End of the adventure

Profile by Jimmy Geoghegan Updated: Wednesday, 24th March, 2010 5:00pm

St Brendan's, Killarney 3-7 St Patrick's CS 0-10

Darragh Maguire of St Pat's and Tomas Moriarty of St Brendan's in action during Sunday's All-Ireland Colleges' SFC semi-final at Nenagh.

Finally, after all the effort, the comebacks, the last-minute goals, the adventures of St Patrick's CS, Navan came to an end when they lost out to St Brendan's, Killarney in the All-Ireland Colleges SFC semi-final on Sunday.

The Leinster champions had arrived at Nenagh hopeful of making it to another Hogan Cup decider.

By half-time, when they trailed by 0-3 to 2-5 those hopes were all but dashed and it was apparent it would take something really special to salvage their ambitions. During the opening half St Brendan's had demonstrated that they were a well-drilled, strong and skilful side all-too-capable of turning possession into scores.

And when the Munster side netted a third goal in the opening minutes of the second-half a difficult assignment became mission impossible

As they had shown time and again in their previous outings this year St Pat's don't give up easily.

They produced a spirited second-half display in the pleasant, summer-like conditions at the Tipperary venue. They just lacked the cutting edge needed to conjure a goal or two that would really have made the closing stages interesting.

A few statistics from the game say a lot about how the afternoon unfolded for the Navan side.

Only once did St Pat's lead and that was for a brief spell in the opening minutes when Shane Barry slotted over a free on seven minutes.

St Brendan's response produced two quick-fire points from their eagle-eyed half-forward Christopher O'Leary, both from '45s'.

Gradually St Brendan's took a grip on proceedings moving the ball about with a purpose and tempo that had the St Pat's defence under constant pressure and at times chasing shadows.

It is also revealing that St Pat's could only manage two points from play. The first in the 38th minute when Shane Gillespie and Alan Forde were involved in working the ball to Fiachra McEntee close to the sideline. He displayed a pacy turn of speed, cut inside and delivered a stinging drive that looked destined for the net. However, it appeared to get a touch and was diverted over the bar.

A few minutes later a Conor Sheridan effort from a '45' was blocked, the ball eventually broke to Gillespie who slotted over.

Gillespie, who was an influential presence in the second-half, registered five points after the break, three frees and a sweetly-struck sideline.

Unlike previous outings, St Pat's struggled to get a firm foothold in midfield. That meant the forwards had little possession to work from, particularly in the opening half when they played against a stiff breeze.

Another factor was the resolute St Brendan's defence who, urged out by team manager and Kerry All-Star Paul Galvin, gave nothing away. Any opening St Pat's carved out had to be done the hard way.

It all combined to ensure that only three of the St Pat's players troubled the scorekeeper.

Galvin cut a smouldering presence in the second-half as he paced up and down the sideline with a TV camera following him, for the purpose of a documentary.

He looked a agitated man for much of that second-half as St Pat's used the breeze at their backs to put together a series of attacks to steadily whittle down Killarney's commanding half-time advantage.

The closest they got was four points, 0-10 to 3-5 with eight minutes remaining. The Leinster champions just couldn't find an extra gear or more specifically they were unable to find a way through for the goal or two they badly need.

Instead it was the Kerry side who finished off the scoring when their substitute David O'Sullivan swept over two points, one from a free.

It says a lot about the St Pat's spirit that they didn't succumb to the tanking that looked to be their fate when they conceded two goals in that lob-sided opening half.

Both goals were scored by O'Leary. The first on 17 minutes when St Brendan's forward Bryan O'Shea, nephew of former Kerry manager Pat O'Shea, was brought down in the square by St Pat's full-back Conor Finnegan. There was no argument, it was a clear penalty and O'Leary neatly tucked the ball high and to the left of Ciaran Flynn.

Four minutes later Shaun Keane crossed from the right and this time O'Leary deftly touched the ball to the net from close range.

And when Jeff O'Donoghue waltzed through the statuesque St Pat's defence just after the break to fire home his team's third goal you suspected that a big defeat was on the cards.

St Pat's dug deep and reeled off a series of scores from Gillespie, Barry and McEntee to at least make the afternoon interesting.

A number of switches were made by the St Pat's management to little effect. At one stage Gillespie moved outfield while Cormac Noonan did a stint at full-forward. Other permutations were used.

At least the Leinster champions had made the scoreline respectable looking at the final whistle. At one stage it looked like even that would be beyond them.

St Brendan's, Killarney - D Gleeson; E O'Sullivan, S McCarthy, C Davies; D O'Leary, C Tobin, C Fitzgerald; P Lucey (0-1), G O'Leary; T Moriarty, B Falvey (0-1), C O'Leary (2-2); B O'Shea, S Keane, J O'Donoghue (1-1). Subs - D O'Sullivan (0-2) for Falvey 48 mins; G O'Leary for D O'Leary 58 m; C Horan for Moriarty 59m.

St Patrick's CS, Navan - Ciaran Flynn; Colin Wickham, Conor Finnegan, Ciaran McConnell; Niall Groome, Darragh Maguire, Liam Bourke; Conor Sheridan, Shane Barry (0-4); Cormac Noonan, Alan Forde, Paddy Fox; Fiachra Ross, Shane Gillespie (0-5), Fiachra McEntee (0-1). Subs - Ciaran Fitzsimons for Groome 40 mins; Brian Dillon for McEntee 48 m; Niall Coughlan for Noonan 54m.

Referee - Maurice Condon. (Waterford).