Three times the bridesmaid and never the bride was not an option at Owenbeg on Sunday morning when St. Patrick’s defeated St. Canice’s Dungiven by four points to win the ‘Division II Under 16’ League Title.

As an amalgamated club St. Patrick’s have contested three finals this year (Carlin Duffy Cup / Minor Championship), losing both so this title was long over due, but well deserved.

St. Patrick’s started the game very well, kicking two points within the first six minutes for no reply. They suffered a set back in the eighth minute when Junior Eastwood dropped the ball into the back of his own net, allowing Dungiven to take the lead. This was short lived, it took St. Patrick’s five minutes to compose themselves and from that point forward they never looked back.

The team went in level at half time (0-5 to 1-2); The second half started with a big bang, in favour of St. Patrick’s. A point from Conor Reilly and two from Cathair Friel established a three point lead. St. Canice’s kicked two points of their own, but goals from Harry Foster and Alex Moore brought St. Patrick’s score line to double that of St. Canice’s (2-08 to 1-04) dashing all hopes of a come back.

With five minutes to play Eion Ferris and Ciaran O’Kane both received red cards and were dismissed from the field of play. Both teams exchanged two more points each and in the final seconds of the game Dungiven scored what would turn out to be a consolation goal.

Junior Eastwood picked himself up from his early mistake and went on to dominate the goal area, a feature of this game his strong kick outs. The full back and half back line were amazing. Paul McVeigh and Daryl Mullan in particular never put a foot wrong the whole game. Eion Ferris’s red card was harsh and up until that point he had put in a solid performance. Eion McCloskey, Liam Miller and Daniel Mullan shored up the defence, topping off a fine defensive achievement.

In midfield Cathair Friel and Michael McGonigle tortured St. Canice’s. Cathair with his pace and agility, scoring 0-05, 0-04 from frees he won. Michael’s high fielding allowed him to setup numerous attacks.

Up front all six forwards pulled together and scored a grand total of (2-05) over the fifty minutes. Ciaran Mullan scored three close range points from play; Conor Reilly scored two long distance points from play. With fifteen minutes played in the second half Harry Foster’s scored a thunderous goal, which looked initially to have gone wide (it went through a hole in the net). Alex Moore’s goal was almost a carbon copy, scored from an attack started down the left wing.

Congratulations St. Patrick’s, what an achievement to go a full season undefeated in the league.

St. Patrick's
Junior Eastwood, Eion McCloskey, Daryl Mullan, Paul McVeigh; Eion Ferris, Liam Miller, Daniel Mullan; Cathair Friel (0-05), Michael McGonigle; Michéal Robinson, Alex Moore (1-00), Niall Farren; Conor O’Reilly (0-02), Ciaran Mullan (0-03), Harry Foster (1-00)

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