St Patrick’s 3
Colga 2
BY ALAN DOOLEY
St Patrick’s caused an upset of sorts on Sunday morning at West Park when defeating Colga in the FAI Junior Cup. Given their run in the same competition last year and Colga’s dismal run of form to date in the Premier, it was maybe no surprise that the First Division side came out on top in this encounter.
A lot of games fell foul of the weather this weekend, and this game nearly didn’t come to pass as both sides turned up in matching blue kits. Thankfully, St Patrick’s generously offered to turn their jersies inside out and referee Pat Barry was more than grateful to get the game underway.
A frenzied opening quarter saw the sides level at a goal apiece as St Patrick’s took an early lead through Enda Heneghan. They had already gone close through Ronan Connolly in the second minute, but Heneghan made no mistake following a defensive lapse from Colga.
The Premier Division side responded well to the concession, though, and lanky striker Dermot Mulrooney had two efforts well saved by ‘keeper Philip Skelly in the fifth minute. The early action was far from over as Leo Greaney had a chance on the break for St Patrick’s but failed to connect with Ronan Connolly’s cross.
The sides were back level in the 11th minute when Gary Forde, with the aid of the stiff breeze, cracked in a shot from a direct free kick and Skelly was unfortunate to see the ball squirm through his grasp and end up in the top right hand corner.
Rory Glynn then went narrowly wide as St Patrick’s forced a number of corners to no avail. Enda Connolly tried his luck from distance but was wide before a fortunate ricochet off the head of striker Cathal Connolly set up Mulrooney but Skelly atoned for his error by pushing the ball behind for a corner.
Although St Patricks were playing the better brand of football, Colga were now beginning to take control thanks to their dominance of the aerial battles as centre half James McDonnell began to impose himself on the game. Goalscorer Forde came close to doubling his tally when his clever one-two saw him bear down on goal, but he was denied twice by some heroic defending before blasting the second rebound over the bar.
At the other end David Lee, who impressed throughout in the middle of the park, volleyed over before Forde smacked a volley off the frame of the goal on the stroke of half time.
An early second-half save by Colga ‘keeper Paul Collins kept the scores level, as Colga’s long ball threat dissipated thanks to the stiffening wind they were now playing into. It took until the 70th minute, though, for the lead goal to come, and when it did there was a large slice of luck about it.
Rory Glynn took an inswinging corner from the left hand side and, although there appeared to be enough defenders in the area to clear, they were indecisive and allowed the low ball to creep in at the front post, much to the chagrin of Collins.
Five minutes later the tie seemed over when Kevin Heneghan headed in Connolly’s right wing cross, but there was to be an anxious last 10 minutes in store for them when Gary Forde converted a penalty. Substitute Shane Bohan denied David Coen a shooting chance with a great tackle to preserve their lead, while Coen did get a shot away in the last minute but it ended up in Skelly’s grateful arms.
St Patrick’s: Philip Skelly; Padraic Reilly, Padraic Cunningham, JJ Greaney, David Geraghty (Shane Bohan, 65 ); Kevin Heneghan, David Lee, Enda Heneghan, Ronan Connolly (Barry McCabe, 75 ); Leo Greaney, Rory Glynn.
Colga: Paul Collins; Marcus Flaherty, James McDonnell, Robert O’Grady, Darren Healy; Maurice Finn (David Coen, 55 ), Alan Biard, Enda Connolly, Gary Forde; Dermot Mulrooney (Gregory Navarro, 62 ), Cathal Connolly.
Referee: Pat Barry.
