Hodson Bay Hotel Group Roscommon SFC semi-final
Padraig Pearses 1-9 St Faithleach’s 0-3
The fact that this Roscommon Senior Football semi-final was a very poor game won’t bother Padraig Pearses, given that they easily swept aside the challenge of St Faithleach’s to qualify for the county final on Sunday week.
The conditions at Dr Hyde Park last Saturday certainly didn’t help facilitate good football as a very strong wind blew directly downfield towards the town goal. But in truth, St Faithleach’s never raised a gallop. In fact they weren’t allowed to do so by a very well drilled Pearses outfit.
Remarkably, the St Faithleach’s attacking stars Ciarán and Diarmuid Murtagh were held scoreless. The Ballyleague club’s return of just two points (one deep into injury-time) when playing with the elements in the second half tells its own story.
Pearses were in control from the opening exchanges. They had three points on the board after five minutes, with Eoin Colleran (free), Paul Carey and the very impressive Declan Kenny the scorers.
At that stage, it looked like Frank Canning’s men were going to run riot. However, the pace dropped after that. Although St Faithleach’s were enjoying a little bit more possession than earlier, they weren’t making any inroads on the Pearses defence. Adam McGreal pointed a mark from distance in the 10th minute. The Pearses’ scoring rate slowed, but when Jack Tumulty was on target in the 19th minute they were five points ahead.
For their part, St Faithleach’s were restricted to just a few half-chances. Kevin Farrell got their only score of the half in the 22nd minute, Paul Carey responding with a pointed free in the 29th minute. A forgettable half ended with Pearses ahead by 0-6 to 0-1.
There was a fleeting glimpse of what might have been on another day for St Faithleach’s early in the second half. Darren Nerney pointed in the 33rd minute and two minutes later Diarmuid Murtagh had a half-chance of a goal but the ball was cleared by the Pearses defence.
That was as good as it got for St Faithleach’s as Pearses assumed control once again. In the 43rd minute, Carey pointed from play into the wind. Three minutes later came the score that settled the issue as Declan Kenny made an incisive run through the heart of the St Faithleach’s defence before shooting low and hard past Alan Manning for the only goal of the game.
A Lorcan Daly point from play and another free from Paul Carey completed the agony for St Faithleach’s who could only manage a 64th minute point from Jonathan Hussey to add to their meagre total.
For St Faithleach’s, it was a day they will want to forget in a hurry. None of the swashbuckling football that we saw against Clann na nGael in the quarter-final was in evidence last Saturday in Hyde Park. Connell Kennelly, Mikey Dunne and Ciarán Murtagh were probably their best players on the day.
Padraig Pearses will be delighted with their emphatic win. Despite the poor quality of the game, it is clear that they will be extremely hard to beat in the decider. They are an excellent championship team with an ideal blend of youth and experience, the type of ingredients a team needs on the big day. They have good players on every line of the field and a strong bench too.
Declan Kenny, who has been having a great championship, was again their stand-out performer. Niall Carty, Niall Daly, Paul Carey, Conor Daly and substitute Sean Canning were also excellent on the day.
Padraig Pearses: Paul Whelan; Gavin Downey, Niall Carty, David Murray; Declan Kenny (1-1), Caelim Keogh, Conor Harley; Conor Ryan, Niall Daly; Conor Daly, Ronan Daly, Adam McGreal (0-1, mark); Eoin Colleran (0-1, free), Paul Carey (0-4, 3 frees), Jack Tumulty (0-1). Subs used: Sean Canning for Colleran (44), Lorcan Daly (0-1) for Harley (49), Jack Nevin for Tumulty (54), Conor Lohan for Downey (54), Mark Richardson for McGreal (57).
St Faithleach’s: Alan Manning; Kevin Farrell (0-1), Paddy Farrell, Karl Nerney; James Browne, Darren Nerney (0-1), Mikey Dunne; Connell Kennelly, Cian Glennon; Jonathan Hussey, Ciarán Murtagh, Cathal Gunn; Diarmuid Murtagh, Dave Rooney, James Murray. Subs used: Brian Murtagh for J Hussey (45), David Harrison for Dunne (47), Aidan Dooney for Rooney (51), Darragh Hussey for Manning (52), Jonathan Hussey (0-) for Murray (55).
Referee: Ian Monaghan.
Man of the Match
Declan Kenny (Padraig Pearses)
