ACFL Division 4

St Josephs 2-11 Milltownpass 2-05

Three wins from three outings in the league maintains our fine start to 2023 as we overcame Milltownpass on Saturday 4th March in a competitive game. Though we finished winners by a six point margin, the game was up for grabs as St Josephs held a slender 1-10 to 2-05 lead with the match into its final 10 minutes. A sweeping move which saw Dean Slevin clinically finish to the net with six minutes remaining settled the issue as we finished off the match strongly. St Josephs started the match well with two points apiece by Dean Slevin and Jordan Mc Donnell had us 0-4 to 0-1 in front inside the first five minutes. The rate of scoring dried up somewhat after the initial burst but further points from Ben Mc Donnell and Jordan Mc Donnell had St Josephs 0-6 to 0-1 ahead by the 18th minute. Milltownpass got their second point of the game from a free in the 20th minute but te opening goal came in the 22nd minute when Niall Moran blasted home from close range after the Milltownpass goalkeeper had palmed out a ball off the crossbar. It left St Josephs 1-6 to 0-2 in front and with the next two points the lead stood at 1-08 to 0-2 with half time approaching. Milltownpass goaled with the final play of the half when their number 13 gathered a long delivery and finished smartly past leaving James Kenny little chance in our goals. St Josephs led by 1-8 to 1-2 at half time. A strong start to the second half where points by Andy Conway and Noah Mc Donnell put eight between the sides as St Josephs stretched ahead by 1-10 to 1-02. The home side needed a response and they did in impressive fashion. A point from play was followed by a goal inside a two minute spell and when they pointed again in the 10th minute of the second half, our lead was down to three points at 1-10 to 2-4. A ten minute period where neither side scored was ended with a Milltownpass point in the 20th minute as they came within two points of parity. Next score was always going to be vital and it fell our direction with Dean Slevin’s goal in the 24th Minute and the games final score went to Dylan Mc Donnell in the 25th minute of the half. A good win which maintains our great start to the season with strong competition for places. A lot of players who have made their debuts in recent weeks and all have performed well showing their continued promise coming up from the underage ranks. A couple of players have picked up knocks in the past two games with Andy Scally out for a few weeks following a knock against Tyrrelpass last week and Aaron Mc Donnell who picked up an injury in todays game. Hopefully both players will be back quickly.

Team: James Kenny,Eoin Kelly,Thomas Conlon,Brian Fitzgerald,Brian Keegan,Jake Gannon,Andy Conway(0-1),Aaron Mc Donnell,Noah Mc Donnell(0-1),Dean Slevin(1-2),Daniel Keegan,Pearse Weir Norris,Ben Mc Donnell(0-1),Niall Moran(1-0),Jordan Mc Donnell(0-5). Substitutes introduced; Ross Elliffe for Daniel Keegan,Dylan Mc Donnell(0-1) for Niall Moran, Jamie Mc Donnell for Pearse Weir Norris, Josh Gannon for Aaron Mc Donnell(injured)