Points win prizes but goals win games

St. Patrick’s left it late tonight to secure their place in the Minor B Championship Final with a one point victory over Lavey.

They lost the lead in the tenth minute and didn’t regain it again until two minutes from time, when up popped Cahir Mullan with a fisted goal to draw the teams level and then a point from Ciaran Ferris to secure the victory.

Lavey out-scored St. Patrick’s in the first half nine points to four and were worthy of their lead. At the start of the second half Daryl Mullan moved to centre half back and Craig Chewing to full back to contain the Lavey full forward who was having a fantastic match. The switch worked and after ten minutes of the restart St. Patrick’s found their scoring touch and were able to limit the Lavey attacking threat.

This game was not without incident ........

For all but five minutes St. Patrick’s did the chasing and were very wasteful with their possession, kicking eight wide balls in the first half and missing five golden GOAL opportunities in total.

They lived dangerously in the last few seconds when they lead by a point. Lavey’s final attack on goal saw the ball rebound off the post, a few millimeters to the right and the result could have been much different.

On the final whistle, the green and white army of Drum and Drumsurn celebrated, while Lavey and their large band of supporters looked stunned wondering how they lost a four point lead with only three minutes of the game to play.

St. Patrick's will now play Foreglen in the final.

The Match ......

Adrian O’Kane opened the scoring in the first minute when he converted a close range free, which was won by Cathair Friel. Lavey equalized immediately from a free conceded by Daryl Mullan.

Michael McGonigle should have scored a goal in the third minute of the game for St. Patrick’s but his shot hit the cross bar and stayed in play.

In the fifth minute Ciaran Ferris put St. Patrick’s back in the lead scoring a point from play, only for Lavey to immediately draw level once again.

Both teams exchanged points in the seventh and eighth minutes (St. Patrick’s was scored by Ciaran Ferris) to maintain the stale mate. A fisted point in the tenth minute gave Lavey the lead for the first time in the match and two minutes later Adrian O’Kane scored his second and final score of the match to reinstate the stale mate on a score line of (0-4) each.

For the remainder of the half St. Patrick’s didn’t score. In this period they managed to kick seven wide balls and had three shots on goal drop short into the goalkeeper’s arms. In contrast Lavey turned the screw and started to score for fun. Their movement with and without the ball caused the St. Patrick’s defenders some problems.

In the seventeenth minute Lavey took the lead; their forward turned inside Daryl Mullan and from thirty yards out kicked the ball over the bar. St. Patrick’s were very wasteful with the ball and their inability to find team mates for the final pass cost them.

A foul in the twenty-third minute by Daniel Mullan was punished with a point to double Lavey’s lead. A minute later Daryl Mullan hesitation going for a ball (expecting Eunan O’Hara in nets to deal with it) allowed a Lavey forward to nip in and tap a simple ball over the bar.

Daryl added to his previous mistake in the twenty-sixth minute when he gave the ball away coming out of defense and once again it went punished, courtesy of a Lavey point. To add insult to injury he was booked two minutes later for pulling down an advancing Lavey forward. The free kick was converted from thirty yards to register a half time score of (0-4)to (0-9), a difference of five points.

For the start of the second half Darly Mullan and Craig Chewing switched positions, Daryl moved to centre-half and Craig to Full-back. Straight from the restart Cathair Friel reduced Lavey lead to four points.

For the next seven minutes the Lavey forwards tortured the St. Patrick’s defense. Eoin Ferris and Daniel Mullan both on the receiving end of some good pressure football, having scored three points (two from play) to increase their lead to seven.

For the remainder of the game St. Patrick’s dominated. The tactic to switch Daryl and Craig started to pay off as the defense got tighter on their men.

Within three minutes St. Patrick’s had reduced a seven point lead down to just two. Cathair Friel scored a goal and a point and Ciaran Ferris a point all from play.

With Lavey on the ropes St. Patrick’s heaped the pressure on only for them to respond with two perfect points of their own. The first was a forty yard kick (wind assisted), the second from way out on the left wing. Lavey had weathered the storm and increased their lead to four points with eight minutes of the match remaining.

Eight minutes became three, with no change to the score line St. Patricks 1-07 Lavey 0-14; then the magic started .......

Conor O’Reilly pulled a point back and a minute later Cahir Mullan followed the flight of the ball and fisted it into the back of the net to draw the team’s level. What a finish.

One minute from time Ciaran Ferris kicked his fourth point to give St. Patrick’s the lead, which they never relinquished.

Lavey had time for one more attack and rather than opting for a point they went for a goal only for the ball to strike the outside of the post and remain in play. The St. Patrick’s defense cleared the ball up field to Adrian O’Kane who in turn missed a golden opportunity to make sure of the victory.

The final whistle sounded, signaling a one point victory for St. Patrick’s.

What a result, the game was played with a never say die attitude ........

St. Patrick's
Eunan O'Hara; Eoin Ferris, Daryl Mullan, Danial Mullan; Enda Butcher, Craig Chewing, Liam Miller; Donald Brolly, Cahir Mullan (1-00); Conor O'Reilly (0-01), Cathair Friel (1-02), Ciaran Ferris (0-04), Alex Moore, Adrian O'Kane (0-02), Michael McGonigle