St Michaels overcome St James in city derby to earn Division One promotion

Eoin and Dylan Gacquin along with Brian Harlowe all stood out in attack scoring 1-10 between them for the westside based club. Brian Madden and Gary Higgins were absent from the St Michaels starting XV.

Meanwhile, St James will be able to welcome back Galway footballers Paul Conroy and Jack O'Neill for the championship. The Jimmies were also without Ruairí King, who has recently transferred to the club from Clifden, while the addition of Colin Kelly already looks set to be a significant boost. Kelly finished with 1-5 in his side's defeat.

The hosts started brightly, with Brian Harlowe landing a two-pointer, which was quickly followed by a score from defender Shane Connaughton to race them into a three-point lead. However, St James replied quickly through Colin Kelly and Dale Masterson to level terms on 10 minutes.

St Michaels soon began to get on top after Dylan Gacquin shoved the boys in blue and white back in front. Then a two-pointer from Connaughton and a free courtesy of Eoin Gacquin pushed them 0-7 to 0-3 ahead. They then forced St James goalkeeper James Egan into a mistake on a short kick-out, and Dave Cunnane blasted the ball into the back of the net.

Brian Kane reduced the gap after the first quarter, and last year's county quarter-finalists got themselves right back into the contest when Jack Ryan fetched a kick-out in the middle of the field and fed the ball to Jack Nolan, who combined with Colin Kelly before Kelly slotted the ball into the back of the net. The Mervue side now trailed by just 1-7 to 1-4 on 23 minutes.

However, St Michaels hit back impressively, with Harlowe, Dylan Gacquin, Darragh O'Malley and Ethan Fiorentini giving their side a 1-11 to 1-5 lead at the interval.

Dylan Gacquin added two more points after the interval to stretch St Michaels 1-13 to 1-6 clear on 35 minutes, but then the Darragh Leonard and Eoin Concannon joint-managed side began to claw their way back into the game after Kelly and two white flags from Kevin Hourigan left four points between the teams on 39 minutes.

However, Tummon's charges took control, hitting 1-3 without reply. Efforts from Fiorentini, Harlowe and Eoin Gacquin stretched their advantage to seven points before Gacquin calmly fired to the net to effectively put the game beyond St James.St James could only manage a late point from Colin Kelly as substitute JD Doyle added the final point to seal a ten-point victory for St Michaels.

ST MICHAELS: Stephen Daly; Cian McNeill, Ronan Mac Giolla Ri, Stephen Kerr; Ethan Fiorentini (0-2), Shane Connaughton (0-3, tp), Eoin Kerin; David Moloney, Conal Gallagher; Gavin Summerville, Brian Harlowe (0-4, tp, 0-1f), Dylan Gacquin (0-4); Eoin Gacquin (1-2, 0-2f), Dave Cunnane (1-0), Darragh O’Malley (0-1).

SUBS: Kane Campbell for O’Malley (46), Jack Browne for Summerville (56), JD Boyle (0-1) for Dylan Gacquin (60), Cian Cloherty for Eoin Gacquin, Darragh McGovern for Moloney (60).

ST JAMES: James Egan; Cathal O’Regan, Jack Nolan, Eoin Finnerty; Kevin Hourigan (0-2), Johnny Duane, Daniel McNulty; Jack Ryan, Dave O’Connell; Dessie Hynes, Jonah Culligan, Dale Masterson (0-1); Colin Kelly (1-5, 0-2f), Jack Nolan (0-1) , Brian Kane (0-1).

SUBS: Aaron Connolly for Ryan (52)

REFEREE: Paddy Griffin.