January 25th, 2023
Leinster GAA Br Bosco Cup, Senior A Football Quarter-Final
MOATE CS 1-13
ST. PETERS, WEXFORD 0-5
Kevin Egan at Killeshin GAA Club
The semi-final line-up for this years Leinster Senior A schools football championship was completed this afternoon when Moate Community School comprehensively outplayed St. Peters of Wexford, setting up a clash with St. Mels of Longford.
The fiercely strong breeze that blew diagonally across the Killeshin pitch this afternoon favoured Moate for the opening half-hour, but some strong running and good possession football from the Wexford side meant that the midlanders struggled to take advantage. It wasnt until the 11th minute that David OReilly opened the scoring from a free, shortly followed up by a brilliantly-struck 45 from Donal Shirley.
Point-scoring wasnt easy at either end of the ground, while a series of goal chances also went astray, at both ends. The two goalkeepers, Eoin Halligan and James Mitchell, came up with huge saves to deny Pdraig McLoughlin and Oisn Kavanagh respectively, while there were also wide goal attempts at either end, and a penalty from Dean OReilly that was saved by Halligan.
Excellent scores from Shirley, Bracken and Daragh Lowry made it 0-6 to 0-2 at half-time, but that looked like the least that Moate would need, given the strength of the wind. That was until the side managed by Peter Tormey and Roscommon senior footballer Niall Daly were handed a huge stroke of luck when the wind died down in between halves, and they duly took full advantage.
While Shirley was the dominant influence on the game in the first half, David OReilly took over as the key man after the interval. The Westmeath senior hurling panellist pulled out from corner forward to effectively operate as a link man in the half-forward line, while also dropping in to field several kickouts. Eoin Bracken also came into the game considerably, kicking two of the first three points of the second half, and then winning the possession that led to Ronan Murray flicking the ball to the net for the games only goal with eight minutes gone in the second half.
Another superb point from OReilly two minutes later left St. Peters eleven points adrift and forced to chase the game, which in turn allowed Moate to sit back, soak up the pressure and strike on the counter attack.
The scoring dried up from there, with just three points each kicked for the remainder of the game all frees, bar one more from OReilly and despite the best efforts of players like Kyle Clarke Hanglow and Harry Murphy to engineer something after they came off the bench, St. Peters never managed to test James Mitchell in the Moate goal, and so it was the famous Westmeath school, which incorporates the Carmelite College three-time All-Ireland winners and six-time Leinster champions between 1975 and 1981 that advance to the last four of this years Brother Bosco Cup race.
Scorers for Moate CS:David OReilly 0-4 0-2f, Ronan Murray 1-1, Eoin Bracken 0-4 0-3f, 0-1 pen, Donal Shirley 0-2 0-1 45, Daragh Lowry 0-1, Conor Fox 0-1.
Scorers for St. Peters, Wexford:Sen Rowley 0-1, Oisn Kavanagh 0-1, Luke Murphy 0-1f, Sen Cooney 0-1f, Harry Murphy 0-1f.
Moate CS:James Mitchell; Tom Gorman, Adam Keane, Cathal Guinan; Padraig McLoughlin, Donal Shirley, Aodhn Curran; Daragh Lowry, Eoin Bracken; Conaire Martin, Conor Fox, Dean ONeill; David OReilly, Ronan Murray, Tiernan ODonovan.
Subs:Adam Daly for ONeill half-time, Alan Lynam for Fox 55, ONeill for McLoughlin 57.
St. Peters, Wexford:Eoin Halligan; Kevin Byrne, Alex Kirby, Simon Roche; Dan Devereux, Robbie Delaney, Pdraig Power; Sen Rowley, Luke Roche; David McCarthy, Jack Hennessy, Will Hayes; Oisn Kavanagh, Luke Murphy, Sen Cooney.
Subs:Kyle Clarke Hanglow for McCarthy half-time, Mark Hennessy for Hayes 40, Michael Furlong for S Roche 45, Conor Cullen for Kavanagh 51, Harry Murphy for Cooney 55.
Referee:Des Cooney Laois.
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