Result: 5 19 to 2 16
The hurler on the ditch, a sideline wag, playing court jester, quipped to J.C. ( Ryan ) “ are you short of paper?”. Our referee was quick to display the additional leaves he required for this entertaining and high scoring league encounter. Played on the “all-weather”, due to too much juice in the sod, the home side were left against a gusting wind for the first thirty. In truth the game was won early on, after Boden scored some crucial goals off limited opportunities. Great credit is due to both sides for this sporting contest, played in front of a decent sized home crowd.
Michael Boland gets in a hook
Michael Boland found the net early off quick delivery from a free. Vins replied pronto with two neat points from Conor Burke, easily their best performer. Bodens next move set the tone for the hour, a move involving five passes covering the entire width of the pitch and ending with the elusive Aiden Mellett. He was upended and sharpshooter Cillian Byrne split the posts. For the next quarter Boden dominated. Ciaran Ryan was quick to spot Boland in space. The rest was textbook. 2.1 to 2 pts.
Next up Mellett was quickest to react to a breaker and he pointed neatly.
The following ten minutes had Sean McDonnell hitting the post from close in, Mellett doing well off passes into space and Byrne showing fine workrate. After 20 minutes the score stood at 3.7 to 0.7, Boland having netted his third goal off Ciaran Ryan’s pass. St. Vincents, realising that they would have to face the wind in the second thirty, woke up and through Burke, William Malone and John Walsh clawed their way back. Adding Sean McCalls point from outfield, the half time score was 3.7 to 14 pts.
If anything the wind got stronger for the second half and opened up more opportunities for Boden. Cillian Byrne now got into the groove and between his free taking and guile in the exchanges, he pressed home the advantage. He was ably assisted by Jack Mahon, Neil Hester and Luke Corcoran, all dominant in their defensive roles. The only interruption came when Vincents frontman, Oisin Lanigan, banged home a great goal and followed up with a neat pass to Walsh and the point.
Cian Kelly breaks away
Both sides had one more goal each in them, but with Byrne on a “ninety plus” off placed balls, Boden ran out easy winners. He finished neck and neck with Boland as top scorer.
Manager Andrew Coffey will be well pleased with this showing, a considerable positive shift in performance from earlier showings. The even workrate across the numbers, added to the contribution from the replacements was heartening and augurs well for the rest of the season. Another positive note is that all players, from what we could see, finished without any major damage and in good fettle for the forthcoming exams. The best of luck to all students.
Boden, Conor O’Donoghue, Kevin Cronin, Luke Corcoran, Darragh Byrne, Jack Mahon, Neil Hestor, Rob Leddy, (Capt.) Cillian Byrne (0-7; 0-6f), Sean McDonnell (0-1), Cian Murray, Aiden Mellett (1-6), Cian Kelly, Conor Kennedy (0-1), Michael Boland (4-4; 0-2f), Ciaran Ryan, Karl Weldon, James Holland, Luke O’Donoghue, John Murphy, Ruairi Kirwan, Mark McGee.