ST JOSEPH’S RUSH 8-11
ST VINCENT’S CBS 0-6
Daire Walsh – 17 October 2013 02:30 PM
EARLY goals from Eoghan Conroy and Colin Halpin proved to be the catalyst at Saint Maur’s GAA Club last Friday as St Joseph’s, Rush, booked their semi-final slot with a comprehensive victory over St Vincent’s CBS.
With a number of the Joseph’s players operating on familiar terrain, it was no surprise that they were able to settle so smoothly into the contest and thanks to well-worked points from play by Craig Fortune (two) and Conroy, they had built up a three-point advantage with just six minutes gone on the clock.
Conroy was one of the brightest sparks for the Dublin minors during their 2013 Leinster MHC campaign and he showed his true worth moments after Fortune’s second point when he flicked an angled ball past stranded Vincent’s netminder Conor McGlynn for the first major of the tie.
With the centre-forward’s confidence now at its optimum level, he added a further eye-catching point from the left wing and with the lively Halpin also chipping in with a 1-1 contribution, Joseph’s had increased their advantage to 11 points by the 13th minute mark.
Industrious midfielder Adam O’Neill did finally open the Glasnevin school’s account from the subsequent attack with a 50-metre point from play and even though Joseph’s corner-forward David Carthy quickly cancelled it out with a similar effort, O’Neill was on hand to secure his second point from a long-distance free.
Indeed, O’Neill was providing plenty of leadership from the middle of the field and he added three more scores to his tally before the end of the first half.
Unfortunately, Joseph’s were also quite prominent in attack during this juncture, as another 1-1 salvo courtesy of Halpin and a neat finish from close range by the towering Fortune gave Joseph’s a seemingly unassailable 4-7 to 0-5 lead at the midway point.
It was essentially a damage limitation exercise for Vincent’s after the restart, but Joseph’s were in no mood to drop their performance levels and they added their fifth and sixth goals of the outing through Fortune and centre-fielder Kevin Nugent inside the opening five minutes of the second period.
O’Neill once again split the posts for Vincent’s from a routine free, but Nugent proceeded to raise the white flag for Joseph’s from long-range after 32 minutes, before excellent spade work by Carthy provided the opening for the excellent Conroy’s second goal just a minute later.
Partner
However, his central attacking partner Fortune was able to better his efforts for the Rush side, as an excellent catch and finish ensured that the dynamic No14 ended with a hat-trick to his name.
As the half wore on, the Joseph’s management opted to make a number of personnel changes, but they continued to press for scores until the very end, as concluding points from inside duo Carthy and Halpin helped the Fingal school to cruise into the next phase.
Scorers – St Joseph’s Rush: C Fortune 3-2; C Halpin 2-4 (0-2f); E Conroy 2-2; K Nugent 1-1; D Carthy 0-2. St Vincent’s CBS: A O’Neill 0-6 (4f).
ST JOSEPH’S RUSH: S Harford; A Byrne, A Kennedy, M Butterly; L McGuinness, K Reade, T O’Neill; J Burke, K Nugent; L Bohan, E Conroy, L Hosford; D Carthy, C Fortune, C Halpin. Subs: C Kiernan for Hosford (32), D Halpin for Butterly (37), P Monks for Bohan (38), S Casey for C Halpin (40).
ST VINCENT’S CBS: C McGlynn; N Tran, S Cronin, S Shakespeare; K Gannon, G Lyons, E Sperrin; A O’Neill, C Whelan; S ó Murchú, J Brady, C Gaffney; K Scully, D Byrne, G Hanlon. Subs: D Ormsby for Hanlon (29), Hanlon for Byrne (33), Byrne for Sperrin (35), Sperrin for Lyons (42).
Referee: A Keating (Setanta).