Edenderry school beaten by reigning All-Ireland champions

With a little over two minutes of normal time remaining on their Leinster Post Primary Schools Senior Football Championship clash in Edenderry, St. Mary’s Secondary School had just scored 1-3 unanswered, and they were awarded a free at midfield, brought forward to the edge of the arc.

Leinster Post Primary Schools SFC “A” Second Round

Colaiste Mhuire, Mullingar 2-12

St Mary's Secondary School, Edenderry 1-9

Tony Furey stood over the dead ball chance, knowing that an accurate finish would have cut the gap to two points, and given his side an opportunity to pull a remarkable result from a game where they had been a distant second best to the reigning Leinster and All-Ireland champions.

His free was well struck but got taken by the lateral breeze, swinging wide of the right-hand post, and Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar saw out the game with tight control and clever game management, kicking injury time points from Will Scahill and Zak Bates to power across the finish line.

If that reads like putting the blame for the defeat on the shoulders on one kick from one player, it’s not intended to, and Furey was one of a small handful of St. Mary’s players that made any sort of impression on a very dominant Coláiste Mhuire team.

The Mullingar school lined out with five of the team that started the Hogan Cup final against Tralee CBS last Spring, while midfielder Pádraig Monaghan came off the bench in that Croke Park decider. Despite this, they played with soundness and cohesion, negating Charlie Duffy’s aerial power at midfield while defending in lock-step to hold St. Mary’s to just 0-6, five scores, in 52 minutes of action.

Tony Furey hit a free and a two-pointer in quick succession before Ruairí Carroll and Duffy combined to work the ball in from the right corner and float a perfect handpass across goal, setting up Joe Furey for a fisted goal to double that tally in just three minutes.

However aside from that brief flurry, and perhaps the couple of minutes before half-time when Duffy blasted over the bar and Oliver Goulding landed a majestic double, Coláiste Mhuire controlled this game comfortably, their dominance built on balance and structure, rather than the individual brilliance that one might have expected to see from prodigious Westmeath U-20 forward Will Scahill, now in his fourth year of senior schools football.

St. Mary’s will hope that the extra couple of weeks will stand to Cian McNamee, who was visibly hampered by his hamstring issue and not operating at full speed in his 25 minutes on the field, while Jack Kelly (Daingean) and the Edenderry duo of Noah Foran and Jack Mullen would also bolster the cause if they are fit to return for what is now a do-or-die game against St. Benildus’ College.

That reinforcement will be needed. After Hugo Corroon and Joe Furey traded early points, Furey scoring nicely from a tricky angle in the right corner, Coláiste Mhuire took over. A failure to clear lines let Westmeath underage hurler Ted Ahearne kick the lead point, Michael Brennan added the next, then Abdul Ogunse gambled on getting out first to a good ball in towards Stephen McWade, and lost his bet as McWade took possession and turned him, delivering a soccer-style finish past Daniel Padian.

Corroon and Brennan completed a run of 1-4 without reply, and even after the Furey brothers linked up well to create St. Mary’s first score in 20 minutes, the reply from the Mullingar school was simple, clinical brilliance.

Tom O’Brien gathered the subsequent kickout, Seán Byrne’s low ball into McWade took one bounce and sat up into the attacker’s chest, and one swing of his left boot sent it soaring over the bar from 35 metres out.

Duffy and Goulding (a two-pointer) made it 1-6 to 0-5 at the turnaround and that was closer than St. Mary’s were entitled to be, but the third quarter was lorded by the visiting Westmeath school, who had a point from Corroon and a goal from The Downs club man Conor Cleary on the board in the blink of an eye.

Pádraig Monaghan got in on the action with a score from only a couple of yards inside the arc, and a close-range Tony Furey free, earned by Duffy, was cancelled out by two more Coláiste Mhuire points in response.

The brief flurry of scores from St. Mary’s, particularly Joe Furey’s goal, illustrated that no lead is safe in the modern game – but in this instance, it didn’t take long for Coláiste Mhuire to quell that late uprising.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Seán Byrne (Coláiste Mhuire): St. Mary’s never got to grips with the best way to manage Byrne, who sat as a deep-lying centre back in front of his full-back line while also swallowing up any runners that came down the central channel. His play in initiating attacks was no less superb, as he drove forward with power and intent.

