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Sat 26th Sep 2009
DE LA SALLE HAVE SEMI FINAL SPOT IN SIGHT
by Kevin Herron
De La Salle College 4-12, Our Lady and St.Patrick’s College, Knock 4-10
It was the mother of all fight backs! De La Salle College came back from the dead in this game, played at Sarsfield’s Park, to claim a vital win in their push for a spot in the last four of the BT Mageean Cup.
Going a goal behind in the opening minutes, La Salle was soon level, when Anton Taylor’s cross was flicked to the net by Daireann Flynn. The game got into full swing soon afterwards and scores were traded between both sides, although the turning point in the first half came when La Salle’s Conall Morgan found the net to give the West Belfast side a 2-7 to 1-7 advantage at halftime.
Our Lady and St. Patrick’s College came out at the beginning of the second half with a greater hunger and two back to back goals turned the game on its head! Although, to the credit of De La Salle their ‘never say die attitude’ paid dividends, when Daireann Flynn, Anton Taylor and Terry Mc Crudden brought De La Salle back to within a goal of the opposition. It was end to end, hard fought hurling at this stage and with only ten minutes remaining in the game, it was Daireann Flynn who once again found the net to level the game at 3-10 to 4-7. Knock edged ahead, hitting two quality points, with minutes remaining on the clock.
In what can only be described as a dramatic finish, a late Daireann Flynn goal attempt was denied by the Knock ‘keeper. It looked like Knock would hold on to their lead, but La Salle’s anchor man Aaron Mc Aufield had other ideas. He picked the ball up, drove it the length of the pitch and found an unmarked Ryan O’ Neill, who kept cool and rifled it high to the net, to give La Salle a 4-11 to 4-10 lead. A further La Salle point was struck by Daireann Flynn before the whistle was sounded, much to the relief of the De La Salle College management, players and supporters.
De La Salle Scorers:
Daireann Flynn (2-2), Conall Morgan (1-4), Ryan O’Neill (1-2), Brian Curran (0-1), Hugh Connor (0-1), Anton Taylor (0-1), Terry Mc Crudden (0-1)
Submitted by: R. Gatt
