St. Laurence's

Report:
St. Laurence’s made it two wins from two with a comfortable victory over a disappointing Ballykelly outfit who remain pointless after two rounds of the league. The game was a story of two forward lines with the Larries being clinical in front of goals and kicking some fine scores, while Ballykelly were guilty of some glaring misses and kicked a hatful of wides through the hour, and that was the real difference between the sides. The game was played in windy conditions and it was the visitors who had the aid of the stiff breeze in the opening half. The home side though were the team to open the scoring, with a pointed free from Adrian Dunne in the 5th minute. James Fahey added a second point for the home side after a fine pass from JP Byrne and Sean Higgins quickly added a third. The visitors finally made it on to the scoreboard in the 22nd minute with a pointed free from Derek McCormack and swiftly added a second from wing back Barry Kaye. This was to be the final score of the half, leaving Larries 0-3 to 0-2 ahead at the break. Two quick points from Fahey and Dunne stretched the home side’s advantage after the interval before McCormack replied for the Monasterevin based team. A Dunne free restored the three point advantage before a fine long range effort from Alan Hickey again reduced the deficit. Ballykelly then went on to miss four very kickable free’s before St Laurence’s took control scoring six unanswered points from midfielders Keatley and Kane, Higgins (2) and two more from the ever dangerous Fahey. McCormack added a last minute consolation point for Ballykelly but the home side ran out worthy winners by a seven point margin. St Laurence’s: Joe McLoughlin, Brian Osborne, Stephen Murphy, Colm Corcoran, Paddy O’Connor, JP Byrne, Brendan Gorman, Colm Kane 0-1, Adrian Keatley 0-1, Adrian Dunne 0-3 (2fs), Sean Higgins 0-3, Billy Kiernan, David Ging, Sean O’Driscoll, James Fahey 0-4 Subs: Cormac Byrne for Gorman, 48; Christopher O’Connor for Osborne, 51; Brian Davies for Dunne, 54; Robbie Brannock for Corcoran, 57 Ballykelly: Trevor Holligan, Andrew Buckley, Liam Behan, Chris Murlihan, Barry Kay 0-1, Ger Byrne, David Howard, Derek McCormack 0-3 (2fs), John Fitzgerald, Mick Behan, Alan Hickey 0-1, David Moore, Paul Pender, Dean Dempsey, Andrew Kelly Subs: Willie Nichol for Pender 47 Referee: Fran Bolger

03/04/2010 Competition: League Grade: Senior Football

St. Laurence's 0-8 St. Kevin's 0-1

Referee:	Liam Doyle
Venue:	St. Kevin's
Match Info:	4pm

Report:
A heavy downpour just before the start of this game in Staplestown made conditions very difficult for both teams throughout. It was St Laurence’s though who adapted better and in the end ran out comfortable winners with St Kevin’s only managing a solitary score. This leaves St Laurence’s with two wins out of two but Kevin’s will be disappointed with their display after failing to follow up on a good victory over Sarsfields. The first quarter of the game was a scrappy affair littered with errors as both teams struggled in difficult and challenging conditions. St Laurence’s lost midfielder Ronnie Lawlor to a nasty facial injury after an off the ball incident with only three minutes gone. This lead to a number of clashes between both sets of players and referee Liam Doyle was kept busy brandishing a number of yellow cards before both teams finally settled down to play football. The game remained scoreless until the 19th minute when St Laurence’s Bart Blanchfield swung over a point from a tight angle. Dom Grufferty doubled Larries advantage with a placed ball six minutes later and then Barry Mackey made it three with a great free from distance. County star Pauric O’Neill, playing in the unfamiliar role of centre back, pointed in first half injury time to leave the county champions four points up at half time, with the home team scoreless. Kevin’s had enjoyed an equal amount of possession in the half but were guilty of some wayward shooting, including missing a number of very kickable frees. Larries quickly added to their advantage in the second half with John Fogarty scoring a good long range free and then Grufferty grabbing his second point of the day. St Laurence’s were dominating possession at this stage of the game but with little penetration. Pauric O’Neill put Larries eight to the good with his second point of the afternoon midway through the second half and this was to be the last of the visitor’s scores. Conditions were again telling as the pitch cut up under foot and much of the play was in the middle of the field which kept scoring chances to a minimum. St Kevin’s finally put their mark on the scoreboard when Eoin Carew knocked over a free with five minutes remaining. This was to be the last score of a game that was typical of an early league encounter, with both sides hoping to make considerable improvement before the first round of the championship. St Laurence’s: Shane Connolly, Ciaran Roche, Niall Clynch, Karl O’Brien, Mark Finnegan, Pauric O’Neill 0-02, Padraig Kearney, Mossie Doyle, Ronnie Lawlor, Barry Mackey 0-2 (2fs), John Fogarty 0-1 (1f), Ivan Keatley, Bart Blanchfield 0-1, Dom Grufferty 0-2 (1f), Dessie Lawlor Subs: Alan Higgins for R. Lawlor, 3; Aaron Flood for Finnegan, 45; Eoin Clifford for Keatley, 45; Mark O’Brien for Clynch, 47; Tommy O’Neill for Higgins, 54; St Kevin’s: Johnny Graham, Paddy Walsh, Jason Brosnan, Gordon Kearney, Ronan Burke, Packie Curtin, Trevor McDonald, Brian Dunne, Mark Kenny, Cormac Noone, Cathal O’Leary, Barry Noone, Kevin Cahill, Eoin Carew 0-1 (1f), Mark Fitzharris Referee: Liam Doyle

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