Tom O’Brien, Stephen McWade and Hugo Corroon were others who had a superb outing for the All-Ireland champions, while Joe Furey and Dylan O’Callaghan were the pick of the bunch for a St. Mary’s side that struggled to keep pace.

THE SCORERS

Coláiste Mhuire: Stephen McWade 1-2, Hugo Corroon 0-3, Conor Cleary 1-0, Michael Brennan 0-2, Will Scahill 0-2f, Ted Ahearne 0-1, Pádraig Monaghan 0-1, Zak Bates 0-1,

St. Mary’s: Tony Furey 0-5 (1tp, 0-2f), Joe Furey 1-1, Ollie Goulding 0-2 (tp), Charlie Duffy 0-1.

THE TEAMS

COLÁISTE MHUIRE: Tom McCaul; Tom Weir, Eoin Donoghue, Eoghan Daly; Conor Maleady, Seán Byrne, Conor Cleary; Pádraig Monaghan, Tom O’Brien; Hugo Corroon, Ted Ahearne, Aaron Connaire; Stephen McWade, Will Scahill, Michael Brennan.

Subs used: Zak Bates for Maleady, 46mins; Josh Scahill for Ahearne, 56mins; Josh Murtagh for Corroon, 60mins.

ST. MARY’S SECONDARY SCHOOL (Edenderry unless stated): Daniel Padian (Balyna); Paddy Fitzpatrick (Ballinabrackey), Finn Pearson, Abdul Ogunse; Shane Plunkett (Balyna), Alex McCabe (Clonbullogue), Daniel Shannon; Charlie Duffy, Jack Doyle; Dylan O’Callaghan, Tony Furey, Ruairí Carroll; Gavin Mayon (Rhode), Joe Furey, Oliver Goulding.

Subs used: Jamie Sharpe for Ogunse, 37mins; Cian McNamee (Rhode) for Plunkett, 37mins; Oisín Pender for Mayon, 41mins; Philip Fox (Carbury) for Goulding, 49mins.

Referee – Eamon O’Connor (Ballycommon).

REFEREE WATCH

St. Mary’s supporters voiced a shout of frustration when they won a kickout early in the second half and got a quick early ball into the full-forward line, only for Eamon O’Connor to pull play back in order to give yellow card at midfield.

At first it looked as if Conor Cleary might have overcarried for his goal and that too led to some complaints from the sideline, but a replay showed he bounced the ball on the fifth step, which was a good no-call from the Ballycommon official.

Overall it was a very competent showing, as one would expect from a referee of O’Connor’s experience and standing.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

It would have been an act of grand larceny if St. Mary’s had taken a result from this game, but it was very much on the table when Tony Furey stood over a free on the edge of the arc with just four points between the sides late on.

His kick leaked right in the cross breeze however, and the Mullingar students didn’t waste their reprieve.

VENUE WATCH

The surface was perfect at Weaver’s Fields and while it looked for a while in the first half as if the wind was whipping in and bringing dark rain clouds with it, the showers never came so the lack of cover was never an issue.

WHAT'S NEXT

A six-point defeat, stacked alongside the three-point reverse that St. Benildus’ College succumbed to in their trip to Mullingar last week, means that it’s knockout football for St. Mary’s on the first week after the mid-term break when they travel to the South Dublin school. A draw will see the home side progress in second place, so it’s win or out for the Edenderry school.

STATISTICS

Wides: Coláiste Mhuire – 4 (2 in first half); St. Mary’s – 8 (3 in first half).

Yellow cards: Coláiste Mhuire – 1 (Maleady, 36mins); St. Mary’s – 4 (Duffy, 33mins; Pearson, 45mins; Sharpe, 48&60mins).

Black cards: Coláiste Mhuire – 0; St. Mary’s – 0.

Red cards: Coláiste Mhuire – 0; St. Mary’s – 1 (Sharpe, 60mins).