St Paul’s 3-11 St Enda’s 1-09 – at Dunsilly

St Paul’s secured the Reserve Football Shield at Dunsilly following a commanding final victory over St Enda’s. Two early goals gave the Shaw’s Road men a fantastic start, but a resilient St Enda’s side battled back, highlighted by a Sean Neilan goal, to close the gap to just two points by halftime.

However, after the change of ends, St Paul’s decisively regained the upper hand. Driven forward by a brilliant Man of the Match performance from Sean Og McLaren, they restricted their Glengormley opponents to just two points in the second half, pulling away to win by a comfortable eight-point margin.

St Paul’s applied the early pressure, creating several opportunities before Shea Burns opened the scoring with a point in the seventh minute. The lead was short-lived, as a minute later, St Enda’s Odhran McKenna cut along the sideline and fired over a superb left-footed effort to level the sides.

The game’s first major turning point arrived in the ninth minute with a stroke of fortune for St Paul’s. Patrick Crawford’s point attempt dropped short, but took a wicked bounce on the Dunsilly turf, looping over the keeper’s head and into the net.

St Enda’s immediately looked to respond. Ronan Kalla sent in a long-range effort that dropped dangerously into the square, sparking a tense goalmouth scramble, but the St Paul’s defense managed to hack it clear. St Paul’s capitalised on the clearance immediately, marching down the field to grab their second goal on 11 minutes. After excellent approach play from Sean Og McLaren, Crawford was on hand again to find the net.

St Enda’s showed real grit and pulled a goal back on 13 minutes. Sean Neilan kept his run going brilliantly; the St Paul’s keeper made a great save from the initial shot, and a defender broke the rebound, but Neilan reacted fastest to pull the ball on the ground into the net.

The momentum began to swing back and forth. St Enda’s Niall McKeown registered a point, quickly followed by another from Odhran McKenna. St Paul’s answered straight down the field through Conor Burns, but Ronan Kalla immediately replied with a super point for St Enda’s.

As the half entered its final ten minutes, St Paul’s began to find a rhythm. Niall Carmichael hit a good point on 21 minutes, followed shortly by a well-worked team score that ended with Garrett Cowan firing over off his left foot from 20 meters.

On 24 minutes, McLaren found himself through on goal from close range. The St Enda’s keeper produced a sharp save, but the rebound broke kindly to Conor Burns, who fired it over the bar. McLaren then added a well-deserved point of his own a minute later.

St Enda’s had a golden opportunity on 27 minutes when they broke through on goal, but Declan “DJ” Murray’s attempt to punch the ball over the bar was deflected wide for a ’45’, which ultimately came to nothing.

The closing moments of the half saw a flurry of scores. Conor Burns landed a superb left-footed strike from 30 meters, only for DJ Murray to respond for St Enda’s seconds later. With the final kick of the half, Shea Burns sent over a great score from out on the wing, leaving the halftime score at St Paul’s 2-06 to St Enda’s 1-07.

St Paul’s Take Control

St Enda’s introduced Eoin Nagle at the break to try and close the gap, but it was St Paul’s who struck first upon the restart. Conor Burns continued his fine scoring form with a super point just two minutes in to extend their lead to three.

St Paul’s introduced a substitute of their own five minutes into the half, and by the 10-minute mark, they had essentially killed the game off with a brilliant team goal. The move was orchestrated down the right wing, initiated by a pinpoint ball from Sean Og McLaren. It eventually found Niall Carmichael, who clinically fired it across the keeper and into the net.

A minute later, St Paul’s worked the ball beautifully down the right touchline through Finnegan, who popped it out to Conor Burns to knock over another point, widening the gap to seven.

St Enda’s had to wait until the 17th minute for their first score of the second half, with Cathair McKenna flashing a fierce effort just inches over the crossbar. Ronan Kalla followed this up with a pointed free on 21 minutes, but that would prove to be St Enda’s final score of the contest as the St Paul’s defense shut up shop.

Conor Burns answered with a great point from a tight angle on 22 minutes, and followed it up with a fantastic left-footed effort a minute later. Unfortunately, Burns injured himself in the process of taking the score and had to be substituted after a stellar individual display.

St Enda’s brought Cormac Morgan into the fray to try and spark a late revival, but St Paul’s remained firmly in control. Patrick Crawford tapped over a free on 25 minutes to cap off the scoring, sealing a fantastic second-half team performance and ensuring the Reserve Shield headed back to Shaw’s Road.

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