There were no surprises at Musgrave Park on Wednesday evening when St Galls ultimately proved too strong for the home side as the ACL Div 1 season reached its midway stage.
Despite the absence of a couple of McGourteys, the former All Ireland Club Champions had plenty of fire power on show, and were it not for the heroics of stopper Willie McSorley, who produced an outstanding performance on the night, the seven point margin would have been multiplied. That said, there were pluses for Naomh Brid with the return from injury of Deaghlan O’Hagan, who showed well throughout and chipped in with two points, and Dara Edwards, whose fielding ability must provide a real midfield option. The attitude and appetite was encouraging too from an under strength team due to the enforced absence of Sweeney and Loughrey, who had exam commitments.
The first quarter was evenly shared as both sides conspired to gift their fair share of possession and miscue with equal aplomb. O’Hagan won two frees converted by McGrady, and O’Neill was set up by McMahon to leave the sides level on 15 minutes. However, a combination of loose play and poor decision-making at times in attack proved costly, as the visitors punished errors with some slick interchange play, prompted by the influential Niblock, who was the fulcrum of the attack. They tacked on four points in the latter stages of the half to put clear daylight between the sides at the interval.
HT: Naomh Brid 0-4 Naomh Gall 0-8
There was no let-up from St Galls after the break with Darren O’Hare and Aodhan Gallagher in complete control at midfield. McSorley made three point blank saves, including from a penalty, to prevent the deficit from stretching beyond respectability. But he could do nothing to stop the Gall’s points tally rising, which it did inexorably through their talented and lively forward line. Naomh Brid’s attack, which in fairness had to feed on scraps, was limited by comparison and lacked penetration and invention. O’Hagan was the pick of the home bunch and together with McGrady they edged the scoreboard on a few notches, though the interest was purely academic. The Milltown outfit were home and hosed long before the end.
The southsiders will be glad they do not face sides of St Galls quality too often, though the next league match in two weeks’ time away to St Johns will provide another stern test for Dowling’s men as they strive to recapture some of their earlier decent form.
FT: Naomh Brid 0-8 Naomh Gall 0-15
Team: W McSorley, J McKeever, A Christie ( C McLaughlin), C Mackle, R Daly, B McMahon, M Gallagher, M Malone (0-1), R Smyth, D O’Hagan (0-2), D Edwards, N Cunningham, C McGrady (0-4), R O’Neill (0-1), D MacAuley (R McGrady)
Man of the match: K Niblock (Naomh Gall)
