Two second half goals from Dara Edwards and Colly Moane sealed the deal for the Malone Road boys and overturned the tables on two league defeats at the hands of the Shaws Road men.
A solid first half from the boys in blue and an opportune goal from close range from Ronan McGrady saw the score at 1:4 to 0:3 at the break. Solid defence from McCrudden and McAuley and Micky Donnelly who crept up for the first point from play meant the hoops were badly missing the target man Burns who had caused Naomh Brid problems in both league encounters.
The hoops had a 10 minute period of midfield dominance immediately after the break but could only manage a net gain of one point. The crucial scores came on the 40 and 46 minutes when Edwards and Moane finished to the net and with it the contest. This was dug out by both Sweeney, and Dowling who got to grips with the effective St Pauls midfield pairing. A late consolation goal from 17 year old liam mclarnon was not enough to put sustained pressure on the Naomh Brid team who had enough experience to see out the tie.
There were strong displays from McMahon, Ward and O’Hagan up front on a day when the 20 men all contributed to a fine win.
