On a blustery day in Kilcoyne Park, a match up between two group A teams that, after Tubbercurry's dismantling of Eastern Harps the night before, wanted to lay down a marker for the rest of the Championship.
St.Mary's got off the mark first with a free through centre-forward and captain Rory Guinan within a minute of throw in.
The Sligo town men continued this bright start with 4 consecutive scores without reply in the opening exchanges of the first half, pushing the score out to 0-05 to 0-00.
As Coolaney/Mullinabreena started feeling themselves into the game with three converted frees without reply, St.Mary's dealt a hammer blow with a goal from corner forward Kyle Cawley, bringing the gap to five points.The second quarter was a cat and mouse affair in large part, though Coolaney/Mullinabreena did finish the stronger, helped by some great scores from Anthony Walsh and Goalkeeper Eoin McDonagh. When referee Gus Chapman blew for halftime, that five point gap had dwindled to the bare minimum, with a score of 1-08 to 0-10
The second half followed the pattern of the first, with the teams drawing level on numerous occasions, though Coolaney/Mullinabreena will be left to rue the several chances they squandered in the third quarter, when they enjoyed the lions share of possession. St.Mary's were incredibly proficient by contrast, and that proved to be the difference in a game where both sides could have won on a given day. Substitute Jonathan Lynch in particular sealing the deal as Coolaney/Mullinabreena pushed for the equalizer as the game drew to a close.
The final score finished as 1-15 to 0-14 to St.Mary's as the two sides can look forward to matches with Eastern Harps and Tubbercurry respectively, as the feted group of death, featuring 3 county champions in the last 10 years, moves to Round 2.
Referee: Gus Chapman
Teams: Coolaney/Mullinabreena
- Eoin McDonagh (0.01)
- Stephan Barrett
- Aidan Coleman
- Kevin O'Kennedy
- Conor Gorman
- Declan McCormack
- Anthony Walsh (0.01)
- Stephan Connolly
- Barry Gorman (0.01)
- Sean Gorman
- Shane O'Brien (0.05)
- Niall Connolly
- Gavin Gorman (0.01)
- Cristeoir Davey
- Kieran Finan (0.04)
- Daniel Davey (0.01)
- Conor McCormack
- Raymond Connolly
- Gavin Feely
St.Mary's:
- Fintan Ruddy
- Caolan 'O' Grady
- Luke Nicholson
- Conor Darcy
- Johnny Martyn
- Gerard 'O' Kelly Lynch (0.01)
- Tony 'O' Kelly Lynch
- Niall McManus
- Paul Kilcoyne
- Cian Brehony (0.02)
- Rory Guinan (0.06)
- Nathan Rooney (0.01)
- Kyle Cawley (1.01)
- Dermot 'O' Connor
- Mark McGoldrick
- Johnny Davey ( 0.01)
- Jonathan Lynch (0.02)
- Dylan Kilgannon
- Nial McDermott