The ‘Division Two Section II’ title was at stake last Tuesday night in Billy Doran Park when the Under Sixteen’s of St. Patrick’s took on visitors St. Mary’s Banagher. This was a repeat of the semi final of the championship, where Banagher were victors by three points. It was simple, a draw or victory would see St. Patrick’s through as section winners, a Banagher victory and if them winning their game in hand would force a section play off between the teams.

A win was a must .........

St. Patrick’s ran out winners on a score line of 6-10 to 0-12. Two goals from Connor O’Reilly, two from young Harry Foster and one each from Michael McGonigle and Alex Moore shattered any Banagher challenge.

What a contrast in form as St. Patrick’s dominated the game from start to finish.

Within the first six minutes they had established a seven point lead, out scoring Banagher by 2-02 to 0-01. Niall Farren opened the scoring with a point in the first minute. Two minutes later Michael McGonigle found the net and a minute later Harry Foster followed the flight of the ball and fisted it to the back of the net (he took a heavy knock for his efforts). Alex Moore also had a shot rebound off the post. Cathair Friel finished the scoring with a point from play in the sixth minute.

Over the next eight minutes it was all Banagher. They scored three points for no reply, reducing the gap to four points (2-2 to 0-4). Daryl Mullan was feeling the pressure in defence, which was relieved by some good defending by Liam Miller, Daniel Mullan and Liam McCloskey. Fighting for every ball St. Patrick’s survived the onslaught and increased their lead to seven points, courtesy of Conor O’Reilly, Michael McGonigle and Cathair Friel. Banagher fought back and scored two points from play to reduce the gap to five points with five minutes remaining in the half to play.

As in the championship game Cathair Friel was on fire and unstoppable. He ran the length of the pitch and when challenged off loaded the ball to Alex Moore who in turn kicked it into the back of the net to put eight points between the teams. Shane Farren lead by example and scored the next two points for Banagher to reduce the gap once again.

In the final minutes of the half Liam Miller was booked, Michael McGonigle was moved to full forward and Cathair Friel moved into midfield, where he kicked the last point of the half.

Half Time: St. Patrick’s 3-06 St. Mary’s Banagher 0-08

As the teams lined out for the start of the second half Liam Miller picked up Shane Farren to curtail any potential threat from him and performed the task tremendously over the next twenty-five minutes. Harry Foster showed loads of potential at under-sixteen level but picked up a silly yellow card in the first minute for a rash tackle.

Conor O’Reilly opened the scoring in the third minute, kicking a point from play. Three minutes later Cathair Friel converted a close range free to increase the lead to nine points and effectively put the game beyond Banagher. Caolen Mullan’s name made it’s way into the referee’s book for a rash tackle in the fourteenth minute.

Two more points from Banagher once again reduced the gap to seven points, before both teams exchanged points (St. Patrick’s courtesy of Conor O’Reilly) to bring the score to 3-09 to 0-11.

Going into the final ten minutes, the teams once again exchanged points (Cathair Friel taking a delightful point from wide on the left wing for St. Patrick’s). The game was all but over going into the final five minutes and Banagher started to make changes to blood some of their younger players, which cost them dearly. As a result St. Patrick’s scored three goals in three minutes. A deflected shot from Harry Foster found the back of the Banagher net and straight from two kick outs Conor O’Reilly blasted the net twice to record a final score of 6-10 to 0-12.

A very impressive performance on the night by the under sixteen team .....

Unlike the championship semi final, this was a good solid team performance. With the wind in their sails St. Patrick’s never looked back and played as a team with purpose. Curtailing Banagher in the second half was a remarkable feat. The visitors to Billy Doran Park only scored four points in twenty five minutes of football. Man of the match Liam Miller with his robust defending kept the Banagher danger man Shane Farren quiet for the duration of the game, while Cathair Friel and Conor O’Reilly scored an impressive 2-8 between them.

Corner backs Caolan Mullan and Paul McVeigh never put a foot wrong all night. Junior Eastwood’s kicking was faultless; the ball reached the half way line each time with good solid kicks (a good find this year at this level).

Darting runs out of defence by Daryl Mullan, Eoin Ferris, Liam McCloskey and Daniel Mullan broke the Banagher resistance. Up front Alex Moore, Michael McGonigle and Harry Foster (one for the future) looked menacing.

St. Patrick’s will now meet St. Canice’s Dungiven in the league final, date and venue have yet to be decided.

Good Luck.

St. Patrick's
Junior Eastwood, Caolan Mullan, Daryl Mullan, Paul McVeigh; Liam Miller, Eion Ferris, Liam McCloskey; Daniel Mullan, Cathair Friel (0-05); Niall Farren (0-01), Conor O’Reilly (2-03), Niall Devlin; Alex Moore (1-00), Michael McGonigle (1-01), Harry Foster (2-00)

Subs
(Philip Cooke for Harry Foster 47 mins) (Conor McIntyre for Niall Devlin 47 mins)