St Brigid’s u12 footballers showed great resolve to come through an excellent sporting and battling encounter with Lamh Dhearg in their quarter final of the O’Donnell Cup.
St Brigid’s got off to a strong start with Gerard Kervick proving to be very effective at full forward. An insightful pass from Kervick set up John Toner for the first point of the game. This was quickly followed by an excellent long range point from Patrick Finnegan. Whilst St Brigid’s were winning good possession, good strong tackling by Lamh Dhearg resulted in a number of turnovers. On the back of this good work, Lamh Dhearg recorded their first score and whilst James Smith added a further point for St Brigid’s, Lamh Dhearg responded in kind to keep the minimum margin between the teams. However, as half time approached St Brigid’s scored a deserved goal when John Toner finished an excellent team move.
Playing against the breeze in the second half, St Brigid’s raised their game impressively and showed a strong will to win. Peter Webb was switched to half forward and this immediately bolstered the St Brigid’s attack. James Smith and Peter Webb linked up particularly well and between them scored the next three points. In midfield, Joseph Finnegan won the lion’s share of possession, while up front, intelligent running by Enda Kelly McCann helped to open up channels in the Lamh Dhearg defence. However, Lamh Dhearg were constantly dangerous and a key moment in the game was when Tiernan Cahill and Daire McGarvey somehow managed to smother a swift Lamh Dhearg counter-attack when Lamh Dhearg looked clear favourites to score a goal. Spurred on by this scare, St Brigid’s responded with a fine goal by Patrick Finnegan. This score effectively secured the win but Paul Storrs added a further point to cap off a fine personal performance. In defence, Owen Winters had also a great game – putting in his finest performance of the season at right half back.
Final score – St Brigids 2-7 Lamh Dhearg 0-2
