Wicklow Junior A Football St Pats vs Shillelagh/Coolboy

 Junior A Football Championship 

St Patrick’s 1-8

Shillelagh / Coolboy 4-10

Eoin Horkan

Pearse Park 

A couple of well-timed goals saw Shillelagh/Coolboy come out victorious on Sunday afternoon in Arklow.

After both sides missed a number of early chances inside the first eight minutes. A goal was the first score of the game as Conor Clinton finished expertly for the south Wicklow side. The opposition managed to narrow the gap when Padge McWalter rolled back the years to raise a white flag. Just before the midway point of the half Brandon Rossiter split the posts to put the gap back out to a goal. Playing against the wind the side in maroon pushed forward lead by Conor Byrne who slotted over before rattling the back of the net just before the twenty-minute mark. A follow up effort from Eddie Cullen had looked like it put the tie out of Pats reach but they had other ideas. With eight left on the clock Stephen Johnson Barker raised an orange flag before his team mate Jack Dunne did the same moments later in between a minor from Finlay Nolan With the final play of the half the Wicklow town side were awarded a penalty which was converted by  Jamie Owens to leave a goal between the sides at the break after a final effort from Cullen.

It was Shillelagh/ Coolboy who used the breeze to advantage early in the second half hitting a purple patch early in the half. The first score came from the boot of Brendan Behan before Rossiter doubled his tally for the game. These two early scores were cancelled out as Owens managed to judge the wind expertly to raise an orange flag. The next ten minutes all the scores came from the opposition as Ciaran Lambert fired over a forty-five before PJ Mulhall added two strikes to his tally with ten minutes left in this tie. A final effort from Meath man Owens had narrowed the gap and stemmed the tide slightly. Just as the final whistle loomed Eddie Cullen managed to rattle the back of the net twice in the final two plays to ensure victory for his side.

St Patrick’s: Ian Murphy;Alfie Doyle,Ken O’ Grady,Cillian Rice;Chris Kavanagh,Ciaran Matthews,Dani Salazar;Cormac Byrne,Stephen Johnson Baker(0-2);Sam Culleton,Ronan Murray,Will Farrell; Padge McWalter(0-1),Jack Dunne(0-2), Jamie Owens(1-3 1 2p 1 pen).

Subs Used: Alex Dunne for Ronan Murray,Jack Colaluca for Padge McWalter, Jack Neville for Alfie Doyle,Chris Smit for Jamie Owens, Joe Culleton for Chris Kavanagh.

Shillelagh / Coolboy: Cathal Fitzsimmons;Killian O’Keefe,Lee Dagge,Ruairí O’ Brien;Jonathan Smyth, Aaron Kinsella,Finlay Nolan(0-1); Dan Nolan;Ciaran Lamber (0-1)t;Brandon Rossiter(0-2), PJ Mulhall(0-2),Eddie Cullen(2-2);Conor Byrne(1-1),Brendan Behan(0-1), Conor Clinton(1-0).

Subs Used: Cathal Murphy for Conor Clinton, Callum Paterson for Jonathan Smyth, Wayne Kinsella for Conor Byrne.

Referee Barry O’ Dononvan