LEINSTER SF ‘A’ GROUP C: COLAISTE EOIN 2-12 SCOIL MHUIRE CLANE 1-7
EOIN GET INTO THE GROOVE
Booterstown boys get to knock-out stages
Daire Walsh
FIRST-HALF goals from Tomás Ó hEachthigheirn and Fionn Ó Ceallaigh set the foundations for Colaiste Eoin’s triumph over Scoil Mhuire, Clane in the Leinster Schools Senior ‘A’ Football Championship at Silver Park yesterday.
Eoin entered this Group C fixture needing a win to progress to the quarter-finals and after they had opened the scoring with back-to-back points from Pádraig Puirséil and Ó Ceallaigh, Ó hEachthigheirn added a 10th-minute goal for the hosts.
BRACE
Mhuire then brought the teams level with a brace of Sam McCormack frees either side of a stunning Shane Sullivan three-pointer, but Eoin quickly settled back into their groove.
A neat Jack Ó Tuama score was supplemented by a second goal from full-forward Ó Ceallaigh, and courtesy of unanswered scores by Diarmuid Ó Floinn and Ó Ceallaigh, they entered the break with a commanding 2-5 to 1-2 cushion. Quick-fire Mhuire points by McCormack and David Kelly upon the resumption kept the Booterstown school on their toes, but following a 0-3 salvo from Ó Ceallaigh, they reinforced their superiority. The dead-ball accuracy of McCormack kept Mhuire within touching distance for much of the second half, until Eoin corner-forwards Tomás Ó Néill and Puirséil found the target in style.
Colaiste Eoin did have to negotiate their way through seven minutes of stoppage-time, but thanks to late points from Ó Ceallaigh and Ó Néill, they eased into the knock-out rounds.
Scorers – Colaiste Eoin: F Ó Ceallaigh 1-6 (0-4f), T Ó hEachthigheirn 1-0, P Puirseil, T O Neill 0-2 each, D O Floinn, J O Tuama 0-1 each. Colaiste Mhuire, Clane: S McCormack 0-5 (5f), S Sullivan 1-1, D Kelly 0-1.
COLAISTE EOIN: S Ó Mathúna; C Mac Giolla Phádraig, F Potts, M Mac Eoin; D Ó Floinn, C Cinseallach, N Ó Moynihan-O Brádaigh; J Ó Tuama, P Ó Cofaigh-Byrne; D Ó Dúgáin, T Ó hEachthigheirn, A Ó Cuínn; P Puirséil, F Ó Ceallaigh, T Ó Néill. Subs: S Ó Fiachna for hEachthigheirn (h-t), C Mac Daibhéid for Mac Giolla Phadraig (46), D Ó Ceallacháin for O Tuama (62).
COLAISTE MHUIRE, CLANE: J Ball; J Reilly, J Browne, M Conville; D Vaughan, C Ward, M Hannon; S Callan, G Kelly; M Gill, D Kelly, C Harris; S Sullivan, J Behan, S McCormack. Subs: E O Haire for Vaughan, E Walshe for Conville (both h-t), M Kelly for G Kelly (48).
Referee: B O Bradaigh (Louth).