St Paul’s Oughterard out of luck

St Paul’s 3-8

HAVING lost finals in both 2007 and 2009, there was further All-Ireland heartbreak for Oughterard’s St Paul’s Secondary School as they came up just short in this year’s ‘C’ football decider. Just a point separated the Galway side and their opponents, Patrician Academy, heading into injury time but the Cork school finished the stronger to earn a hard-fought victory.

St Paul’s were on the back foot from the outset and were rocked by the concession of two goals, coming early in each half just when the momentum looked to be with the Oughterard school. To the credit of Diarmuid Lee’s side, they responded well to the setbacks but they were always chasing their opponents on the scoreboard.

The Mallow outfit racked up some huge scores on route to the final and they were blessed with some top quality forwards. As skillful as some of their attacking play was, the Munster men were also well-versed in the dark arts as St Paul’s were stifled again and again by tactical fouling.

The free count read 12-2 against Patrician Academy at half-time with the majority of those transgressions coming around the middle of the field as St Paul’s looked to launch attacks. It was a tactic designed to contain and frustrate their opponents and it paid off.

To be fair to the Cork side, they also produced some of the best scores of the game and their quality was on display from throw-in. They were on the board after just ten seconds when Jack Dillon fired over a fine score and the wing-forward was on target again in the fourth minute to double his side’s lead.

It took St Paul’s the first five minutes to settle into the game but they got off the mark when Matthew Tierney converted a placed ball. Paul Kelly was then on the end of a patient move involving Ryan Monaghan and Sam Lawrence as the Moycullen midfielder pointed from close-range.

That left the sides level at 0-2 apiece but just as St Paul’s were starting to motor, Patrician Academy struck for the opening goal. The Cork side burst through the middle and just when it looked like St Paul’s defender Paul Butler had cut out the attack, the ball broke kindly to full-forward Conor McMahon, who rifled a shot into the bottom corner.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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