Too easy for the Gaels

St Patrick's eventually got to play Simonstown in the on-off rescheduled first round SFC encounter at Pairc Tailteann on Friday night. The Stamullen men had to take their plight for a re-fixture to Leinster Council after the Meath CCC awarded the points to Simonstown when St Pat's failed to fulfil the original fixture last April due to a bereavement. However, gaining the re-fixture turned out to be the easy part of the equation for previously unbeaten St Pat's as Simonstown were in no mood to concede any more ground in the race for the Keegan Cup. St Pat's didn't help their cause when they lost JP Ryan to a 26th minute straight red card after the wing-back was penalised for a crude challenge on Simonstown's Niall McMahon. Rathkenny referee John Martin brandished the red card and he could have issued another one to St Pat's in the second-half, but opted for a caution (yellow card) instead. This victory leaves Simonstown, who welcomed back Shane O'Rourke from a lengthy lay-off through injury, perched at the top of the table with two games still to play. The Gaels were ahead by 0-9 to 0-1 at the interval and it was really so easy for them that they just eased off after the resumption which gave 14-man St Patrick's an opportunity to make a token contribution to the game. Simonstown got off to a smart start and had an O'Rourke point on the board inside 24 seconds. Further points from Michael Brennan, Mark McCabe and Shane Kieran helped the Navan side to a 0-4 to 0-0 advantage inside seven minutes. St Pat's tried to defend in depth in an effort to thwart the Gaels, but McMahon unhinged that tactic with a superb effort from outside the 45-metre line in the 12th minute which was enough to give his side a comfortable five-point first-quarter advantage. With the benefit of the extra man Simonstown were ahead by eight points at the interval as Brennan, McCabe and Padraig McKeever split the posts while the Stamullen men managed a solitary Donal Landy point from play after 22 minutes. O'Rourke added a goal shortly after the resumption which helped his side into a 1-11 to 0-3 lead and as they eased into the slow lane St Pat's managed to add some respectability to the scoreboard, but there was never any danger of a recovery. Niall Mooney converted a 17th minute penalty after Cormac Sullivan was impeded by a dozing rearguard and five Barry Campbell points will give the Stamullen camp something to build on for the next day. However, Simonstown will have to adopt a more mercenary side to their game because they should never have let St Pat's back into the game. That weakness has proved costly in the past. Simonstown Gaels - G Lynch; S McGivney, H Traynor, B Flood; N McMahon (0-1), S Kenny, S Kieran (0-2); P Meade, M McCabe (0-3); P McKeever (0-2), J Lyons, N Kearney; S Tobin (0-1, free), M Brennan (0-5, two frees), S O'Rourke (1-1). Subs - S Barry for Kearney 40 mins; P O'Reilly for Tobin 45m. St Patrick's - S Byrne; R Russell, D Hagan, A Reilly; JP Ryan, K Whearty, A Mooney; C Calvey, N Mooney (1-0); B Campbell (0-5, four frees), R Kearns, N Whearty (0-1); D Landy (0-1), C Sullivan, D Whyte (0-1). Sub - M Hagan for N Whearty 49 mins. Referee - John Martin (Rathkenny).