Saul carried off the first
silverware of the new season with a
tremendously hard fought victory
over St Pauls in Teconnaught. Two
fully committed teams served up an
entertaining game with the St
Patrick's blue and golds making the
most of their opportunities on the
night.
The match started brightly for
Saul with O'Kane sending over a
point in the first minute. St Pauls
replied quickly with a similar score
and added a further two as they took
control of the game at midfield.
Conan Smith had other ideas and
after good work by Shields and
Casement he released Treacy who was
fouled. The same player dusted
himself off and sent over a great
free, followed by another soon after
to bring the sides level with 17
minutes gone. Saul then took the
game by the scruff of the neck and
with their defence performing
heroically (and St Pauls missing two
easy chances)began to pull away with
some clinical possession football
and deadly finishing.
A great move down the right
through Conor Fitz, Treacy & Smith
led to a long ball into the square
where it was flicked on by Conor
Shields. A great save by the St
Pauls netminder was not enough as
the nine toed Gavin Hampton stole in
behind everyone to send the ball
crashing into the roof of the net.
Two more quick attacks yielded
nothing before two points from
Treacy and Hampton finished the
half.
Half Time: Saul 1-5, St Pauls
0-4.
Some positional changes at half
time by McGrath & Casement, allied
to their team talk saw Saul come out
of the blocks quickly and who else
but the inimitable Treacy slotting
over a freekick from 50yds. An
excellent through ball from Callum
Laverty to Rory Burns who was going
clean through led to a clumsy
challenge from his marker and you
know who gratefully sent over the
free. St Pauls then began to realise
time was running out and took
control of the game with some solid
play which didn't produce the scores
required. The Hamill bros at the
back defended magnificently, with
Paddy in particular, making some
excellent blocks and sweeping up
loose ball all along the 21yd line.
A great save from Leo and some great
covering by Chris Fitz helped keep
the Saul goal intact and the League
was won.
Final Score: Saul 1-9, St Pauls
0-9.
Overall it was a great team
performance and everyone deserves
credit for their commitment on the
night. Players worked for each other
unselfishly for 60 minutes and took
the knocks and plaudits equally
well. St Pauls deserve credit for
their part in an entertaining, open
game which was played hard but fair.
Both teams went out with the
determination to win, with one of
the teams making the most of the
scoring chances that came their way,
particularly in the first half.
This team has shown that they
have ability and a lot of potential.
Now they must make the effort to
fulfil this potential over the years
ahead.
Saul: Leo Laverty, Rory Burns,
Paddy Hamill, Damian Hamill, Conor
Fitzsimons, Ronan Brady, Sean
Laverty, Conor Shields(Capt), Daryl
Casement, Chris Fitzsimons, Conan
Smyth, Barry Treacy, Ryan O'Kane,
Callum Laverty, Gavin Hampton,
Daniel Galloway.
Scorers: Barry Treacy 0-7, Gavin
Hampton 1-1, Ryan O'Kane 0-1
The Saul management would like to
thank all those who helped out in
any way during the season and to the
supporters who cheered the lads on
in Teconnaught.
http://www.saul-gac.com
21/04/2005
