Pearson sends Benildus into semi-finals

St Benildus 2-10 St Aidan’s CBS 1-9 Leinster PP Schools SFC ‘A’

Goals from Callum Pearson and Aaron Bradshaw proved key as St Benildus won this quarter-final at Pairc Ciceam.

Well-worked scores from 2015 Dublin minor Pearson (two), Joseph Rafferty and Tom Keane helped the Kilmacud school into an early lead, before Aidan’s opened their account with a 17th-minute point from Patrick Small.

Benildus responded through Rafferty and Tom Fox, and after a 1-1 salvo from Pearson, they enjoyed a 1-7 to 0-4 interval lead.

Benildus stretched their advantage in the 37th minute, when half-back Bradshaw netted.

But the Collins Avenue outfit refused to throw in the towel, and finished the game with three points without reply, plus a late long-range goal from Adam Conway. It wasn’t enough.

Scorers – St Benildus College: C Pearson 1-3, T Keane 0-3 (1f), A Bradshaw 1-0, J Rafferty, T Fox 0-2 each. St Aidan’s CBS: A Conway 1-1, P Small (2fs), J Doran 0-3 each, T O’Sullivan, K Campbell 0-1 each.

ST BENILDUS COLLEGE – A O’Callaghan; A Walsh, L Doran, P O’Brien; S O’Reilly, D Keogh, A Bradshaw; C Pearson, P Flaherty; D O’Brien, J Rafferty, A Fox; E Foley, T Fox, T Keane.

Sub: G Soraghan for T Fox (50, BC).

ST AIDAN’S CBS – S Bruton; D Bergin, T O’Sullivan, L McCarthy; L Gannon, D Gray, D Constantine; D Ryan, K Campbell; C Gerrard, J Doran, T McCaul; A Conway, P Small, R Kerins. Subs: E O’Donnell for McCaul (h-t), M Moran for Bergin (39).

REF – A Lagrue (Kildare)