St. Brigids………………0-10 O’Donnell’s…………….1-10
There is an old GAA saying that “Goals win matches” and this was underlined on Wednesday night where St. Brigids Div.5 drive for promotion suffered a setback as they lost to table toppers O’Donnell’s. Played on the expansive surface of Harlequins in an evening of blistering sunshine, this match promised intensity, flair and incident and it didn’t fail to deliver.The Malone men were straight out of the blocks and were quick to gain possession at midfield playing some quality football to register their first score after only 60 seconds on the clock, Conor Taylor with a neat finish. O’Donnell’s pulled one back a few minutes later with a long range free kick.
St.Brigids took the game to the visitors and looked threatening in attack with Ryan Brolly and Mel McSherry instrumental up front with both registering fine scores. O’Donnell’s however never let St.Brigids expand on their attacking prowess and always seemed to have the ability to pull one back, mostly from dead ball situations. Jimmy King fired over a free kick before the hard working Eoin Ross linked well with Jack Dowling before popping over another fine score.
St.Brigids were now playing with purpose and whilst O’Donnell’s always looking threatening the Malone defence excelled with Eddie Smyth and newcomer Gerry Bogue leading the line. Chris Mooney accurately provided solid ammunition for a firing Naomh Bríd attack with Taylor and Brolly providing the penetration and work rate. The flip side of the coin was that whilst St. Brigids looked the better footballing side in the first half they couldn’t pull away from their visitors and remained only one point ahead.
Half-time score: St.Brigid’s 0.6 O’Donnell’s 0.5
St. Brigids regrettably lost the services of Conor Taylor at half time and whilst the Malone road men started the second half like that of the first, they didn’t register the scores to underline their early second half dominance. The return of Collie Connelly was a welcome introduction and added much needed guile and energy to the Naomh Bríd side. The O’Donnell’s men began to insert their physical dominance around the centre of the park and this in turn allowed their forwards receive a higher supply of quality ball. They now threatened the Naomh Bríd goal for the first time in the game with Eamon McMahon pulling off two fine saves. The O’Donnell’s pressure did finally pay off as they rattled the Malone net from close range thus proving the turning point of the match with Naomh Bríd now finding themselves behind for the first time in the game. St.Brigid’s did show some fighting spirit and Chris Donnelly burst through for an excellent point on the run. O’Donnell’s, as they did all evening, bounced back and again had the Brigids defence under pressure. Some handling errors saw O’Donnell’s capitalise and score two easy points on the trot. Naomh Bríd now found themselves three points down despite competing well in most sectors for most of the match.
As the summer sun set so did the heads of the Malone men as they found it increasingly difficult to supply their attack with quality ball, and any supply that did exist was mopped up by an emerging O’Donnell’s defence. The slight edge in experience and craft allowed O’Donnells hold on till the final whistle, a whistle which was met with huge celebration by the visiting support.
This was a disappointing loss for the Naomh Bríd men. However, with the sprinkling of new faces and the welcome back of players from injury there were positives a plenty. Bogue, Dowling and the Mackle brothers showed promise for the future along with solid performances from Eddie Smyth, Conor Taylor, Chris Mooney and Collie Connolly. The challenge now is getting things back on track, a challenge these boys are more than capable of!
TEAM: Eamon McMahon, Eddie Smyth, Brendan McDonald, Ciaran Mackle, Gary Brennan, Aidan Owens, Gerry Bogue, Conor Taylor (0-2
