Kilmainham 1-07 St Vincents 1-09

St. Vincent’s travelled to Kilmainham for the last round of this years Division 3 League. Both sides had incentive to push for the win, with St. Vincent’s aiming to finish 2nd or 3rd in the division and Kilmainham hoping that victory would be enough to avoid a relegation semi-final.

It was the home side who shot out of the blocks with a goal inside 30 seconds and added a point from play 2 minutes later. The job got tougher for the men in maroon when Niall Tallon was red carded after 5 minutes of play. Nigel Hand got our first score with a pointed free after 10 minutes of play. Good pressure from the visitors was almost rewarded when Conor Harford intercepted a pass in front of goal with just the keeper to beat, but his shot went wide of the goal. Both sides were guilty of missed chances as St. Vincent’s shots were wide of the mark and Kilmainham’s dropped short. After 15 minutes Kilmainham restored their 4-point lead with a point from play and then edged further ahead with a pointed free. St. Vincent’s started to eat into the deficit with a point from play by Martin Fox from a very tight angle. Fox then found Adam Tuite in space with a lovely diagonal ball. He took the pass turned and slotted over the bar to just leave a goal between the sides. Shortly after Tuite returned the favour when he popped a pass out to Fox, who fired over his second score of the day. Despite being down to 14 men, the visitors seemed to be getting a grip on the game. 

Half Time, Kilmainham 1-03 St Vincents 0-04

The second half started with the home side getting the first score with a well taken point from play to restore their 3-point advantage. But St. Vincent’s kept applying the pressure. Indeed, you would scarcely believe it was 15 v 14 since the 5th minute. Gary Tuite pointed a free to close the gap. Kilmainham responded with a point from play shortly after. Nigel Hand stepped up to fire over a 45 in the 7th minute of the half. He got another opportunity with a 45 shortly after, but this was a lot closer to the sideline, and went just wide. The home side widened the gap to 4 points again with scores from a forward mark and one from play that would have registered NÍL had Hawkeye been in place. Gary Tuite fired over his second pointed free, before the real turning point in the game. St. Vincent’s piled on the pressure and forced a turnover in the home side’s half of the field. Patrick McGill gathered the ball and fed the onrushing Conor O’Brien, who side-stepped 2 defenders before firing to the back of the net and draw the sides level with 10 minutes to play. St. Vincent’s kept the pressure on and denied Kilmainham from scoring for the rest of the game. Patrick McGill put the Ardcath men in front for the first time in the game with a pointed free, before securing the win with a point from play. 

A hard-fought victory for St. Vincent’s who had to play most of the game with 14 men, but the lads dug deep and secured the valuable 2 points. This win, coupled with results elsewhere, sees us finish 2nd in Division 3. A very successful league campaign, but the aim is to secure promotion to Division 2. Next up is a semi-final against Donaghmore/Ashbourne on Wednesday 17th July in Duleek at 7.30PM.

St. Vincents scorers: Conor O’Brien (1-00), Nigel Hand (0-02), Martin Fox (0-02), Gary Tuite (0-02), Patrick McGill (0-02), Adam Tuite (0-01)

St Vincents: Evan Connor, Shane Caffrey, Davy Tallon, Mark Crawley, Paddy Arnold, Niall Tallon, Barry O’Sullivan, Martin Fox, Jack Byrne, Dylan Kavanagh, Conor Harford, Nigel Hand, Patrick McGill, Adam Tuite, Robbie Lynch.

Subs: Gary Tuite for Barry O’Sullivan, Conor O’Brien for Robbie Lynch, Andy McEntee for Conor Harford, Kevin McEnerney for Dylan Kavanagh, Gary McGlew for Patrick McGill

 

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