Danske Bank D’Alton Cup Schools Football
St Louis Ballymena 3-09 St Patrick’s Cavan 3-04
St Louis Ballymena kept their hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the D’Alton Cup alive with a hard-fought 3-9 to 3-4 victory over St Patrick’s Cavan in Garvaghey, Tyrone.
It marks a historic first-ever win for the school in the Grade A football competition, though it didn’t look likely in the opening stages. A wind-assisted Cavan side stormed into an early nine-point lead, registering 2-3 without reply in a dominant first-quarter display.
However, St Louis gradually found their rhythm. Nicholas McCrory, Conan McKeever and Cayden McGuckian began to assert control around the middle, turning the tide of the contest. Their efforts helped reduce the deficit to three points by half-time.
After keeping St Patrick’s scoreless for the remainder of the half, the St Louis forwards began to click. McKeever struck three points, Ronan Laverty added two, and Oisin Anyalechi had the final say of the half, leaving the score at 2-3 to 0-6 in favour of the Cavan side at the break.
The second half belonged to the Antrim men. Picking up where they left off, St Louis surged ahead with goals from Alfie Gordon and Kiran Jayaprakash, sandwiched between another brace of McKeever points to open up a five-point lead.
St Patrick’s responded with a late goal to narrow the gap to two, setting up a tense finish. But the Cullybackey Road side held their nerve, and a third green flag from McKeever sealed a deserved 3-9 to 3-4 victory.
Next up is St Michael’s Enniskillen on Tuesday nexxt — a huge opportunity for St Louis to reach the playoffs for the first time in the school’s history.
ST LOUIS
PJ Marron
Charlie OBrien
Lir Hodkinson
Lir Hamill
Mark Kirby
Joseph Killough
Nicholas McCrory
Conan McKeever
Cayden McGuckian
Oisin Martin
Oisin Anyalechi
Ronan Laverty
Alfie Gordon
Odhran Cassidy
Aidan Scullion
Subs Used
Kiran Jayaprakash
Cahan OKane
Subs
Connlaodh Clarke
Jack Curry
Daithi Diamond
Luca McCamphill
Oliver McCarroll
Matthew McQuillan
Scorers
Conan McKeever 1-5
Kiran Jayaprakash 1-1
Alfie Gordon 1-0
Ronan Laverty 0-2
Oisin Anyalechi 0-1