Men's Senior Round 3

19 May 2014 by Gerry McCullagh

Early season table-toppers Western Shamrocks were pitted against last years championship winners Southern Districts, in the opening match on Sunday Morning last.

Ray Reilly was able to name his strongest panel to date, welcoming back 2013 “Player of the year” Kevin Boyle, Captain Ger McCullagh and the experienced duo of Collie Donnelly and Chris Hayes. All of the above took their places on a very strong looking Shams bench.
In the opening minutes, both teams struggled with the greasy conditions, going score-for-score as the free flowing football seen in previous weeks struggled to air its head. Brendan Maguire, Gavin Donaghy and Darren Drummond were responsible for the scores that left the score line reading 0-04 0-05 in favour of Districts after 20 mins played.
A rare error by Kevin Boyle in the Shamrocks defense let Districts no.10 straight in on goal and he made no mistake in slotting the ball low into the right hand corner of the net, past a helpless Pat White in goal.
Half time and the teams retired to the dressing rooms with four points between them.

HT Shamrocks 0-04
Southern Districts 1-05

Upon the resumption, an impressive recovery from the boys in green saw them draw level after only seven minutes played. Four quick fire points, including a soaring effort from Danny O Keefe and a ‘peach’ from Donegal man Seamus Kane from out on the right, left the score line reading 0-08 1-05 with Shamrocks firmly on the front foot. The Lilywhite midfield combination of Mark Finnegan and Richie Nevin, with their ball winning/carrying ability, was the catalyst for this second half resurgence.
However, this was as good as it would get for the Shams. Plenty of scoring opportunities presented themselves but the boys couldn’t take them and when Maguire’s goal chance flew by the outside of the Districts left hand post, Ray Reilly’s men were severely punished for their hesitancy in front of goal.
The Shamrocks rearguard could only stand back and watch as the two-time champions picked off some terrific long range scores from both left and right sides. This left a harsh looking, eight point gap between the teams when the whistle for full time blew.
Outstanding performances from the Shamrocks full back line of Eoin Horan (Ratoath, Meath) newcomer Jason Brosnan (St.Kevin’s, Kildare) and Jason ‘Gavy’ Devine (St. Joseph’s, Derry) will be of little consolation for the Shamrocks faithful, as they look to bounce back when they take on the in-form Morley Gaels next Sunday.

FT Shamrocks 0-10
Southern Districts 1-15