St. James' looked less than convincing
Wednesday August 25 2010
ST. JAMES' advanced to the semi-final of the Jack O'Leary Intermediate football championship with a less than convincing display against an unlucky Ferns St. Aidan's side in Killurin on Sunday last.
Four points is all that separated the sides at the final whistle but, had it not been for some woeful efforts in front of goal, the Gorey District side could have caused a mild surprise.
It all started in the opening period as St. James' struggled to take the advantage of a howling breeze at their backs. Following a Paul Morris point in the third minute, they did get an early goal. Good work between county stars Graeme Molloy and Brendan Doyle saw the latter put Kevin O'Grady in the clear; his rasping effort came back off the crossbar but Jack O'Brien was on hand to turn it in (1-0 to 0-1).
It was at this stage that Ferns missed two glorious goal chances in just over 60 seconds. First Tommy Dwyer fed Colm Whelan but the tall midfielder dragged his effort wide before he turned provider for Ian Byrne, whose shot whizzed over the same patch of grass a foot outside of the left post.
Matthew O'Hanlon added a free in the tenth minute but scores from Christopher O'Connor, James Tonks and a second effort from Morris drew Ferns level with eleven minutes of the half remaining.
The final ten minutes of the half was the crucial period as the New Ross District side scored 1-4 without reply. The second, crucial, goal came when Donal Coady was fouled for a penalty and O'Hanlon converted the rebound after Conor Swaine saved his initial strike.
The second-half was all Ferns as their opponents failed to register a score or wide for 29 minutes. Noel Holohan denied John Breen with a low save early in the half, but it was poor shooting for points that really thwarted the underdogs. Despite the domination, they had only managed a pair of minors by the time Colm Whelan punched a powerful effort onto the St. James' crossbar with six minutes remaining.
Two Morris minors and a Tommy Dwyer point cut the deficit to two (2-5 to 0-9) late on, but Dermot Keating and Donal Coady clinched victory with two excellent scores at the death.
- DEAN GOODISON
