Duleek Bellewstown 1-17 St Patricks 1-9

Duleek Bellewstown produced a 4th quarter flourish which saw them outscore St Patricks by 1-6 to 0-0 to claim a second successive final berth in this Meade Farm Group IFC semi final which was played on Saturday afternoon in a blustery Pairc Tailteann. PHOTOS

With the backdrop of having met each in the quarter finals last year and that match going to extra time and penalties and also with the fact the St Patricks had beaten us in the Corn na Boinne earlier this year  his was always going to be a challenging encounter . 

For the first 45 minutes this was the case there was very little overall between the sides with the lead alternating a few times. But it was that last 15 minute drive which saw them over the line in emphatic fashion.

Playing with the aid of the wind and into the hospital end of Pairc Tailteann Eoghan Heeney opened the scoring in the second minute after some interplay between himself and Jamie Crosby. The lead was extended by John McDonnell in the third after Brian Fitzpatrick intercepted a St Patricks clearance. St Patricks then got on the scoring sheet with a point from play by corner forward Shane Landy. Oisin Miland then added to the tally after slipping some tackles at the edge of the big square and he fisted a point. Further points by Cianan Byrne and Alan Bowden, both of which came from turnovers as the St Patricks came out of defence, had the  gap at four after 10 minutes 

St Patricks were starting to move down field on a more direct basis and a Donal Landy point from the mark at the edge of the D gave them some belief. With Duleek Bellewstown varying their attack a foul on John Mc Donnell led to an Alan Bowden pointed free. Three St Patricks points followed with two quick points from full forward Joe Murphy and another Donal Landy mark had the gap back to a single point at the twenty minute mark. 

Then following a Duleek Bellewstown free which fell short, St Patricks  worked the ball down the stand side and delivered a speculative long high pass in towards Joe Murphy at the edge of the large square. The initial attempt at securing possession was fumbled and in the ensuing tangle the referee deemed that Murphy was fouled and awarded a penalty which Donal Landy converted and put them 2 points to the good.  

St Patricks were on a roll at this point but Cianan Byrne secured possession from the resulting kick out and interchanged with Tom Bowden before kicking a point off the outside of his right foot to narrow the gap again. St Patricks were trying to build their attacks through a slow and methodical passing across the field and following a shot that dropped short to Ryan Lynch the ball was worked upfield from Ryan to Sam O’Leary , the two Bowdens, Eoghan Heeney who laid off to Jamie Crosby  and he pointed to have the sides level on twenty eight minutes. St Patricks replied immediately with a Shane Landy long range point which just crept over the bar to give the Stamullen men a point lead at the interval.

Duleek Bellewstown 0-8 St Patricks 1-6. 

With the wind picking up slightly St Patricks started the second half with Donal Landy feeding Barry Mooney and he pointed in the first minute to extend their lead. An Alan Bowden free after a foul on James Mc Weeney, which resulted in him having to leave the field 5 five minutes later to be replaced by John Flood, had the gap back at 1. Another Donal Landy free had the Pats back at two in front before John Flood pointed from play after a passing move between himself Cianan Byrne and Tom Bowden and the same trio were involved a minute later which saw Tom Bowden kicking a point off his left to level things up. Another Shane Landy pointed free had the Pats in front again as the game entered the last 15 minutes. 

Little did the supporters think that St Patricks would not score for the remainder of the game?  The scoring spree was kicked off by John Mc Donnell with three successive points in 5 minute. First he pointed a free after a foul on Alan Bowden to bring the sides level. He popped up again with a point from a mark at the edge of the D and following a turnover by Tom Bowden he pointed again from play to put a gap or two with 10 minutes left. 

The next score was the real turning point and which left the Pats a mountain to climb.  After another intercept by Sam O’Leary around the defensive 45 the ball was worked thru the hand to Tom Bowden and his shot for a point dropped short at the edge of the small square.  Eoghan Heeney was alert to the opportunity and plucked the ball from the grasp of the Pats defense and buried the ball to the roof of the net and now there was five in it and it was case of not doing anything silly and manage the game. St Patricks tried all they could to break through the defense but it held firm and they only had a couple of speculative shots which either went wide or dropped short to the hands of Ryan Lynch.  

The next scores did not come until the game was in injury time. First Darren Heeney got a long pass from Oisin Miland on the terrace side just inside the St Patricks 45 and noticing that his marker had given him an extra yard of space he hit a monstrous point of his left. Two late pointed frees from Alan Bowden in the thirty second and thirty third minutes completed the scoring. 

Duleek Bellewstown: R Lynch, C Regan, K McCann, B Fitzpatrick, R Clarke, C Byrne (0-2) A Bowden (0-5), S Crosby, T Bowden (0-1), J McWeeney, O Miland (0-1), J McDonnell (0-4), J Crosby(0-1), E Heeney (1-1) Subs: C Ryan, E Lenehan, J Flood (0-1), D Heeney (0-1), C Flynn

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