St. Patricks 5-7 Grangemockler 0-7

At Clonmel yesterday evening St. Pats U21s footballers claimed the county title. A great start to the year for the club, congratulations must be given to the players who gave a committed display throughout the championship.

Clonmel sportsfield was awash with sunshine yesterday but there was also a strong biting breeze into the town end. Pats played into the breeze in the first half, so the half time scoreline was going to be interesting. One would have said that the breeze was worth 3 points. Grangemockler got the first score and in general had the majority of play in the first 10 minutes. Remember it is 13 a side in this competition so there was a lot of pace around both inside lines. Pats made some forays up the field and eventually picked up their first score. Grangemockler were still in the ascendancy tagging on 3 more scores to put the 4 to 1 up.  Pats were defending reasonably well, with Eamonn Needham and Willie O’Brien doing well in the inside line which was crucial.

The best score of the game came next from St. Pats, with Tommy Hayes winning the ball in his own full backline, it was worked through a number of Pats hands up the field at pace ending up with Mark Mullaly kicking a fine score to keep Pats in touch. The next key moment was when Grangemockler got in one on one with Pats goalkeeper Marcus O’ Halloran; a great save from Marcus denied them the green flag. Goals are important in these 13 a side games so this save kept Grangemockler within range.

Even though there were 2 points to four down, we were struggling to gain possession in midfield. Nicky Kearney was moved from center forward to midfield and this was the difference as he went on to give a man of the match display. As the half came to a close Pats put the pressure on and after a number of missed attempts captain Gaving Strappe fired a great shot to the top corner with his left leg. Tony O’Brien soon followed up with another goal. These goals were a massive tonic to the Drangan and Clonneen lads with put them 4 points to the good going in at half time after playing against a strong breeze.

Grangemockler started the second half well and similar to the first put pressure on Pats for the first 10 minutes. They picked off two points to keep the game in the melting pot. Eventually Pats settled and got back on top and traded points with Grangemockler, Tony O Brien kicking a good free and also a good score from play. The Pats captain Gavin Strappe got sent off for a second yellow. This gave Grangemockler a life line, but as has been seen numerous times the team with a man down, from some reason, kicked on and produced the goods. Tony O’Brien moved out to centre forward and started to be very influential. Partnered with N Kearney coming through the middle from midfield, the game really opened up for Pats; Mark Mullaly bagging one goal and Nicky picking up two more, the game was essentially over. Robbie Maher also came through from wing back to kick a great score with Mark Fitzgerald picking up another. Pats finished comfortably in the end but up to halfway through the second half it was a very competitive game.

Congrats to all the lads and mentors for a great championship win.

Team; M. O’Halloran, W.O’Brien, E. Needham, R. Maher, D. Barry, T. Hayes, G. Strappe(Capt), J. Moloney, M. Slattery, N. Kearney, M. Mullay, T. O’Brien, JP. Fitzgerald. Subs; M. Fitzgerald, K. O’Brien, J. Hickey, (Out injured – B. Gleeson, D. Riordan, N. Gleeson)

PS The Junior A football championship first round vs Newcastle scheduled for last Saturday was postponed, re-fixed for next Saturday evening.

On the bank holiday Monday, our U21 footballers play the County C Final against Grangemocler. Unfortunately there were no other C U21 teams outside of teh South, so in a sense its a repeat of the South championship which St. Pats won in March. A good number of our U21s will have played Junior on Saturday. Best of luck our footballers on Monday.

St. Pats 5-13 Fr. Sheehys 2-12

St. Pats have collected their first piece of silver ware for 2012, after an entertaining South C Final in Monroe yesterday. It was a free flowing game as the scoreline suggests.

Sheehys had the first score of the game playing against the wind. They held possession for the early stages and put pressure on the Pats defense. Eventually our lads got moving and Nicky Kearney picked off 3 points from play to give us the lead. Then the goals came, two from Tony O’Brien and one very well taken goal from B Gleeson. Sheehys got two goals back and both teams traded points. Pats went in at the break 6 points to the good.

Pats started well in the second half, kicking some fine scores. Mark Slattery goaled early and Pats pushed their lead out to 10 points. Unfortunately Damien Barry, who was playing well, picked up a second yellow so Pats were down to 12(as this is a 13 a side championship). Sheehys fought back but Pats kept tagging on the odd score to hold out comfortable winners.

Well done to the lads on a good win.

Team; M.O’Halloran, D. Riordan, E.Needham, JP Fitxgerald, W.O’Brien, R.Maher, D.Barry, J.Moloney, M.Mullaly, N.Kearney, M.Slattery, T.O’Brien, B.Gleeson, Subs; M.Fitzgerald, K.O’Brien, A.Maher, T.Hayes

Play St. Patricks Lotto here

]]> http://stpatsgaa.ie/2012/03/14/play-st-pats-gaa-lotto/feed/ 1 Imreoir lottoBalls http://stpatsgaa.ie/2012/03/14/u21-footballers-in-south-final/ http://stpatsgaa.ie/2012/03/14/u21-footballers-in-south-final/#comments Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:27:28 +0000 Imreoir http://stpatsgaa.ie/?p=726 ]]> St. Pats U21 footballers are in the South C final on next Monday, the Bank Holiday. It is fixed for Monroe at 2pm and the opposition is Fr. Sheehys. Its part of a double bill with the B final on also.

