Martin goal crucial as Moate CS reach Leinster final
Leinster PP Schools Senior Football ‘A’ Championship semi-final
Moate Community School 2-10 St Mel’s, Longford 0-15
Gerry Buckley reports
Moate Community School are just an hour away from the holy grail of garnering the Bro. Bosco Cup for the first time after a very hard-earned win against St Mel’s, Longford in The Downs this afternoon.
The four-time Hogan Cup winners had the aid of a useful wind in the first half, but it was the Moate lads who got off to a dream start with a second-minute goal to edge ahead by 1-0 to 0-1. A strong run from the very impressive David O’Reilly ended with his shot coming back off the butt of the post, and Caolan Hussey had the misfortune to deflect the ball into the net.
However, with Matthew Carey prominent at midfield and Matthew Flynn deadly from placed balls and also accurate in open play, St Mel’s took control in most sectors and deserved to go in at the break with a five-point lead (0-11 to 1-3).
The sides were on level terms (1-9 to 0-12) with 49 minutes on the clock, by which stage the winners had spurned two great goal opportunities.
However, there was to be no denying them a second green flag of the afternoon in the 50th minute when Conaire Martin found the net from point-blank range, availing of fine approach work by Ronan Murray and Tiernan O’Donovan.
Flynn replied with a hat-trick of converted frees to tie up the scoring by the 58th minute. In the first minute of added-time, Eoin Bracken brought his tally to five points by slotting over a 30-metre free which ultimately proved the winner.
With time almost up, Flynn had the chance to force extra-time, but his first mishit free of the contest enabled the large band of Moate supporters to breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Moate Community School will now face either Coláiste Choilm, Tullamore or reigning All-Ireland champions Naas CBS in the Leinster final.
Scorers – Moate CS: D O’Reilly 1-3 (0-1f), E Bracken 0-5 (4f), C Martin 1-0, T O’Donovan and P McLoughlin 0-1 each. St Mel’s: M Flynn 0-12 (9f), M Carey 0-2, G Farrelly 0-1.
Moate Community School: James Mitchell; Tom Gorman, Donal Shirley, Aodhan Curran; Adam Daly, Adam Keane, Cathal Guinan; Eoin Bracken, Padraig McLoughlin; Daragh Lowry, Conaire Martin, Tiernan O’Donovan; David O’Reilly, Conor Fox, Ronan Murray. Subs used: Dean O’Neill for McLoughlin (60 + 3), Aaron Murphy for O’Donovan (inj., 60 + 5).
St Mel’s, Longford: Caolan Hussey; Conor Smith, Adam Donnelly, Gavin Farrelly; Cormac Harte, Ross Shields, James Connell; Matthew Carey, Jonathan Burke; Andrew Flynn, Matthew Flynn, Ronan Courtney; Michael Flynn, Harry Mulvihill, Paddy Moran. Subs used: Jack Belton for Mulvihill (h-t), Kevin Baskett for Harte (53).
Referee: David Sweeney (Dublin).