St Vincents 1-12 Donaghmore/Ashbourne 2-08

Walterstown was the venue for this semi-final, and the hosts had the pitch and the facilities in top order. The teams couldn’t be separated when they met in round 5 in April, so everyone anticipated a close game.

St. Vincent’s played against the wind in the first half. We had the best of the early exchanges and Nigel Hand opened the scoring with a pointed free after 3 minutes. The Ashbourne men responded with a point from play. They tacked on a second point from play shortly after and extended their lead with a pointed free after 8 minutes of play. The Ardcath men battled hard, but a combination of a stern defence and a strong wind kept them from registering scores. The men in green added to our woes with a well taken point from play. A great break from centre-half back Ryan Hand was rewarded when Adam Tuite kicked a point from play. Michael McIvor had an opportunity to cut the deficit further, but his effort from a free drifted wide. St. Vincent’s pushed hard for a score but were wide of the mark on several occasions. The men in green defended well for a long period, before getting attacking possession and scoring 3 points from play without reply. Just before half-time, Adam Tuite intercepted a pass before turning and slotting over his second point of the half to leave 4 points between the sides at the break. 

Half Time, St Vincents 0-03 Donaghmore/Ashbourne 0-07

The men in green got off to the best possible start in the second half. Their corner forward intercepted a pass before beating his man and slotting home to the back of the net. They added a second well worked goal in the 6th minute to increase their lead to 10 points. The mountain to climb for St. Vincent’s got steeper when Ciaran Brangan had to be substituted after being injured in a tackle. It’s testament to the character of St. Vincent’s that they never let their heads drop. Adam Tuite got the scoreboard ticking for the Ardcath men with an inspiring point from around the 45m line. This was the start of what can best be described as a Maroon Patch rather than a purple patch. Donaghmore/Ashbourne’s corner back was shown a black card and Gary Tuite popped over the free. Ryan Hand converted a 45 and Adam Tuite kicked another massive score to leave 2 goals between the sides with 10 minutes to play. The real turning point of the game came next. Barry O’Sullivan dropped a ball in around the square that the keeper could only fist away. It fell kindly for the onrushing Gary Tuite who buried the ball to the back of the net. A second black card was issued when Conor O’Brien was pulled down on the 20m line. Gary Tuite duly slotted over the free. The men in green struggled to get out of their own half as St. Vincent’s applied massive pressure. Gary Tuite added another pointed free to leave the minimum between the sides. Adam Tuite kicked two more impressive points from play to bring his personal tally to 6, but more importantly it gave the Ardcath men the lead with 3 minutes to play. As the clock ticked to 60 minutes Donaghmore/Ashbourne equalised with a pointed free. The deciding score came from a pointed free by Nigel Hand deep in injury time before referee Liam Reddy blew the full-time whistle.

A massive victory for St. Vincent’s, who are now promoted to Division 2 next year. A victory that had to be done the hard way, but this side find a way to get the results. A brilliant league campaign which saw us win 8, draw 2 and only lose one in the group, and now we look forward to a League Div. 3 Final against Rathkenny next Tuesday at 7.30pm

St. Vincents scorers: Adam Tuite (0-06), Gary Tuite (1-03), Nigel Hand (0-02), Ryan Hand (0-01)

St Vincents: Evan Connor, Shane Caffrey, Davy Tallon, Conor White, Ciaran Brangan, Ryan Hand, Gary Tuite, Bob Tallon, Michael McIvor, Conor O’Brien, Nigel Hand, Paddy Arnold, Patrick McGill, Martin Fox, Adam Tuite

Subs: Jack Byrne for Martin Fox, Andy McEntee for Ciaran Brangan, Barry O’Sullivan for Bob Tallon, Robbie Lynch for Patrick McGill

 

 

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