MCDONNELL IS GOAL KING
Five goals from full-forward highlight of clash
GAELIC GAMES: DUBLIN SCHS SHC ‘C’ FINAL
TERENURE COLLEGE………………………………….. 9-12
OATLANDS COLLEGE…………………………………. 0-09
By Daire Walsh
EVAN MCDONNELL produced a masterclass of full-forward play at O’Toole Park on Monday afternoon, when he accumulated an astonishing personal tally of 5-2 in Terenure College’s commanding victory over Oatlands College in the Dublin Schools Senior Hurling ‘C’ decider.
Their Mount Merrion counterparts had suffered a set-back prior to throw-in, when a pre-match injury forced the late withdrawal of goalkeeper Nathan Slattery from the starting line-up. Having acted as netminder for the side’s narrow defeat to St Kevin’s CBS in last year’s final, corner-forward Cillian Fleming was the ideal man to deputise between the sticks.
OCCASION
It proved to be a busy afternoon for him on this occasion, though, and inside the opening 60 seconds, McDonnell found the back of the opposition net. Oatlands midfielder Cillian O’Shea responded with a long-range free, before a goalmouth scramble was finished off by ‘Nure centre-forward Eoin Nagle.
Subsequent back-to-back goals then helped McDonnell to secure a hat-trick by the 13th minute, and in spite of the best efforts of Fleming and his team-mates, he added a fourth major from the penalty spot seven minutes before the break.
Oatlands simply couldn’t contain their rampant southside rivals, and with all of 21 points (5-7 to 0-1) separating the sides, the second half was a damage limitation exercise.
To their eternal credit, Tom O’Dwyer’s charges did battle admirably after the restart, and despite conceding further goals to McDonnell and half-forward Ciaran Flanagan, they did land some nice points through the likes of Martin Connor, Jason Zaidan and Daniel Galvin.
However, after dipping significantly into their reserves during the closing moments, substitute Mark McGee twice raised the green flag to replicate Terenure’s blistering start to the contest.
Scorers – Terenure College: E McDonnell 5-2 (1-0 pen, 1-0f, 0-1 ‘65’), M McGee 2-0, E Nagle 1-1, C Flanagan 1-0, G Crowley, M Maguire, D Walsh 0-2 each, D Kerr (s/line), J Moore, D Croke 0-1 each. Oatlands College: M Connor (1f), C O’Shea (1f), T Lane (1f) 0-2 each, D Galvin (f), C O’Dwyer (f), J Zaidan 0-1 each.
TERENURE COLLEGE: J Cadell; E Gilroy, P Tonge, P McKenna; J Murphy, G Crowley, T Gleeson; T Deane, D Kerr; C Flanagan, E Nagle, M Maguire; J Moore, E McDonnell, D Walsh. Subs: N Seery for Flanagan, M McGee for Moore, K Cronin for Walsh (all 38), S O’Leary for McKenna, D Croke for Deane (both 50).
OATLANDS COLLEGE: C Fleming; P Byrne, M Power, C O’Feinneadha; A Kelly, M Connor, E Moroney; A Power, T Lane; C O’Dwyer, D Galvin, C O’Shea; F Myers, S Burns, D O’Kelly. Subs: J Zaidan for Byrne, A Donohue for Kelly (both 39), J Proudfoot for O’Kelly (51), F Leech for Moroney (52), D Morrissey for Burns (53).
REFEREE: A Keating (Setanta).