Defending champions return to last four of Leinster Championship
A stunning first half performance that saw them go to the break 1-9 to 1-3 laid the foundation for St Mary's victory over Dublin side St Benildus in the Leinster quarter final in Ballyfore last Saturday.
Leinster Colleges Senior Football 'A' semi-final
St Mary's, Edenerry 1-11
St Benildus 1-8
Scorers:
St Mary's: Sean Hurley 0-5 (0-4f); Anton Sullivan 1-2 (1-0 pen); Stuart Cullen 0-3; Eddie Holton 0-1
St Benildus: Fergal Duffy 0-4 (0-2f); Colm Egan 1-0; Glen Whelan 0-1; Peter O'Curry 0-1; Andy Dolan 0-1; Conor Butler 0-1
Wides:
St Mary's: 4 (2 1st half)
St Benildus: 7 (2 1st half)
Yellow Cards:
St Mary's: None
St Benildus: Aodhan Clabby, Shane Butler, Karl McGrath
There will be concerns in the defending champion's camp that they added just two points after the break allowing their opponents into the game but over the hour the Offaly school were the better side and now go on to face St Pat's of Navan in the semi final.
There will also be a slight concern that the inside forwards did not manage to get on the scoresheet but overall, with the highly influential Paul Cribbin watching on on crutches from the sideline, St Mary's will be very happy with their performance and a place in the last four.
In ideal conditions for football, both sides are to commended for the manner in which they played the game. There were plenty of tough challenges, as you would expect in a provincial quarter-final, but overall the game was played in an excellent spirit with the two sets of players producing some excellent attacking football.
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SEE ALSO
St Mary's win physical battle to reach Leinster quarter-final
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In the first half St Mary's were excellent with their pace, passing accuracy and endless movement causing huge problems for their Dublin opponents. Anton Sullivan and lead the way in attack with the movement of Stewart Cullen also proving a large sized thorn in the side of St Benildus.
At midfield Sean Hurley and Philip Farrell dominated in the first half with Hurley's accurate free taking a real feature of the game.
Defensively, led by the excellent Derek Kelly and the livewire Conor Grehan, St Mary's were very solid for the vast majority of the game with just a few nervous moments near the end as St Benildus threw everything into attack.
For the Dublin side, Fergal Duffy always looked dangerous when in possession while Glen Whelan shored up the midfield when he was switched with Colm Egan.
Defensively Alan Carroll did well in the second half when given the onerous task of man marking Anton Sullivan while Daragh Quinn was as impressive as any player in his corner back role.
Sean Hurley opened the scoring for St Mary's with a free after three minutes following a high tackle on Anton Sullivan that earned St Benildus full-back Aodhan Clabby a yellow card.
Sullivan picked himself up and added the second point less than a minute later after a surging run through the opposition defence.
Completely against the run of play the Dublin side opened their account with a goal through Colm Egan after the midfielder showed a great turn of speed to outstrip the St Mary's defence before firing the ball to the roof of the St Mary's net.
That proved to be an isolated attack for St Benildus in the early going as within two minutes St Mary's were back in front after a superb move the length of the field involving six different players resulted in a penalty after Eunan Farrell was unceremoniously hauled down. Anton Sullivan calmly stepped up to take the kick and slotted it low and hard to the bottom left corner of the net.
Points in quick succession from Sean Hurley and Stewart Cullen gave St Mary's a four point lead at the midway point of the first half.
St Benildus replied with a brace of points from Fergal Duffy but their respite did not last long as St Mary's rattled off three more points in quick succession with Cullen, Sullivan and Hurley all finding the target again.
With three minutes remaining in the half St Benildus brought their total to 1-3 with a point from Glenn Whelan but by the break St Mary's had amassed a total of 1-9 with a long range free from Sean Hurley and a beautiful point curled over by Stewart Cullen.
After the restart, St Mary's dropped Anton Sullivan into midfield and in general the team began to play deeper and deeper to protect their six point lead inviting the Dublin side on to them.
Just one point apiece was added in the opening ten minutes of the half with Peter O'Curry finding the target for St Benildus and Sean Hurley doing likewise for St Mary's.
St Benildus had the ball in the net eight minutes into the second half but it was rightly ruled out by referee Pat Fox for a square ball.
The Dublin side also came close to breaking through just prior to having the ball in the net but Derek Kelly was on hand to make a vital interception.
Midway through the half the sides exchanged points with substitute Eddie Holton scoring for St Mary's after a precise build up. That score after 43 minutes would prove to be St Mary's last score of the game.
At that point they held a six point lead but in the last 15 minutes their backs were firmly to the wall as they invited the pressure from the Dublin side.
Points from Fergal Duffy, Andy Dolan and Conor Butler meant that just three points separated the sides going into injury-time.
With time almost up, St Benildus had one last chance to snatch an equalising goal but after a scramble close to goal, a shot was deflected away by a St Mary's limb and full forward Eunan Farrell, back helping his defence, gained possession and ran the ball clear to run out the clock.
St Mary's: Shane Geoghan; Conor Grehan, Derek Kelly, Ben Kenny; Tom Hickey, Jake Kavanagh, Daniel Flynn; Sean Hurley, Philip Farrell; Conor McNamee, Stuart Cullen, Anton Sullivan; Sean Doyle, Eunan Farrell, Ciaran Hurley. Subs: Eddie Holton for Daniel Flynn (17mins), Philip Foy for Ciaran Hurley (52mins)
St Benildus: Michael O'Connor; Karl McGrath, Aodhan Clabby, Alan Carroll; Andy Dolan, Stephen Fitzsimons, Daragh Quinn; Peter O'Curry, Colm Egan; Conor Butler, Fergal Duffy, Alan McMahon; Glen Whelan, Brendan O'Rian, Shane Butler. Subs: David Byrne for Alan McMahon (39mins), Daragh Byrne for Colm Egan (46mins)
Refreree: Pat Fox (Westmeath)
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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