IFC Group 1
St. Paul’s 1-14 Naomh Padraig 0-4
St. Paul’s made it two win from two starts in Group 1 of the Intermediate Football championship when they recorded a resounding win over a disappointing Naomh Padraig at Shaw’s Road on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors were in contention during the opening half when facing a strong breeze and trailed by only two with 11 minutes of the half remaining but the home side enjoyed an excellent 15-minute spell either side of the break to put themselves in a commanding position.
Indeed it was the Lisburn side who were first on the score-board and a good move saw Conor Ewing swing over the opening point to give them the lead after two minutes.
St. Paul’s were enjoying a lot of possession but were finding it difficult breaking down the visitors defence and were off target on a couple of occasions before Niall McStravick fired over the equaliser.
Caoimhin Duffy rose too fist over a Lorcan Phillips dipping shot as the home side began to find their range and McStravick added another to move the Shaw’s Road side 0-3 to 0-1 ahead with 11 minutes gone.
The visitors were finding it difficult to break down a solid St. Paul’s defence but were rewarded for their persistence when Ben McMullan got forward for an excellent point in the 13th minute to leave just one between the sides.
Lorcan Phillips, who was a constant threat throughout replied immediately and Niall McStravick extended the gap to three by the 20th minute but at this stage the visitors would have been fairly happy, given the strength of the breeze.
An Eoin Dixon point closed the gap to two with 9 minutes remaining to the break but a Lorcan Phillips goal at the other end in the 24th minute swung the game decisively in favour of Donagh Finnegan’s side.
Ciaran McAlea’s direct run opened up the visitors defence and created the space as he placed Phillips who took his opportunity to finish to the net and suddenly the game had turned decisively in favour of the ‘Hoops’.
St Paul’s were flying as Pearse Magee, Niall Ward and a Phillips frees moved them 1-8 to 0-3 ahead at the short whistle.
Naomh Padraig needed a good start to the second half but the breeze had dropped as they returned to the action and in truth they never looked like getting back into contention.
Instead it was St. Paul’s who continued where they had left off with Lorcan Phillips and Liam McLarnon kicking frees, whilst Phillips would add another two, one from play, to extend their lead to 12 points.
The home side were playing smart possession football with their opponents unable to lay their hands on the ball for long periods and it took 13 minutes before substitute Francis McMeel fisted over to open their second half account.
It proved to be the Lisburn side’s sum total for a very disappointing second half as the home side continued to boss possession as they took the opportunity to empty their bench.
They would add two further points to bring their total for the evening to 1-14 with Caoimhin Duffin and corner back, Gary McGroarty on target but were content to run down the clock as the visitors ran out of ideas.
This win makes it two from two for the Shaw’s Road side who look favourites to top the group with games against St. Teresa’s and Ardoyne still to come but don’t play again until the 31st of August when they travel to the Glen Road side.
Naomh Padraig take on Kickham’s Ardoyne at Fennell Park on the 18th of August and would probably need a win there if they are to get their own qualification ambitions back on track but will have to show a big improvement from today’s performance.
St. Paul’s: 1 Jack McAufield, 2 Aodhan Kavanagh, 3 James Farrell, 4 Gary McGroarty, 5 Miceal Duffy, 6 Stephen Rooney, 7 Niall Ward, 8 Mark Munce, 17 Ciaran McAlea, 10 Pearse Magee, 11 Niall McStravick, 12 Caoimhin Duffy, 13 Conall Duffy, 14 Liam McLarnon, 25 Lorcan Phillips
Subs: Shea Burns, Oisin McCann, Niall Crawford, Aidan Finnegan.
Naomh Padraig: 1 Ruadhan McKenna, 2 Jack Broderick, 3 Thomas Burns, 4 Paul Law, 5 Colm Burns, 6 Ben McMullan, 7 Josh McMullan, 9 Che Smyth, 10 Rory Kennedy, 11 Eoin Dixon, 12 Sean Burns, 13 Conor Ewing, 14 Rory McFlynn, 15 Adam Patterson, 16 Peter O’Neill,
Subs: Conor Dixon, Luca Mulholland, Francis McMeel, Conor Doran
Referee: Ray Matthews (Rossa)
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