OB Construction Intermediate Football Championship Group Two – Round Two
Sunday 9th August
Report by Niall Kelly
St Enda’s 1-10 St Patrick’s, Lisburn 0-04
Naomh Éanna made it two wins from two and are now perched nicely atop Group Two. In a game where both teams were perhaps not at their prolific best in front of the uprights, Fionn Nagle proved to be the difference maker, firing 1-04 of his team’s total. The hosts inflicted most of their damage in the second and third quarters respectively. A flurry of four unanswered points before Sean Elliot’s short whistle was followed by a blistering start to the second half as Nagle fired over a superb two pointer before finishing emphatically to the net four minutes after the restart to all but put the game out of the visitor’s reach.
The hosts opened the scoring on the fifth minute courtesy of an Odhran Eastwood free as a result of a breach. Eastwood would then turn provider as Mickey Morgan fired over from close range to double their lead thanks to some quick hands in a well-constructed move involving Kristian Healy.
Despite the Hightown men enjoying the lion’s share of the early possession, Lisburn were unfazed and were deploying the high ball in route in an attempt to unlock their opponent’s defence which began to cause a few problems. However, they would break their duct on the thirteenth minute thanks to a different approach as a slaloming run from Josh McMullan created enough space for the talented centre-back to slot over. Tom Buckley then curled over from a close range free to level the game at two points apiece with the game back in the melting point.
Both sides wrestled to gain the ascendancy and in truth were each guilty of a few wayward efforts after promising approach play. Nevertheless, the hosts finally found their range in the closing ten minutes of the half as they surged four clear before the interval. A soaring effort from Kristian Healy on the twentieth minute was followed moments later by Nagle’s first of the day thanks to a fine pass from Michael McKenna.
The men in black and yellow were purring nicely now as they probed the Lisburn rearguard for gaps and hit their opponents with another quick two scores. Odhran Eastwood doubled his tally from the placed ball before Nagle struck again adding the gloss to finish a flowing fast-break as the teams retreated to the changing rooms at the interval with the score 0-06 0-02 in favour of the hosts.
The second half exploded into life as Michael McKenna, who was a constant thorn in the side of the visitors, once again unlocked the Lisburn defence with a pinpoint pass into Nagle who unleashed the score of the game from well beyond the arc to increase the deficit to six.
Moments later, that man was at it again, as the formidable number eight latched onto a through ball from Eastwood on the thirty-fifth minute and found himself baring down on Conor O’Neill’s goal before thundering home emphatically much to the delight of the adoring home crowd. Eastwood would then grab himself another as he was evaded his man to seize possession of Padhraig O’Hare’s mishit free before arcing over with aplomb to increase his side’s lead to ten.
With the margin now looking increasingly ominous for the Kirkwoods Road side, they suddenly sprang to life as Adam Patterson sent over a towering effort from just inside the arc before following up moments later with another. However, try as they might, they just couldn’t capitalise on this momentum and despite some intricate approach play, they were foiled by the accuracy of their final ball.
With the game into the final quarter, there was somewhat a lull as the wide count grew for both sides. Neither could be faulted for effort though as the big hits kept coming, keeping referee Sean Elliot on his toes. After a scoreless fifteen minutes, there was just enough time on the clock for corner back Sean McBride to put the icing on the cake for his side as he found himself in unchartered territory amongst the Lisburn rear-guard and pointed with the composure of a seasoned full-forward.
In truth, the league winners always seemed to exert a measure of control in this one and the result seemed a foregone conclusion after Nagle’s major in the opening exchanges of the second period. However, they will certainly seek to recapture their usual ruthlessness in front of the posts which was at times missing today. Lisburn fought bravely but just couldn’t establish a foot-hold in the game for long enough and missing a few important components of their side made the task a much tougher ask. They will desperately look to change their fortunes in their next outing against Ahoghill as progression to the knockouts now seems to be slipping away.
Teams:
St Enda’s:
Senan Nagle; Cillian Browne, Diarmuid McNulty, Sean McBride (0-01;) Conan Lyttle, James McAuley, Eoghan O’Hare; Fionn Nagle (1-04), Mickey Morgan (0-01;) Michael McKenna, Stephen O’Connor, Padhraig O’Hare; Odhran Eastwood (0-03,) Kristian Healy (0-01,) Séan Neilan
St Patrick’s Lisburn:
Conor O’Neill; Conor Doran, Sean Burns, Josh McMullan (0-01;) Eamonn Doyle, Ben McMullan, Joshua Wilson; Tom Buckley (0-01,) Adam Patterson (0-02;) Colm Burns, Conor Ewing, Daire Austin; Brendan McGarr, Owen Drayne, Jude Rafferty
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