St Ultan"s show flair

Four players were sent off and at one stage in this Leinster Club IFC quarter-final at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday, St Ultan"s looked like they were heading for a right old drubbing. After just eight minutes they trailed by 0-1 to 1-3 and were clearly struggling to find the kind of form that propelled them to the Meath IFC title last month. During the opening quarter they gave the ball away with alarming regularity, they were unable to string a couple of passes together and they paid the price as Templeogue Synge St took full control. With former Dublin star Anton O"Toole guiding the Templeogue side from the sideline the visitors played with a swashbuckling verve that had their opponents chasing shadows. Then as quick as a flick of a switch it all changed when Davy Cahill"s side took a foothold in the game. Suddenly passes found their target and chances were created. Suddenly it was game on. By half-time St Ultan"s had edged in front, 1-6 to 1-5, and that"s where they stayed until the end despite a brief rebellion by their Dublin opponents. This was largely an entertaining encounter full of fast, enterprising football. The day was marred at the end by the dismissal of four players, two from each side, all within the final few minutes. Niall Galligan from St Ultan"s and Templeogue"s Cathal O"Gara were dismissed following a skirmish in the St Ultan"s half with time almost up. Just after that St Ultan"s player Paul Murray and Cillian Byrne from the Dublin side also saw red following an 'encounter" in the middle of the pitch. At one stage the referee Alan McKenna spent close to five minutes running the length of the pitch as he consulted with linesmen and umpires to try and determine what was happening behind his back. The events of those few minutes was out of character with the rest of the game as both set of players set about providing a ding-dong encounter for the small attendance. Because of injuries and players on holidays, St Ultan"s had to make a few adjustments to the team that won the IFC with that deserved win over Cortown. The St Ultan"s management also deserve praise in the way they made adjustments when events were clearly not going their way on Pairc Tailteann"s pristine pitch. Substitutions and switches were made and St Ultan"s pushed on to deservedly move into the last four. St Ultan"s were really rocked after eight minutes when they conceded a bizarre goal. Templeogue forward Eoghan O"Gara hit a low-wattage shot goalwards. It didn"t have the power to beat Neil Burke, but the St Ultan"s netminder was standing behind his line when he made a save and the umpire signalled a goal. Undaunted by that, the Meath side persevered and were rewarded. The score that really sparked the St Ultan"s challenge arrived on the 20th minute mark. St Ultan"s put together a necklace of passes that opened up the Templeogue defence. Ciaran Rogers pushed through from midfield. He off-loaded to Brian Galligan who threaded a neat pass to Eugene Brady who took possession about 12 metres out before firing low to the corner of the net. Brady"s goal encapsulated the St Ultan"s display up to then. The corner-forward could do little right until he got that goal. After that he could do little wrong as his side tapped into a renewed confidence and style. In one respect this game was a tale of two penalties. The first of the spot-kicks was given after 12 minutes. It came about when St Ultan"s put together one of their first, sweeping moves with Darren Mallon, Brian Mulroe, Daryl McLoughlin and Cian Rennicks all involved in creating an opening for Galligan who was hauled down in the square. The combined efforts of Templeogue goalkeeper Cian Murphy and a defender succeeded in upending Galligan, leaving the ball to trickle over the line. The goal could have been allowed. Instead the match official pointed to the spot. Rennicks"s left footed penalty kick lacked power and trickled wide of the posts. With 49 minutes on the clock St Ultan"s were given a shot at redemption. Again, another great passing move which involved Murray, Mallon, Galligan and Brady ended with Rogers left with only the goalkeeper to beat. Before he got a shot in Rogers was hauled down. Up stepped Galligan to calmly direct the ball high to the net. There were other goal chances created by St Ultan"s most notably in the second minute after the break when a long pass from Murray found Rennicks and his shot was brilliantly turned away by Templeogue substitute netminder Eamonn Spillane. Rennicks also had a piledriver deflected over the bar by the alert Spillane. Once he got over the early jitters, Brady was a real threat for St Ultan"s and he finished up his team"s topscorer with 1-3 while Rennicks also capped a highly enterprising display with four points. One of Brady"s scores was a superb effort with the forward putting the finishing touches to a fine move by sweeping the ball over the bar just before the break. A significant change made by the St Ultan"s management was placing Brian Galligan on the half-forward line before the game started. He proved a real thorn in the side of the Templeogue defence and added a fine point to his well-directed penalty kick. Mulroe and Kevin Galligan mopped up plenty of ball in midfield. Denis Bastick, who had a run out with the Dublin senior footballers, was pushed increasingly to the margins of the game as the afternoon wore on. Mallon was another who impressed while Kevin Rogers was always busy. St Ultan"s showed enough to suggest that they are a work in progress and going in the right direction. They also showed that they know how to win. With 48 minutes gone St Ultan"s led by just a point, 1-10 to 1-9. They pushed on to win with some comfort. SCORERS St Ultan"s - E Brady 1-3; C Rennicks 0-4, one free; P Murray 0-1; B Mulroe 0-1; B Galligan 0-1; K Rogers 0-1. Templeogue Synge St - G Vickery 0-3, all frees; E O"Gara 1-1; C O"Reilly 0-2; B McKiernan 0-1; D Treanor 0-1, free; C Morley 0-1; P McLoughlin 0-1. TEAMS St Ultan"s - N Burke; K Lynch, D Galligan, J Bennett; D Mallon, A Martin, B Galligan; B Mulroe, K Galligan; D McLoughlin, C Rennicks, K Rogers; E Brady, T Coyne, C Rogers. Subs - P Murray for McLoughlin 13 minutes; N Galligan for Coyne 45m; G Rennicks for Mallon 53m; D O"Brien for C Rogers 58m. Templeogue Synge St - C Murphy; M Jones, R O"Donnell, C O"Donoghue; C Kiernan, N Crowley, C Byrne; C O"Reilly, D Bastick; B McKiernan, E O"Gara, A O"Brien; D Treanor, C Morley, G Vickery. Subs - E Spillane for Murphy 30 minutes; G Dunne for Jones 44m; C O"Gara for O"Reilly; D Cullen for McKiernan 58m; T Harrington for Treanor 58m. REFEREE Alan McKenna (Louth).