Our lads had wins over Clerihan and Grangemockler over the last number of weeks. Fr. Sheehys beat Grangemockler and received a walk-over from Clerihan. Sheeyhs beat Grangemockler comfortably where as the game between Pats and Grangemockler was closely contested. This would imply Sheehys going in as favourites.

Best of luck to the lads, silverware so early in the year would be a nice boost.

Hopefully our lads will kick the year off with a win. The U21 is played on a round robin this year which will ensure more games, even if in bad conditions.

The best of luck to all St. PAtricks teams, juvenile, ladies and mens for 2012, here’s hoping for a fruitful year.

The county Junior A hurling semi final as played yesterday in Clonmel, in glorious sunshine actually! Conditions were perfect for hurling especially for this time of year.

The game started with Rockwell picking up an early point and looking threatening around the Pats goal mouth. The South sides backs were struggling to clear their lines efficiently and this lead to the Rockwell midfield and half backs picking up lot of uncontested ball, from half hit clearences. A Rockwell goal came soon after, with Rockwell well on top after 10 mins. Then Tony O’Brien picked off a good point to get Pats off the mark. Rockwell responded with another point, and this was to be the pattern all day, when Pats tried to get close Rockwell done the necessary and tagged on another score. Rockwell got their second green flag after a number of mistakes in the Pats defense. Things were going from bad to worse at this stage, Pats after 20 mins had left themselves a significant hill to climb to get back into contention. Both teams traded scores over the next period. In the last 10 mins of the half the Drangan/Cloneen side got on top and it was possibly this period they will rue most!! Possibly 3 to 4 very, very good goal chances went a begging. The Rockwell inside backs looked frail and unfortunately our forwards didn’t captalise when the chances arose. The score finished 2-05 to 0-06 at half time.

The second half was mostly even, as far as scores were concerned, but not on the wides front, Pats won that one unfortunately! Not goal chances but point taking opportunities, from play and from placed balls, our lads failed to convert their chances. Rockwell on the other hand were very economical, when they came up the field, and when opportunities arose they took the majority of them. Pats battled throughout but as mentioned earlier, whenever they got a score of two, Rockwell came back with a point and also unfortunately the goal that we craved never came. In that sense the Rockwell rear guard held up well after a good deal of pressure throughout the second half.

So the year finishes up,  unfortunately without silverware. All the players must be thanked for the effort they gave over the year and the enjoyment they provided to all their supporters. Also a big thanks to the management for their time and effort throughout the year.

Team: J.Moroney, R.Needham, C.Dunne, D.Meagher, P.Horan, L.Brett, E.McCormack(Capt), C.Barry, S.Goery, T.O’Brien, A.Cronin, N.Gleeson, N.Kearney, R.McCormack, D.Molloy; Subs; J.Hayes for D.Molloy(HT), D.Barry for N.Kearney (45).

The County Junior A hurling quarter final was played on Saturday in Littleon in blustery conditions. It was a very enjoyable game for spectators as the lead ebbed and flowed between both teams throughout the hour, there was very little between both sides.

Loughmore played with the wind in the first half, which was considerable enough, possibly even with 4 points. The mid side started well and converted any frees which they got and lead 0-03 to 0-01 after 10 minutes. Pats came back into it, with Robbie McCormack hitting some very good free into the wind. The Pats half back line was standing firm under the long puck outs throughout the first half, this was a major factor. Pats had a few scares around the goal mouth before half time, but managed to keep a clean sheet and went in one point down at the interval, which they would have been very happy with.

The Drangan and Clonnen lads upped the pace at the start of the second. Neil Gleeson leveled the game after a few minutes with a very good score from the left wing. They then tagged on another score from Robbie McCormack to push them ahead. Our lads then went two up, the game was very competitive at this stage with both side totally committed. Loughmore dug in and brought it back to level with 10 minutes left. Then we got two goal chances, one of which was blazed wide, unfortunately. The game was nearing and end and L.Brett had a free from the half back line; he delivered it and Aron Cronin made a great catch and turned to slot it over. Loughmore fought back strongly but our lads matched it and held out for a deserved win. Best for Pats  on the day was P.Horan, both midfielders C.Barry and S.Gorey who between them got 3 points from play and A.Cronin who hurled a lot of ball and got the insurance score. A good day for our club that progresses us to the next day which will be the county semi final against Rockwell Rovers in Clonmel next Sunday, at 12:00.

Team: J.Moroney, R.Needham, C.Dunne, D.Meagher, P.Horan, L.Brett(Capt), E.McCormack, S.Gorey, C.Barry, T.O’Brien, A.Cronin, N.Gleeson, D.Barry, R.McCormack, N.Kearney; Subs D. Molloy for D.Barry, R.Maher, M.Slattery, J.Hayes, P.Moroney, E.Needham