St Mary’s 3-13 Boardsmill 4-14

Reaching the final of the first competition of the year was a great start to the season for this young bunch. Winning it would have been better; however, the improvement this team have shown over the past 12 months have been evident for all to see.

St Marys started brightly and opened the score when Tadhg Dixon pointed brilliantly, Caimin Hughes then doubled the lead with another fine point from play. St Marys were probably disappointed not to have made more of the early dominance and after 6 or 7 minutes. Boardsmill started to grow into the game and their efficiency in front of goal delivered 3 unanswered points to put them a point to the good. Dylan Bagnall found himself at the end of a slick move and pointed excellently. St Marys drew level, but not for long. When the ball was brought forward for dissent Boardsmill’s Danny Dixon rushed forward to the 20-yard line to find no one at home and dispatched the free directly to the top corner. This was the first of 4 goals Boardsmill scored from play in a 15-minute period. Now coming out on top around the middle Boardsmill delivered early and accurate ball into their full forward line creating one on ones inside this created a number of goal opportunities for them, 2 of which they converted. The final goal of the 4 was a long ball which hung in the air and was palmed to the net from close range. Andrew Brien chipped in with a point from a free to take our tally to 4. By the time St Marys registered their fifth point, another Andrew Brien free, Boardsmill had 4-05 on the scoreboard. St Marys did settle the ship somewhat scoring the last 4 points of the half, 1 from Maithiú Brien, William Mc Sweeney and 2 from Andrew Brien, a free and a fine point from play.

HT St Mary’s 0-09 Boardsmill 4-05

St Marys needed to quickly reel in Boardsmill’s 8 point half time lead to stand any chance of victory but what materialised was quite the opposite, a hugely impressive Danny Dixon kicked 2 monster 2 pointers, 1 from play, then he walked a free back outside the arc that had been moved forward for yet more dissent and converted impressively. The gap was now 12. Only a goal now would lift the Mary’s men, and a goal is what they got, Liam O’Neill was found well and finished confidently low and hard. St Marys began to get on top around the middle 3rd and enjoyed the lion’s share of possession.  Andrew Brien converted a free just before he scored an absolute screamer of a goal finding the top corner from 15 yards. Then not to be outdone by his younger brother Maithiú Brien scored an equally spectacular goal again finding the top corner. The gap of 12 had been reduced to 5. Could St Marys generate enough scores from their possession and momentum to go on and win this game? AJ Bradshaw popped a point over from play as did Ben Loughran. The Boynesiders final score came unsurprisingly from the impressive Andrew Brien, however it wasn’t enough and Boardsmill ran out winners by 4 points.
The Tailteann Shield has been a hugely enjoyable competition for our lads, competitive games with the new rules, blooding exciting young talent. As for the game itself, it was an excellent test against a powerful and experienced outfit. We finished the stronger side never gave up and could have won this game for sure. Management will be happy with many aspects of this game and will have identified areas to work on, several crucial Boardsmill scores could be attributed directly to indiscipline from St Marys.

ST MARYS: Adam Byrne; Liam Lynch, Conor O’Brien, John Spain; A.J Bradshaw (0-1), Dylan Bagnall (0-1), Maithiu Brien (1-1); Tadhg Dixon (0-1), Joey Greene; William Mc Sweeney (0-1), Caimin Hughes (0-1), Cathal Sheridan; Andrew Brien (1-05, 4f) Sean Nulty, Liam O’Neill.
Subs Used- Adam Craven, James Lynch, Ben Loughran, Eoin Jackson
Panel: Neil Floyd, Ronan Everard, Tadhg Lynch, Brian Everard, Eoin Kelleher, Cian O’Brien, Peter Waters, Sam Victory

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