Ratoath negotiate dublin side in leinster ifc

Ratoath advanced to the Leinster Club IFC semi-finals yesterday with a 2-12 to 0-11 win over St Patrick’s (Donabate) despite the absence of Eamon and Joey wallace who were unavailable.

Ratoath were ahead by 1-5 to 0-6 at interval with a late Conor Rooney goal adding some gloss after top scorer Bryan McMahon (six points) provided the defence-splitting pass.

McMahon claimed half his tally in that opening 30 minutes with Bobby O’Brien and Emmet Boyle also splitting the posts.

Early second-half points from McMahon (two, one free), Bobby O’Brien, Rooney and Coyne eased Ratoath into a 1-10 to 0-7 third-quarter advantage.

Coyne added his goal with 11 minutes remaining of a fragmented second-half.

The Meath champions closed out the scoring with points from McMahon (free) and Brian O’Connor.

St Patricks finished with 13 men with red cards issued by Longford referee Patrick Maguire late in each half.

St Patrick's also had a player black-carded.

Ratoath will play the Kilkenny senior football champions in a fortnight in Ratoath.