Facile victory for St Patrick’s earns semi-final ticket

Victories rarely come much more comprehensive than this as St Patrick's CS, Navan hammered St Peter's, Wexford at Eire Óg, Carlow on Saturday to book their place in the semi-finals of the Leinster Colleges SFC. Defending champions St Pat's were expected to face a stiff challenge from the Wexford side who had impressively disposed of Athlone in the previous round, but from the opening minutes it was obvious the Navan school were in the groove. Despite the incessant rain and troublesome breeze, St Pat's made light work of their opponents as the forward division blazed a superb trail, scoring 5-13 from play, while the defence held St Peter's to just two points from play. The half-forward line, inspired by the outstanding Alan Forde, cut through the St Peter's rearguard like a hot knife through butter. Some of the passing movements were mesmerising and there were many magnificent scores that illuminated a dreary afternoon. St Patrick's were dominant in all sectors. Even the constant droning of the small bunch of supporters couldn't distract the players from the job in hand and they were magnificent in every facet of the contest. Defensively St Patrick's looked solid. Oran Fitzpatrick was majestic at full-back while centre-back Liam Bourke also impressed with Ruairi O Choileain and Niall Coughlan. St Peter's never stood a chance as Conor Sheridan lorded midfield and with Forde applying the sublime touches in attack and Cathal Smith, Nicky O'Brien and Ciaran Fitzsimons offering him great support the Navan side were rampant. The tone was set inside 30 seconds when Barry Dardis latched onto a loose ball to fly-kick over the bar. Fitzsimons doubled St Pat's lead in the second minute and although Rhys Clarke responded for St Peter's from a free, the issue was never in doubt. The Wexford side struggled to get out of their own half and by the ninth minute they were 0-1 to 0-5 adrift as Smith (free), Forde and O'Brien tagged on points. When Forde netted after O'Brien had struck the woodwork it gave the Navan side a seven-point cushion and even at that early stage St Peter's must have been praying for the final whistle. O'Brien was denied a goal by a fine save from Jack Sheridan early in the second-quarter, but Forde showed him how to finish when he netted again from a goalmouth scramble to make it 2-5 to 0-1. It took St Peter's 20 minutes before Jason O'Dowd scored the first of their two points from play, but St Pat's didn't relent. Fiachra McEntee added a point before Conor Sheridan scored the best goal of the game. Smith and Fitzsimons kicked points late in the half to make it game, set and match at half-time as St Patrick's led by 3-8 to 0-2. St Peter's could easily have given up in the second-half, but they kept plugging away despite the futility of the exercise. O'Brien and O Choileain, with the best point of the game, traded scores with Clarke (two frees) to maintain St Pat's cushion, but in the final 20 minutes the Navan side upped the tempo again. Conor Sheridan and Forde pointed before Clarke and Kevin Whelan responded for St Peter's. The Wexford town school almost grabbed a consolation goal, but Robbie Burlingham did brilliantly to deny Glen Murphy. That attack was one of St Peter's last as St Pat's dominated the final quarter. They ended their longest barren spell of seven minutes with a soccer-style goal from O'Brien and in the last 11 minutes Dylan Regan netted while Smith kicked four points (three frees) and Forde added another to his tally to ensure the easiest of easy wins for Colm O'Rourke's side. St Patrick's CS, Navan – Robert Burlingham (Simonstown Gaels); Niall Coughlan (Simonstown Gaels), Oran Fitzpatrick (Clann na nGael), Even Murtagh (Navan O'Mahonys); Ruairi O Choileain (Dunsany 0-1), Liam Bourke (Simonstown Gaels), Conal Shaw (Wolfe Tones); Conor Sheridan (Simonstown Gaels 1-1), Barry Dardis (Summerhill 0-1); Colin McGrane (Walterstown), Alan Forde (Navan O'Mahonys 2-3), Fiachra McEntee (Nobber 0-1); Nicky O'Brien (Simonstown Gaels 1-2), Cathal Smith ( Navan O'Mahonys 0-6, four frees), Ciaran Fitzsimons (Clann na nGael 0-2). Subs – Dean Curran (Simonstown Gaels) for Shaw half-time, Thomas Cox (Navan O'Mahonys) for Dardis 37m, Fiachra Ward (Wolfe Tones) for McGrane 41m, Shane Stafford (Navan O'Mahonys) for O Choileain 45m, Dylan Regan (Navan O'Mahonys 1-0) for McEntee 46m. St Peter's, Wexford – J Sheridan; S Carroll, C O Donagain, P O'Leary; A J Lehane, B Hughes, M Eviston; K Whelan (0-1), E O'Byrne; J O'Dowd (0-1), T Furlong, R Clarke (0-4, frees); N Rossiter, G Murphy, C McCabe. Subs – C Halligan for O Donagain 21mins, L Rochford for Furlong half-time, C Kinsella for Halligan 53m. Referee – John Hickey (Carlow).