| St.
Louis Claim Ulster Semi-final Spot - 18/10/03
B.T. Ulster Colleges Herald Cup Quarter-final
St. Louis
Grammar School, Kilkeel 4-14
St. Malachy's College, Belfast 0-10
St. Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel, eased their way into the semi-final of the
BT Ulster 'B' Colleges Herald Cup (the 'B' Colleges equivalent of the Ranafast
Cup) with a convincing victory over the challenge of St. Malachy's College, Belfast.
However easy the victory may appear on the scoreboard, the Kilkeel school had
to fight hard for all their possession and scores. Injuries were sustained to
Fergal Doyle, Gerard McCartan and Martin Clarke, which may give St. Louis coach
Steven McVeigh some cause for concern with a semi-final meeting with St. Patrick's
High School, Keady coming as soon as next week-end.
Played in glorious
Autumnal sunshine, on a fine St. Patrick's Park pitch in Newcastle, St. Louis
looked very focused from the throw-in. Two points from Martin Clarke and one from
Luke Toner, set the scene well for the game. St. Malachy's responded with two
points hard earned from frees. With Gerard McCartan and Hugh Magee well on top
in the midfield area, St. Malachy's struggled to get any quality ball to their
forward line. Any attacks, which did get through were ably dealt with by Eamon
Kelly, John Fitzpatrick and Luke Byrne.
A point from Hugh Magee should
have set the alarm bells off in the Belfast defence as a period of relentless
pressure saw the Kilkeel attack squander a number of goal chances. A single point
from Peter Fiztpatrick was a poor return for such pressure. With Fergal Doyle
and Andrew Sloan pushing forward a few gaps began to appear in the Kilkeel defence,
as the full back line became exposed, especially on the Belfast counter-attack.
Poor finishing from St. Malachy's did little to help their cause as a number of
rather straight forward opportunities sailed frustratingly wide of the Kilkeel
posts. However, the confident athleticism of Colm Curran in the Kilkeel goals
kept the Belfast attack at bay.
The Kilkeel breakthrough came after twenty
minutes as the relentless attacking of Martin Clarke paid off as he slotted in
a fine goal and followed it up with two points, one of which came from a free.
St. Louis continued the pressure and after missed opportunities form Fitzpatrick
and Chris Morgan, the cool play of corner forward John Magee ensured a second
goal for the Mourne school. Two points came from the Belfast school just before
the half-time whistle in a valiant attempt to get back into the game. This left
the half-time score-line reading; St. Louis 2-7, St. Malachy's 0-4.
The
second half proved a closer affair for most of its duration, with St. Malachy's
gaining more possession and making better use of their forward players. The early
encounters were very evenly matched as the Kilkeel defence had to play a lot harder
to quell the spirited Belfast revival. Good blocking from Andrew Sloan and a few
excellent saves from Colm Curran ensured that scores were minimal amongst the
St. Malachy's forwards. Two points were conceded before the Kilkeel attack got
back into its stride as Martin Clarke scored two points to add to another from
Peter Fitzpatrick. After twelve minutes of fairly balanced possession Kilkeel
got another breakthrough. A goal bound Luke Toner shot was well saved by the St.
Malachy's goal-keeper, but the predatory instincts of John Magee were apparent
as the Attical forward punched in the rebound to break the hearts of the Belfast
lads.
Further points from Luke Toner (2) saw Kilkeel dominate this game,
but not without a cost. St. Malachy's continued to contest every ball with great
determination and injuries were sustained to Fergal Doyle, Gerard McCartan and
Martin Clarke.
Their replacements, Christopher Killen, Liam Harper, Kevin
Quinn played well as did James Clerkin, returning after being out with an injury
sustained earlier in the competition. Three more points were well earned by St.
Malachy's, but with his last kick his game, before being substituted, Martin Clarke
cracked home a fantastic goal from an acute angle.
St. Louis coach Steven
McVeigh was relieved to hear Ned Morgan blow his final whistle, if only to save
any further injuries to his players. However, this game was played in a fine,
sporting manner, by players who were fully committed to furthering their participation
in this year's competition. St. Louis now go forward to meet the holders and favourites
for this years Herald Cup, St. Patrick's High School, Keady, to be played in Newry
on Thursday or Friday of this week. This game should prove to be a thriller, as
it brings together last years finalists, who have already met this year with the
outcome being a draw.
St. Louis;
Colm Curran (Bryansford), Damien
Sherry (An Riocht), John Fitzpatrick (Ballymartin), Luke Byrne (Bryansford), Andrew
Sloan (Atticall), Eamon Kelly (Rostrevor), Fergal Doyle (An Riocht), Gerard McCartan
(Rostrevor), Hugh Magee (Longstone) 0-1, Martin Clarke (An Riocht Cpt ) 2-7, Luke
Toner (Castlewellan) 0-4, Peter Fitzpatrick (Ballymartin) 0-2, Christopher Morgan
(Atticall), Patrick Bourke (Rostrevor), John Magee (Atticall) 2-0 .
Subs;
Liam O'Hare (Ballymartin), Christopher Killen (An Riocht), Ryan O'Hare (Ballymartin),
Ryan Sloan (Atticall), Liam Harper (An Riocht), Conor Fitzpatrick (Ballymartin),
Kevin Quinn (Atticall), Michael Hardy (An Riocht), Allen Murney (An Riocht).
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