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Fri 26th Mar 2010
Red High 3-8 St.Pius X 1-8.
The boys from Downpatrick got their Brock Cup campaign of to the ideal start, securing maximum points in the encounter with St. Pius X in Musgrave on Friday afternoon. The game was won with much hard graft from St. Patricks with the mid-field duo of Sean Cochrane and Anthony Doherty playing out of their skins, sweeping up ball after ball to feed into the skilful forward line lead by Conor O’Neill in full forward.
The game started with a St. Pius X point, which saw them take an early advantage, but this lead was to be short lived with a quick pass and go move up the field St. Patricks hit back with a well taken goal from Conor O’Neill. From that moment on the Red High never looked back. Points were exchanged from Gary Straney (2), Conor McGrady and Aroan McClements to give Downpatrick a 1-4 to 0-1 lead. St. Pius hit back with two more points. A free-kick some 40 yards out saw towering mid-fielder Anthony Doherty drive a superb long range effort goal wards, the St. Pius defence were in confusion and with a lucky bounce the ball ended up in the net. Another two points were added on to the St. Patrick’s scoreboard to leave it 2-6 to 0-3 at half time.
The second half began with St. Pius applying immense pressure on the Red High’s defence, taking a couple more points despite St. Patrick’s full back Peter Cochrane making vital last ditch tackles and retaining some superb possession; he was ably assisted by Philip Martin’s calm reading of the game. St. Pius came close on a number of occasions to narrowing the gap but Red High’s Keeper Joe McClements was equal to all shots making some fine saves in the process of keeping the Downpatrick team in front. Relentless pressure came in waves and St. Patrick’s cracked despite best efforts from Anthony Tilley and Callum Mahoney. Another pointed free followed to narrow the score to 2-6 to 1-6. A well taken point from Gary Straney ended a spell of unease for the Downpatrick men. St. Pius added another point, which was closely followed by a long ball played in by Ryan Murdock to see Conor O’Neill steal yet another goal. Play ebbed and flowed for a while with the Red High carving some magnificent passages of play but had nothing to show for their efforts. A quick thinking move by Gareth O’Neill was started with a sharp ball to Doherty who released Conor O’Neill again, but it was to see Conor fire straight at the keeper who parried over. St. Pius finished with the last point of the day right at the death. Final score 3-8 to 1-8.
C. O’Neill 2-1, C. McGrady 0-2, G. Straney 0-4, A. Doherty 1-0, A. McClements 0-1
Submitted by: Declan Morgan
