LESSONS LEARNED IN EXCITING LEAGUE OPENER
O’Donnells 0-11 St. Brigids II 1-7
At a wet and windy Macrory Park in Belfast, St. Brigids II opened their Div.5 league campaign with a disappointing one point defeat to the hands of O’Donnell’s GAC.
Playing with a very strong wind in the first half, St. Brigids started slowly and exchanged hard earned points with a determined home side. A series of ball handling and possession errors allowed the home team stay within a point of the visitors despite St. Brigids having the better scoring opportunities. The home side went in at half time only one point down and St. Brigids knew they had a major battle on their hands in the 2nd half as they faced into a very stiff wind.
A different St.Brigids side emerged in the 2nd half. Despite playing into a very stiff wind they now played with a much greater intensity as players who were anonymous in the first half now stepped forward with purpose. Jimmy King and Ryan Brolly were now looking dangerous in the forward line and the introduction of Ben Sinnott, Ciaran Mackle and Eddie Smyth meant O’Donnell’s now had to work harder for scores. O’Donnell’s had edged one point in front as St. Brigids searched desperately for an equaliser. More good work by King found Ryan Brolly unmarked who blasted neatly to the net giving St. Brigids the lead once more. O’Donnell’s responded quickly with a point to level matters yet again. With the game on a knife edge and time almost up a certain draw looked likely as O’Donnell’s earned a free kick in their half back line. A long speculative lob into the O’Donnell’s scoring area saw the ball break to an O’Donnell’s forward resulting in the winning score 2 minutes into injury time… A final score that was met with thunderous cheers by the home support.
It was a game that St. Brigid’s could have won but despite missing out on two league points there were many hard lessons learned. The character shown in the 2nd half augers well for a squad who have the ability to gain promotion. However what was very clear on Sunday was that nothing will be easy in this very competitive league and a lot of work needs to be done if this squads potential is to be realised.
Best for St. Brigids were Paul McCrudden, Aidan Owens, Paul Finnegan, Mark Kelly, Chris Mooney, Ryan Brolly, Jimmy King, Darren Horisk and Ben Sinnott
Scorers: Jimmy King 0-6, Ryan Brolly 1-0, Paul Finnegan 0-1
St.Brigids team: Paul McCrudden, Anthony McVeigh, Brendan McDonald, Aidan Owens, Paul Finnegan, Niall “Barney” Conway, Mark Kelly, Damian McElholm, Mick Malone, Collie Connolly, Brian Loughran (capt), Chris Mooney, Ryan Brolly, Jimmy King, Darren Horish. Subs; Ben Sinnott for Anthony McVeigh 30min, Ciaran Mackle for Collie Connolly 40min, Eddie Smyth for Damian McElholm 50min, Ryan Mackle for Mark Kelly 55min
(Subs not used; Daniel McKeever, Thomas Kane, Matthew Kelly)
