Hard working St Brigid's coast through against off the pace Timahoe

AWARE that Timahoe had been beaten by St Joseph's in the Laois junior football final, who couldn't compete at provincial level as they are a second team, St Brigid's didn't really know what to expect when they travelled to Portlaoise for the first round of the Leinster Club Junior Football Championship on Friday evening.

Leinster Club Junior Football Championship first round

St Brigid's 1-20

Timahoe (Laois) 2-4

As things turned out, they had it very easy, a trouble free passage to a home quarter final against Kildare's St Kevin's or Kilkenny's Muckalee in a couple of weeks time.

There are plenty of cases of teams beaten in finals who go all out to gain consolation in the province but Timahoe were clearly not one of these. From the throw in, it was clear that they were off the pace, up to very little and that it would take a calamity for the Offaly intermediate champions to lose.

Apart from the second quarter, it was a composed, good performance by St Brigid's and they are clearly keen to impress at this level. There will be way stiffer tests than this and it was way too simple to turn over the ball but they brought a high work rate to the table and controlled almost every facet of the game. Timahoe didn't score from play in the first half, trailed by 0-8 to 1-1 at half time and would have been beaten only for getting a very soft goal.

Colum Dunne got their first point from play two minutes into the second half but St Brigid's had the game won within a few minutes. Liam Cocoman got an excellent two pointer and a fine 40th minute goal from James Lynch ended it as a contest.

An out of sorts Timahoe made things way too easy for St Brigid's. They weren't dirty as such but their discipline went and their tackling became more careless, their body language telling its own tale and they ended up with thirteen men for a few minutes as Conor Whelahan and Eoin Shortall got black cards – Whelahan got his in the 37th minute for a deliberate foul on Ben Kennedy and Shortall got his in the 43rd minute, possibly for dissent.

They were at nothing with fifteen men and St Brigid's punished them when they were down men, scoring 1-5 without reply in that spell. That gave them a 1-15 to 1-2 lead and interest dwindled as both sides ran in subs.

A couple of Timahoe points were cancelled out by Dan Molloy's two pointer. Conor Fitzpatrick got a 57th minute goal for the losers but St Brigid's finished in the ascendancy, tapping over the closing three points and they could have won by a lot more.

St Brigid's led by 0-8 to 1-1 at half time and really should have been home and dry at the break. They were excellent in the opening quarter, attacking with real purpose and they scored the opening five points without reply – the first four points came from different players from play and Dan Molloy got his second in the 12th minute from a free.

Timahoe were at nothing for most of the first half and the negligible wind seemed to be favouring them. They got a very lucky goal in the 16th minute to get back into it, a pure disaster for St Brigid's as a Colum Dunne two point free was short but at a dangerous pace. Sean Briody called for the ball and with goalkeeper Liam Fox watching on, it went off his finger tips into the net.

St Brigid's fell to pieces for the next few minutes, losing their way badly. The quality of their approach play dipped dramatically and that didn't have much to do with Timahoe. They had four poor wides in a few minutes – Sean Briody had one when going for goal from the right, though he could have tapped over.

Dan Molloy and Alan Scally also had poor wides while former county player Cian Donohue was left on, even though he had signalled that he was in trouble with a muscle injury after a few minutes and wasn't really able to run – he was eventually replaced at half time. St Brigid's had to wait until the 25th minute for Ben Kennedy to settle them with a point. Aaron McDermott and Dan Molloy (free) added points and Timahoe only got their first point in the second minute of injury time, a '45' from Colum Dunne.

That meant they not only didn't score from play in the first half but didn't look like doing so either and the Offaly side were very much in control at the break.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Dan Molloy (St Brigid's): Dan Molloy had probably his best game of the year for St Brigid's, running the game from midfield and he is the selection. He was excellent in the first quarter, moved very well and scored well from play and frees. His performance was pivoal to their win and they had several other players who played well.

Ben Kennedy won the Offaly intermediate final for them when switched to the full forward line and he excelled again when moved up field in the second half. He had been a bit suspect defensively at times in the first half but his direct running created fierce problems for an already struggling Timahoe defence and he arrowed over three second half points, to go with his first half one.

Ethan Hannon, Sean Briody, Alan Scally, Liam Cocorman, James Lynch and Aaron McDermott were among the players who impressed at different stages.

THE SCORERS

St Brigid's: Dan Molloy 0-7 (1 x 2p, 3f), James Lynch 1-1, Ben Kennedy 0-4, Liam Cocoman 0-3 (1 x 2p), Aaron McDermott 0-2, Ethan Hannon, Sean Briody, Thomas Mooney 0-1 each.

Timahoe: Colum Dunne 1-2 (goal from a free, 1 '45'), Conor Fitzpatrick 1-0, Colm Dundon and Seamus Ramsbottom 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

ST BRIGID'S: Liam Fox; Ronan Swords, Cameron Egan, Odhran Briody; Ben Kennedy, Ronan Doyle, Ethan Hannon; Sean Briody, Dan Molloy; Evan Rigney, Alan Scally, Liam Cocoman; Aaron McDermott, Cian Donohue, James Lynch. Subs – Thomas Mooney for Donoghue, inj. (HT), Bobby Troy for Rigney (50m), Rob Hoey for Hannon (52m), David Boland for Odhran Briody (52m), Conor Davidson for Egan (55m)

TIMAHOE: Eoin Culleton; Rhys Kelly, Padraig Kelly, Colm Dundon; David Lalor, Daire McDonald, Eoin Shortall; Colm Lalor, Damien O'Connor; Conor Whelahan, Conor Fitzpatrick, Enda Shortall; Colum Dunne, Pauric Ramsbottom, Joe O'Connor. Subs – PJ Daly for Kelly (HT), Liam McEvoy for Ramsbottom (43m), Seamus Ramsbottom for Lalor (45m), Terence Delaney for Enda Shortall (59m),

Referee – Ryan Moran, Kildare.

REFEREE WATCH

Ryan Moran had a good game. He allowed physicality, allowed play to develop and applied it consistently. Timahoe's Conor Whelahan fully deserved his black for hauling down a flying Ben Kennedy in the 37th minute.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

The two pointer Liam Cocoman kicked in the 33rd minute was a big score. It was a bit kick and hope but it curled straight over, gave St Brigid's a 0-10 to 1-2 lead and you could almost see the resistance ebb out of Timahoe.

VENUE WATCH

The crowd was lost at the floodlit O'Moore Park but both sides still brought plenty of support. The pitch didn't look great with distinctive marks across the field in several places.

WHAT'S NEXT

St Brigid's are at home to St Kevin's of Kildare or Kilkenny's Muckalee on November 14.

STATISTICS

Wides: St Brigid's – 9 (5 in first half); Timahoe - 3 (2 in first half).

Yellow cards: Timahoe – 1 (Enda Shortall); Timahoe – 0.

Black cards: Timahoe – 2 (Conor Whelahan, Eoin Shortall); St Brigid's – 0.

Red cards: 0