St Mel’s College Longford clinch their spot in the knockout stage of the championship

St Mel’s College clinched their spot in the knockout stage of the Leinster Post-Primary Schools Senior A Football Championship as they overcame the stiff challenge of Dublin opponents Ardscoil Rís by the  narrow margin of two points in Whitehall on Tuesday. 

St Mel’s College . . . 1-18  Ardscoil Rís . . . 3-10

The lethal Clonguick attacker James Hagan contributed 0-10 (1 two pointer free, 2 frees) out of his side’s final tally of 1-18 to play a major role in a second consecutive win. 

It wasn’t looking good for the boys in blue after 10 minutes as Ardscoil Rís replied to Mel’s opening two points with a Matthew Duff point before centre-half-back Paul O’Connell rattled the net along with a Dan Brady two pointer to leave the Longford college trailing by 4. 

Another Ardscoil Rís two pointer kick from Max Donnelly (free) put them in a commanding lead but a Senan Buckley point and 4 James Hagan points (2 frees) in a row settled St  Mel’s as they only trailed by 2 heading into the break on a scoreline of 1-6 to 0-7.

St Mel’s started the second half much better as Adam McCarthy (Killoe) found the net with 33 minutes on the clock. A James Hagan two pointer free put the Longford college into a three point lead but Ardscoil Rís won a penalty less than a minute later and Max Donnelly stepped up to coolly convert the kick to level matters. 

St Mel’s went on to kick the next 5 scores in a decisive dominant spell as Buckley and Hagan found the posts twice along with a Diarmuid O’Brien point to regain the lead for their side. 

Max Donnelly converted another 2 pointer free off the ground for the Dublin school but St Mel’s went on to comfortably kick the next two scores. A brilliant upfield run by Michael Gacquin and a fisted point from Jack Finnegan gave Mel’s some breathing space going into the closing stages of the game.

Ardscoil Rís were reduced to 14 players when Max Donnelly was sent off through a straight red card following an off the ball incident. 

A stoppage time goal from Dan Brady was not enough as St Mel’s (coached by Jimmy Gacquin and Nigel Rabbitt) secured the win to advance a stage further in the championship and will now face Marist College, Athlone after the mid-term break to play for top spot in this group.

St Mel’s College: Adam McCormack (Bornacoola); Ezekiel Da Costa (Longford Slashers), Billy Maguire (Longford Slashers), Cian Gilna (Killoe); Michael Gacquin (Clonguish, 0-1), Mark Cooney (Clonguish), Cathal Lynch (Clonguish); Conor Doherty (Killoe, 0-1), James Shannon (Slashers);  Senan Buckley (Clonguish, 0-3), Jack Finnegan (Grattans, 0-1), Michael Glennon (Clonguish);  Diarmuid O’Brien (Longford Slashers, 0-1), James Hagan (Clonguish, 0-10, 1 two pointer free, 2 frees), Adam McCarthy (Killoe, 1-1). 

Sub used: Oisin McHugh (Grattans) for A McCarthy (58 mins). 

Ardscoil Rís Dublin: Cathal Daly, Billy Cosgrove, Caoimhin Fay, Conor Nevin, Matthew Duff (0-1), Paul O’Connell (1-0), Aaron Graham, Josh Bracken (0-1), Harry Dinnegan, Richie Hession, Dan Brady (1-2, two pointer from play), Joseph Gilroy (0-1), Fionn Daly, Max Donnelly (1-5, goal from penalty, brace of two pointer frees, 1 free), Fintan Butler

Subs used: Marc Dempsey for F Butler (44 mins), Aidan Watt for A Graham (stoppage time). 

Referee: Brian O’Connor (Westmanstown Gaels GAA, Co. Dublin).