With the league commencement only a week away St Brigids Division 3 side took on last year’s Intermediate champions at Boucher Road on Sunday March 19th 2006.
It was the team from the lower league that started brighter with a superb sideline ball being pointed by Gregory McGonigle, James Loughrey netting after a slick move and Joe Brolley pointing from a free. Gort na Mona did eventually find their shooting boots and dominated the second quarter. A string of fine points from distance, albeit aided by a stiff breeze, and a fisted effort that everyone but the ref thought had gone over the bar, gave them a four point advantage at the break.
Half Time: Gort na Mona 1 – 6
St Brigids 1 – 2
Gort started the second half where they left off and added two quick points to widen the gap. A few positional switches and a small contribution from Brolley however, began to swing events in favour of the South Belfast Gaels. Brolley pointed three times from play between the 13th and 19th minutes and was to add a further three from frees before the end. Duncan MacAuley was also successful with a place kick. Indeed the frees came thick and fast as St Brigids began to dominate. So much so that two Gort players were sent off and the ref blew for a diplomatic draw with a few minutes still on the clock. The second incident saw a boot connecting with Stephen Morrissey’s knee in an unprovoked attack (if such a thing is possible on Stevie). It did mean that Eamon McMahon was able to make his senior debut and keep a clean sheet for the last thirty seconds.
Full Time: Gort na Mona 1 – 9
St Brigids 1 – 9
Notable performances were given by Conor Mullan and Benny Reilly in defence, Frankie Devlin, Gregory McGonigle and Joe Brolly leading by example and Duncan MacAuley, James Loughrey and Deaghlan O’Hagan who worked hard throughout. A few others seemed to be using the occasion to sweat off our national Saint’s Day’s festivities.
This Sunday sees the start of the serious business with neighbours St Agnes first up at Woodlands, 12 noon.
Team:
Stephen Morrissey, Mark Kelly, Richard Smyth, Conor Mullan, James Loughrey(1-0), Frankie Devlin, Andrew Magill, Gregory McGonigle(0-1), Deaghlan O’Hagan, Aidan Owens, Chris McCann, Benny Reilly, Duncan MacAuley(0-1 free), Joe Brolley(0-7 4 frees), Ruari O’Neill.
Substitutes Used:
Niall McDonald, Paul McCrudden, Paul O’Hara, Eamon McMahon.
