St Patrick"s edged out

The bigger the reputation the harder the fall and Moate CS took great satisfaction in dumping perennial favourites St Patrick"s CS, Navan out of the Leinster Colleges SFC title race at only the second hurdle at Pairc Tailteann on Friday. Following a pulsating encounter that produced some superb skill levels, but plenty of mistakes, it needed a late burst from Moate in the second period of extra-time to seal the win that looked unlikely as normal time drew to a close. The strong wind that blew into the O"Mahonys end didn"t have an overwhelming effect on the game as both sides enjoyed periods of dominance and were very evenly matched in almost every sector. However, as the hour ran down, it looked as if St Patrick"s would maintain their proud record in the competition when they led by 1-8 to 1-7 until Moate substitute Darren Scanlon tapped over an injury-time equaliser. In the first period of extra-time St Patrick"s struggled to take advantage of the wind and the excellent contributions of Marty Mulhall were wiped out by Moate points from Ciaran Martin (free) and Oran McIntyre. Then the wind became a significant factor for the first time when Moate lorded the second-half of extra-time and secured the win with brilliant points from Scanlon (two), Andrew Cushen, Bernard Allen (free) and Martin. Defeat was harsh on St Patrick"s as they were much more economical with their chances, firing just four wides in the 80 minutes compared to Moate"s 14. The fact that Moate had so many opportunities suggests they were the better team, and they were. Allen is an exceptional talent and caused the St Patrick"s rearguard countless worrying moments. He has a trusted left foot that his school coach and Westmeath star Dessie Dolan would be proud of. Others like Martin, John Ledwith, Graham Guilfoyle and Brian Finnerty also had a huge impact in maintaining the Moate threat and it was their fitness and apparent greater hunger that ensured they emerged victorious. St Patrick"s will rue some missed opportunities. Sean Tobin floated a difficult sideline wide in injury-time that would have won the game and early in extra-time referee Paul Kneel ruled a square ball when it had appeared that Mulhall"s point attempt had crossed the line. There were a lot of ifs, buts and maybes, but St Patrick"s can have few complaints. Had they won, Moate might have had grounds to appeal because it appears St Patrick"s used six substitutes in normal time. A blood injury to Adam O"Sullivan and a goalkeeping substitution coupled with a number of late replacements led to the confusion, but as it transpired it didn"t matter as Moate were the deserving winners. St Patrick"s can be proud of their efforts. They had several outstanding displays with Mulhall making a significant impression when he replaced O"Sullivan as a blood substitute for the second time. Shane Barry and Sean Tobin also had decent outings and the entire defence worked tirelessly against an impressive Moate attacking unit. With the advantage of such a strong wind Moate were expected to dominate the opening period, but it didn"t work out like that. The visitors got off to a blistering start with the magnificent Allen pointing inside 30 seconds, but St Patrick"s restored parity with a James Reilly point. Allen made it 0-2 to 0-1 before St Patrick"s goalkeeper Michael Sweeney misjudged a long ball, let it bounce and saw the effort hit the crossbar and then the post before falling kindly for Allen to tap into an empty net. Instead of letting Moate gain the upperhand St Patrick"s responded with a Tobin point and then 10 minutes before the interval Dermot Louth had a simple tap in to the net after great play by Shane McGivney and Fiachra Ross. Moate replied with points from Shane Mulvihill and Allen. They also could have had a second goal, but Allen"s fisted effort struck the woodwork. Tobin closed St Patrick"s first-half account, but Allen made it 1-5 to 1-3 to the Westmeath school at half-time. St Patrick"s swapped Sweeney for David Quirke between the posts and out-scored Moate by 0-3 to 0-1 in the opening 12 minutes of the second-half with superb long-range scores from Barry and Paddy McKeever. The introduction of Scanlon gave Moate a boost and he closed the gap with a free, but points from Tobin and Mulhall stretched St Patrick"s advantage. The signs of a Moate recovery were ominous. Richie Dunne was denied a goal by a superb Daragh Maguire block. Sweeney, who was called back between the posts because of an injury to Quirke, made amends for his first-half error with a superb stop to deny Martin and Scanlon missed a chance to equalise from a free before he eventually found his range with a simple tap over to force extra-time, 1-8 each. The sides were still tied at the interval of extra-time, but in the final 10-minute period Moate piled on the pressure and the St Patrick"s tired legs couldn"t make any more inroads against the wind and they slumped to a disappointing loss. Moate CS - James Egan; Oisin Robins, Kevin Maguire, Brian Finnerty; Shane Mulvihill (0-1), John Ledwith, Darren Malynn; Andrew Cushen (0-1), Graham Guilfoyle; John Gilligan, Ciaran Martin (0-2, one free), Richie Dunne; Bernard Allen (1-6, three frees), Simon Gillivan, James Geoghegan. Subs - Darren Scanlon (0-4, one free) for Gillivan 38 mins, Christy Grimes for Geoghegan 48 mins, Oran McIntyre (0-1) for Dunne 56m; extra-time - Alan Stone for Maguire. St Patrick"s CS, Navan - Michael Sweeney; Shane McGivney, Conor Finnegan, Stephen O"Reilly; Declan Morley, Daragh Maguire, Mark McCormack; Donal Keoghan, Adam O"Sullivan; James Reilly (0-1), Sean Tobin (0-4, one '45"), Shane Barry (0-1); Dermot Louth (1-0), Fiachra Ross, Paddy McKeever (0-1). Subs - David Quirke for Sweeney half-time, Conor Sheridan for Reilly 43 mins, Marty Mulhall (0-3, one free) for O"Sullivan 46m, Sweeney for Quirke 49m, Niall Groome for Maguire 58m, Mulhall for Keoghan 63mins; extra-time - John Gillen for Barry 2m, Paddy Fox for Ross 10m, Keoghan for McCormack half-time. Referee - Paul Kneel (Louth).