U17A Football Final
St. Paul’s 5-9 St. Mary’s Aghagallon 1-6
Only a point separated these sides when they met in last year’s final but this time it was St. Paul’s who took revenge in style when they raced to a 15 point win over St. Mary’s Aghagallon at an excellent Davitt’s Park on Sunday.
The West Belfast venue was in immaculate condition as the sides took the field for the 2023 final and it was St. Mary’s Aghagallon who made the early running and went 0-2 ahead after 5 minutes through Owen Mallon and Eran Loughran.
The Lough Shore side were soon on the back foot however as an excellent St. Paul’s came roaring back with points from Oisin McCann, Ciaran Duffy and Patrick Crawford before a McCann shot slipped through the grasp of St. Mary’s keeper, Jamie Hatchell and ended in the net in the 15th minute.
The Shaw’s Road side continued to press, driven on by their excellent captain, Shea Burns and added further points through Ewan McGreevey, Ciaran Duffy and Niall Carmichael and their pace and power was troubling the Aghagallon defence.
Aghagallon were handed a lifeline when Aidan Brady’s long range effort deceived Adam Carroll and ended in the net in the 25th minute to close the gap to four points but they were unable to build on that piece of good fortune.
Back came the ‘Hoops’ and they looked to be in for a second goal but Jamie Hatchell pulled off an excellent save to deny Ewan McGreevey.
The second goal was not long in coming however as Shea Burns soloed 50 meters through the heart of the Aghagallon defence before unleashing an unstoppable shot to the net to leave his side 2-6 to 1-2 ahead at half time.
The boys in green needed a good start to the second half if they were to get back into contention but in the event it was St. Paul’s who continued to dictate matters.
Patrick Crawford side stepped his marker to open the second half scoring with a point and Ciaran Duffy followed with their third goal of the game as gaps began to appear in the St. Mary’s defence.
It was all St. Paul’s and as the traffic towards the opposition goal continued Oisin Casey got in for a 5th major and when Aghagallon did manage to get into an attacking position, Ciaran Duffy got back to make a great block on Sean Gowdy.
The Shaw’s Road side were now in full-swing and Oisin Casey fisted a tantalising delivery to the net at the end of the third quarter and even at this stage it looked done and dusted.
Shea Burns added a point but Aghagallon were still battling hard and they would add points from Sean Gowdy, Eran Loughran and a great effort from Michael Grogan to bring their total to 1-6 with Burns replying with two for St. Paul’s to leave them comfortable winners in the end.
A good open game of football with both sides moving the ball around at speed but it was St. Paul’s who had all the aces when things settled down and were worthy winners in the end.
A lot of work has been done at the club over the past number of years and county chairman, Ciaran McCavana paid tribute to that work when he was presenting the cup to their excellent captain, Shea Burns.
St. Paul’s: 1 Adam Carroll, 2 Conor Ward, 4 Garrett Cowan, 5 Ciaran McDonnell, 6 Oisin McCann, 7 Oisin Gamble, 8 Ewan McGreevey, 9 Ciaran McAlea, 10 Patrick Crawford, 11 Shea Burns, 12 Oisin Casey, 13 Niall Carmichael, 14 Sean Og McLaren, 15 Ciaran Rogers-Duffy
Aghagallon: 1 Jamie Hatchell, 2 Darragh Keightley, 3 Christopher Hannon, 4 Darragh Smyth, 5 Ronan O’Connor, 6 Cormac Mulholland, 7 Matthew Braham, 8 Sean McCavigan, 9 Aidan Brady, 10 Michael Grogan, 11 Aaron Kerr, 12 Owen Mallon, 13 Sean Gowdy, 14 Eoin Maginnis, 15 Eran Loughran
Referee: Paul Burns (NaomhComhghall)
