Naomh Brid dropped a place to sixth in ACL Div 1 after succumbing to a more powerful St Paul’s side at Shaws Road on Wednesday evening.
Notwithstanding the absence of county star James Loughrey and forward Mark Sweeney, this was an under par performance from the Malone side, reflected in their meagre score tally. The home side, while far from impressive themselves, made the most of the physical advantage that they held in almost every quarter. St Paul’s were gifted the opening score on six minutes from a misplaced free from defence. They followed up with two wides before extending their advantage with an impressive long-range point as they continued to dominate. Naomh Brid were being hustled in possession with spaces being closed down quickly, thereby stifling any sustained attacking threat. On 15 minutes, however, Brolly eventually won a break ball to open their account, which was swiftly followed by an equalizer courtesy of O’Neill following good work by Smith in the middle. However, that brace would be all the Malone boys could muster for the first half. St Paul’s regained the lead on 21 minutes with a converted free following a late tackle. But in a low scoring match, the real damage was done just before the interval when three points were conceded in as many minutes, as St Paul’s turned over possession time and again from a hard pressed away defence.
Half time: St Paul’s 0-6 Naomh Brid 0-2
Manager MacSherry rang the changes at the interval and within a minute of the resumption Brolly punished a foul on himself with a converted free. Naomh Brid then proceeded to enjoy their best spell of the match but failed to capitalize on their domination, missing a number of kickable frees. They then led a charmed life at the other end with Mackle and then O’Hagan saving the blushes. The damage was limited to a point from a resultant 45. Edwards, who battled well throughout, reduced the deficit to a score again before McMahon linked well with O’Neill to put just two points between the sides. But a naïve free immediately gifted St Paul’s a point and the impetus once more. Although Brolly tacked on a score with a converted score following a foul on the impressive sub Chris Donnelly, time was ebbing away. While there may have been a question mark over the home side’s penalty award in the dying moments that saw them home by five, there was no dispute about the final result.
Full time: St Paul’s 1-8 Naomh Brid 0-6
Team: J Mackle, P O’Hara, A Christie, B Reilly, B McMahon, D O’Hagan, M Donnelly (C McGrady), D Edwards, R Smith (J McGuckian), M Malone, A Cole (C Donnelly), D MacAuley, R O’Neill, J Brolly, N Cunningham
