| Honours
Even as St. Louis Qualify for Ulster Quarter-final - 29/05/03
B.T. Ulster Colleges Herald Cup
St. Louis Grammar School,
Kilkeel 3-05
St. Patrick's High School, Keady 1-11 By
Steven McVeigh, St Louis Kilkeel
St. Louis Kilkeel and St. Pat's Keady
have served up many a fine game in recent meeting in Ulster Colleges football,
so this Herald Cup qualifying match proved no exception. Played in fine conditions
in Newry, these two rival colleges fought hard for the points, but the end result
of a draw was perhaps the fairest outcome on the day.
It was Keady who
started the more lively, as the notched up three early points without reply. The
Kilkeel school were struggling to get into their stride, but the inevitable influence
of Martin Clarke soon began to show. A fine solo run from his own half back line
saw Clarke lay off a well time ball to Patrick Bourke who blasted the ball into
the roof of the Keady net. Clarke then added a point before Keady replied with
two points on the counter-attack to regain the lead.
The game was settling
down to a real battle in the mid-field area, until Martin Clarke scored a fine
individual goal to put St. Louis in command. However, the closely marked Clarke
was receiving some over enthusiastic attention from the Keady defence and yellow
cards were issued as the referee restored calm to the proceedings. Clarke added
another point from a free, which Keady replied with the same. A second goal just
before the whistle sent St. Louis into the break with the score reading, St. Louis
3-03, Keady 0-06.
The second half began with a clear spell of dominance
by the Kilkeel school. With the mid-field pair of Gerard McCartan and Hugh Magee
dominating, the Mourne forwards were receiving a lot of quality ball. Luke Toner
and Peter Fitzpatrick looked very comfortable as they set about tormenting the
Keady defence. However, the game was turned on its head with an incident which
resulted in a second yellow card for Martin Clarke. Kilkeel spent the rest of
the game defending their lead.
Keady began to pile on the pressure during
the final twenty minutes and the Kilkeel defence were heroic in their efforts.
The Mourne school managed to get two points on the counter-attack and could have
wrapped up the contest but for a glaring miss which should have resulted in a
goal. As Keady were pounding away relentlessly at the Mourne defence, the Kilkeel
lads conceded a penalty, which was well executed giving Colm Curran no chance.
This proved to be the last score of the game and Keady would probably view the
outcome as a missed opportunity, whilst the Kilkeel school would view it as a
let off. However, the Kilkeel team showed that they were not a one-man team as
others rose bravely to the needs of their team when the chips were down.
St. Louis Team;
Colm Curran (Bryansford), Kevin Quinn (Atticall), John
Fitzpatrick (Ballymartin), Luke Byrne (Bryansford), Andrew Sloan (Atticall) 0-1,
Eamon Kelly (Rostrevor), Fergal Doyle (An Riocht), Gerard McCartan (Rostrevor),
Hugh Magee (Longstone), Martin Clarke (An Riocht) 1-2, Luke Toner (Castlewellan)
0-2, Peter Fitzpatrick (Ballymartin), Christopher Morgan (Atticall), Patrick Bourke
(Rostrevor) 2-0, John Magee (Atticall)
Subs; Christopher Killen (An Riocht),
Liam Harper (An Riocht), Ryan O'Hare (Ballymartin), Ryan Sloan (Atticall), Allen
Murney (An Riocht), Liam O'Hare (Ballymartin), Michael Hardy (An Riocht), Damien
Sherry (An Riocht), James Clerkin (Rostrevor), Conor Fitzpatrick (Ballymartin).
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