St. Brigids earned their first league win of the season at Musgrave Park on Sunday with a comprehensive win over Sarsfields.
St.Brigids exploded out of the blocks racing into a 0-2 lead after two minutes with points from Darren Horish and Jimmy King. Sarsfields quickly pulled two points back with free kicks from John Barr and Conor Glenholmes. St.Brigids then entered a period of complete dominance scoring 2-4 without reply. The highlight of this period included a surging solo run by centre back Niall Conway who finished the move by rattling the Sarsfields net with a superb goal. Terrific work by Jimmy King and Ben Sinnott set Conor Mackle up for St.Brigids second goal. The South Belfast men now held the upper hand at midfield as Sarsfields struggled to break down a ruthless St.Brigids defence.
The second half started as the first half finished with St.Brigids notching a further 1-3 with Paddy Fitzpatrick scoring Sarsfields only point of the second half. Ryan Brolly and Jimmy King added further points for St.Brigids before Conor Mackle scored his second goal of the afternoon. St.Brigids added a further 1-3 to run out winners by a comfortable margin.
In an afternoon of free flowing football St.Brigids showed glimpses of excellent potential and whilst the forwards grabbed all the headlines it was in defence that saw some of St.Brigids best individual performances. Ciaran Mackle, Conor McKendry and Niall Conway were outstanding over the hour and were the springboard for many of the St.Brigids attacks. John McGucken was dominant at midfield with Ben Sinnott, Jimmy King and Ryan Brolly providing the entertainment up front. It was a satisfying performance from a St.Brigids point of view, who now look forward to playing All Saints Ballymena in round 3 next Sunday.
Scorers: Conor Mackle 2-0, Jimmy King 1-5, Niall Conway 1-0, Ryan Brolly 0-3, Conor McKendry 0-2, John McGahern 0-1, Darren Horish 0-1
St.Brigids team: Duncan McCauley, Ciaran Mackle, Eddie Smyth, Thomas McKeogh, Conor McKendry, Niall Conway, Mark Kelly, John McGucken, Mick Malone, Conor Mackle, Ben Sinnott, Damien McElhome, Ryan Brolly, Darren Horish, Jimmy King (Capt).
Subs: Paul McCrudden for Darren Horish (Inj 22), Matthew Cosgrave for Damien McElhome (35), Ryan Mackle for Ben Sinnott (50), Paul Finnegan for Conor Mackle (50), Ronan Ward for Mark Kelly (55)
