Aquinas FC 1-5 St Mary’s FC
St Mary’s returned to league action on Saturday against unbeaten league leaders Aquinas FC at Blacks Road following an extended Christmas lay-off.
One notable change for St Mary’s had full-back Aidan Quinn donning the goalkeeper’s gloves with regular net-minder Niall McGinnity unavailable. St Mary’s, as expected soaked up some early Aquinas pressure but the central midfield trio of Patrick Ross, Oran McNaughton and the outstanding Trevor McCormick gave as good as they got in the early skirmishes.
Aquinas edged ahead after twenty minutes with St Mary’s unable to clear their lines following a corner kick and the ball was curled home expertly for the opening goal.
Only a terrific save from Quinn prevented St Mary’s falling further behind but the ball was moved quickly up the pitch to the nippy Eoin McNicholl, who cut in from the right and rifled the ball home to level the scores.
As the half time whistle approached, Oran McNaughton‘s shot from the edge of the area was too hot to handle for the Aquinas custodian and hit-man Eoin O’Reilly was lurking to nudge the ball home for an interval lead.
The St Mary’s defence set their stall out at the beginning of the second period with skipper Oliver Breen barking the orders while team-mates Aidan Begley, Oisin Donaghy and Conor O’Malley adopted the ‘they shall not pass’ motto effectively.
Aidan Quinn kept the St Mary’s lead intact with another fine stop before Cathal McGarrity released O’Reilly down the right on forty minutes. Eoin O’Reilly tricked and teased the Aquinas defence before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the roof of the Aquinas net to give St Mary’s some breathing space.
For St Mary’s, the diminutive Jack Parke replaced the hard working Cathal McGarrity but the immediate Aquinas response failed to materialise with Trevor McCormick now dominant in the centre allowing Conor O’Malley and Oisin Donaghy to pick up any loose balls.
St Mary’s extended their lead when O’Reilly struck again on fifty minutes and he then grabbed his fourth goal of the day in the dying minutes, heading home from a deep McNicholl free kick to leave Aquinas shell shocked and their unbeaten league record in tatters.
St Mary’s gaffer McNulty was delighted at the final whistle following this win and reiterated the fact that this St Mary’s team on their day are more than a match for any team in the league.
