Stroll for St Mary’s
St Mary’s 2-15 St Farnan’s 1-6
Cathal Mullaney
Another Minor title has found a home at St Mary’s following their capture of the Expert Electrical Division One League crown last Thursday evening at the Sligo GAA Centre of Excellence at Scarden.
2-15 to 1-6 winners over a one-dimensional St Farnan’s, St Mary’s had impressive performers in Nathan Rooney, who chipped in with nine points, while Ryan Feehily, Kyle Cawley and Paul Kilcoyne also showed up well for the Ballydoogan-based side.
Finnian Cawley was unable to recreate his heroics from Sligo’s Minor league campaign to inspire his St Farnan’s side, and though he supplied four points, the Dromore West outfit were heavily reliant on Cawley and Paddy O’Connor, another county minor player, to find scores against the defensively solid winners.
Initially, St Farnan’s struggled to quell the attacking threat that was Nathan Rooney. The full-forward, son of current Sligo Minor boss Aidan Rooney, scored seven points inside the opening 13 minutes in an outstanding personal display, with four coming from play. St Farnan’s eventually brought back a sweeper to prevent possession reaching Rooney, and it was somewhat effective.
That said, the damage was already done. 0-7 to 0-1 down after Rooney’s scoring spree, St Farnan’s were dealt a harsh blow when a defensive mix-up resulted in Kyle Cawley netting a 25th minute goal, to put eight points between the sides (1-7 to 0-2).
Finnian Cawley and Paddy O’Connor were St Farnan’s only scorers over the hour, and between them they contributed three points in the opening half, but their side trailed 1-8 to 0-3 at the break.
The second half followed a similar patter, with Nathan Rooney adding another two points in the early stages of the half, while Oisin Kelly, Paul Kilcoyne and Kyle Cawley also fired over.
Conor Darcy bagged 1-1 in a four minute period in the final quarter, to further extend his sides lead, and though St Farnan’s scored 1-1 of their own in the final seven minutes – Paddy O’Connor the goalscorer – this was a mere consolation as St Mary’s ended as deserving 12-point winners.
St Mary’s: N Cawley; R Allen, H Mousa, T O’Kelly-Lynch; O Kelly (0-1), R Feehily, K Conlon; S Mulligan, P Kilcoyne (0-1); C Darcy (1-1), K Cawley (1-1), N McDermott; J Hargadon (0-2), N Rooney (0-9, 5fs), Neil Murray. Subs: Nathan Hargadon, Shane O’Hehir, Jack McDonagh.
St Farnan’s: K Devaney; F Ryan, C Gillen, P Flynn; J Weir, E Kilgannon, F Kilgannon; F Cawley (0-4, 2fs), M Devaney; K Kilrehill, P O’Connor (1-2), N Crean; S Mulligan, G Calpin, C Gordon. Subs: C Murray
Referee: Ciaran McGovern