St Paul's
Minors Clinch Runners-Up Spot
St Paul's clinched runners-up spot
in the East Down Minor League Section
C when they defeated Saul in a play-off
in Teconnaught. Due to a number of
players being unavailable St Paul's
fielded with a rearranged attack,
Kevin Hinds moved out to the half
forwards and Conor McMullan and Kris
(with a K) McWilliams filled the two
corner forward positions.
A determined start by St Paul's saw
Conor and Captain Bob get the upper
hand at midfield, a good passing movement
gave Stevie a chance to run at the
defence and a fierce drive from the
20 metre line sailed into the top
right corner of the net. From a free
Rab extended our lead before Saul
hit back with a well worked goal.
Further points from Stevie, Chris
McReynolds (playing his best game
this season) and another Rab free
left the score after twenty minutes
St Paul's 1-4 Saul 1-0. St Paul's
then had another fine spell resulting
in a goal from McT and points from
Rab (2) and Conor to a single Saul
point which left the half-time score
St Paul's 2-7 Saul 1-1.
Paul Conlon's half-time team talk
reminded everyone that Saul had come
back from 9 points down in our last
match with them, the defence were
instructed to tighten up and it was
decided that we should go all out
to build on our lead. Stevie was obviously
listening and within minutes of the
restart he had another fierce drive
in the back of the Saul net. However
this was quickly cancelled out when
a defensive mix-up resulting in an
own goal. Rab then hit back with a
point from a free and with Chris Whelan
coming forward more frequently a period
of intense St Paul's pressure resulted
in the ball ending up in the Saul
net when a hurried clearance struck
one of their players and rebounded
past the goal-keeper. Saul then had
two points with further point from
Rab to leave the score with 10 minutes
to go St Paul's 4-9 Saul 2-3. Kris
had an attempt to point which might
have counted in Australian rules but
didn't trouble the scorer here! Kev
also impressed with his unorthodox
method of getting the ball, waiting
for his opponent to jump and catch
the ball and then quickly knocking
it out of his hands and getting it
into his forward colleagues.
Nerves along the sideline were on
edge as Adrian Horan counted down
the remaining time, whilst out on
the park the defence, with Tony handling
everything superbly and ably marshalled
by Desi, with the Williams brothers
cutting out many dangerous Saul attacks
restricted them to two points which
were in turn cancelled out by further
points from McT and Stevie. Ryan and
Greg kept the Saul corner forwards
in check until Greg whose knee had
been troubling him from before half
time was forced to go off with 15
minutes to go. Conor McMullan moved
back to cover and Daniel Leabody came
on in the left corner. It's not true
that Greg came off to have an extra
15 minutes to chat up Carla!!
The team, mentors and supporters were
estatic when the final whistle went
and St Paul's had won their first
set of medals. Everyone crowded into
the dressing room to hear Martin Fitzsimons,
East Down Board Chairman, applaud
the winners display and present the
medals. Martin reminded the team that
they were the future of St Paul's
club and wished them well for the
future. Result: St. Paul's 4-11 Saul
2-5
Well done to everyone for great displays
this season and best wishes to those
who want to try their luck with the
seniors and to those who will form
the backbone of the U-16 team.
St Paul's;Tony Galbraith, Greg Walls,
Desi Fusco, Ryan Hughes, Ciaran Williams,
Chris Whelan, Chris Williams, Conor
McElroy, Rab White (Capt.) Chris McReynolds,
Stevie Horan, Kevin Hinds, Kris McWilliams,
Daniel McTiernan, Conor McMullan.
Subs Daniel Leabody and Ronan Pedan.
By
Michael McIlroy.
