. Three further points followed from McCormack, Keenan and Seona Lynch.
St. Michaels team & scorers:
Clodagh Corcoran; Marita Rogers, Áine Sheridan, Laura Halpin; Emma McDonnell, Mary Carpenter, Lorraine Curtis; Claire Halpin, Megan O’Brien (0-1); Sinéad McCormack (1-5), Hayley Doyle (0-1), Erin Lynch (3-3); Yvonne Farrelly (1-0), Lisa Keenan (1-3), Seona Lynch (0-2).
Subs: Sarah Bradley for Corcoran 30 minutes, Ellen Cassidy for Rogers 35 minutes, Mary Clinton for Sheridan 50 minutes, Sally Keoghan for Farrelly 55 minutes.
Referee: Paul Mooney.
Report: Pascal Reilly, PRO.
Brilliant comeback by St. Michaels Ladies
Sunday August 25th 2019
Masita ladies SFC Round 6
Full time: St. Michaels 3-11, Seneschalstown 1-14,
Half time: St. Michaels 2-02, Seneschalstown 0-13.
St. Michaels ladies put in an excellent second half performance to overturn an eight point deficit after 31 minutes to eventually stun their Seneschalstown counterparts into submission with a goal to spare and to pick up their second set of precious points inside five days in this exciting encounter played in sunny Seneschalstown on Sunday evening.
The Yellow Furze ladies looked nailed on winners when they blasted to the net 30 seconds after the re-start for an eight point lead having held their opponents scoreless for the entire second quarter, however they say there’s no substitute for experience and that applies to this games winning scorer Laura Duignan who came out of retirement to help her team mates and was only 10 minutes on the field when she latched on to a clearance to volley a peach of a goal from a tight angle to the back of the net.
St. Michaels made a tremendous start as Sinéad McCormack opened the scoring with a point after 40 seconds, Seneschalstown replied in kind but St. Michaels good start continued when Yvonne Farrelly reacted quickest and found the back of the net after Lisa Keenan’s penalty shot came off the bottom of the post. Up popped Seona Lynch in the fifth minute for her sides second major and a 2-1 to 0-1 lead with just five minutes played.
The Seneschalstown girls never panicked and took the game to the St. Michaels girls as they registered twelve points to St. Michaels one point for the remainder of the half to lead by 0-13 to 2-2 at the break.
Things looked very bleak for the visitors when the home side banged home a goal 30 seconds after the re-start for an eight point cushion but credit must go to the St. Michaels girls for the gutsy performance they put in for the next 30 + 6 minutes of injury time as they gelled together all over the park.
Megan O’Brien worked tirelessly collecting and going on solo runs into the Yellow Furze defence creating havoc, Seona Lynch, Claire Halpin and Sinéad McCormack did likewise while inside Lisa Keenan, Hayley Doyle & Erin Lynch who all covered the entire pitch making great use of the ball. Substitute Mary Clinton also helped he side to whittle away at the Seneschalstown lead until O’Brien levelled the match in the 50th minute at 2-10 to 1-13. Seneschalstown then added their second score of the match to go back in front, however the magnificent O’Brien levelled matters once more. Then on the stroke of full time, up popped Laura Duignan for what proved to be the winning goal. The Yellow Furze side went on all out attack sending high balls into the St. Michaels square but the St. Michaels defence led by Áine Sheridan, Lorraine Curtis and Emma McDonnell stood their ground but the home side did manage to get the ball in the Michael’s net, however the player was deemed to be in the square when she made contact with the ball. It was tense stuff at this stage and as the fifth minute of added time ticked away the home side were awarded a penalty which was brilliantly saved by the outstretched Sarah Bradley in the St. Michaels goals.
What an evenings entertainment, well done team and management.
St. Michaels team & scorers:
Sarah Bradley; Marita Rogers, Áine Sheridan, Laura Halpin; Emma McDonnell, Mary Carpenter, Lorraine Curtis; Claire Halpin, Megan O’Brien (0-3); Sinéad McCormack (0-2), Hayley Doyle, Erin Lynch; Yvonne Farrelly (1-0), Lisa Keenan (0-4), Seona Lynch (1-2).
Subs: Ellen Cassidy for Rogers, Mary Clinton for L. Halpin, Laura Duignan (1-0) for Farrelly.
Report: Pascal Reilly, PRO.
ST. MICHAELS ARE TRIMMED BACK IN CORTOWN
Saturday August 24th 2019, IFC Group B, Round 4
Full time: St. Michaels 3-07, Trim 2-13,
Half time: St. Michaels 1-03, Trim 2-10.
Efficiency in front of the posts in the opening half propelled Trim to victory in this IFC fourth round match in Cortown on Saturday evening last, however had St. Michaels played the first half as they did the second, the result could have been so different.
Trim could not have asked for a better start as they went 1-5 to 0-1 in front after only nine minutes play, St. Michaels, who lined out without their influential forward Oran Meehan opened their account in the seventh minute with a Ciaran Lynch point, Shane McDonnell followed up with a good long range effort four minutes later however that score marked the start of a 15 minute barren spell for the Saints and they conceded 1-4 as their two back lines received a roasting from the Trim forwards. Hemmed in and a wall of red in front of them St. Michaels suffered dearly as Trim managed to keep them at arms length while keeping the scoreboard ticking to go 2-5 to 0-2 in front after 25 minutes play, their second major coming on 21 minutes. A Shane McCormack free on 26 minutes gave the St. Michaels lads some respite and when McDonnell rattled the net from the penalty spot a minute later following a foul in the square on Ray Reilly it improved the look of the scoreboard for his side as they went in at the break trailing 1-3 to 2-10.
Shane McDonnell floated over the opening score of the second half however it was the half time introduction of Ronan Lynch that kick started the St. Michaels revival as his presence around the middle third had an immediate effect as his foraging and deliveries into his forwards paid off handsomely. Team captain Sam Briody led by example and got on the end of an up-field move for a well worked point, Trim replied immediately with a point and from a move started with Darren O’Connell’s resultant kick-out Patrick Tobin latched on to a loose ball at the other end of the pitch to blast to the back of the net after some good work by Harry Dunne and Ray Reilly.
Neither side troubled the scoreboard attendant for the next 10 minutes and it was the industrious Tobin who was bearing down on goal when he was hauled to the ground for his sides second penalty which McDonnell duly converted for a three point game 3-6 to 2-12 in favour of Trim with just 4 minutes of normal time remaining. Trim went back up field to register only their third and final score of the half while the St. Michaels lads kept plugging away at the opposite end however they could only manage a further point from a free by Ciaran Lynch before time ran out on their valiant effort.
St. Michaels team and scorers:
Darren O’Connell; Ben Reilly, Sam Briody (0-1), Ciaran O’Reilly; Harry Dunne, Matthew Halpin, Alan Reilly; Mark Stafford, Paddy Clarke; Shane McDonnell (2-2), Ray Reilly, Shane McCormack (0-2); Paddy Tobin (1-0), Cian Sheridan, Ciaran Lynch (0-2).
Subs: Ronan Lynch for P. Clarke 30 minutes, Kevin Cassidy for A. Reilly (BC).
Referee: Frank Scully.
Report: Pascal Reilly PRO.
