Junior A’s narrowly miss out.

On a damp evening in Coon, St. Martin’s took on St. Lachtains in the first round of the North Junior A Championship.  The Martin’s men went ahead from the start notching up 3 points before St. Lachtain’s kicked into life and outscored St. Martin’s by 1-4.  St. Martin’s battled back and with points from Shane Kinsella and Tom Morrissey kept them in touch.  The Freshford men were determined on scoring goals and narrowly missed a chance by putting it wide.  However, they weren’t going to make the same mistake again and their second goal put 4 points between the sides coming up to half time.  Once more, St. Martin’s didn’t give up and a well worked ball from Donal Shore, saw David Breen finish the ball to the back of the Lachtain’s net to leave the half time score 1-6 to St. Lachtain’s 2-4.  On resumption, Freshford extended their lead before Martin’s levelled matters with 2 points from Shane Kinsella.  With the homeside tapping over the points and Freshford bearing down on goal, it was clear that this was going to be a close finish.  A goal by Conor Kinsella, from a high ball let in by Donal Shore put Martin’s up by two points.  Lachtain’s fought back with 3 points of their own and once more, Martin’s had to pick it up a gear to get their 2 point lead back again.  With 2 minutes left on the clock, St. Martin’s struggled to keep a determined Freshford side at bay, but alas, they scrambled in the square to finish the ball to the net and secure the game with a one point win.  Final score: St. Martin’s 2-13, St. Lachtain’s 4-8

Team: Jason Shore, Nicholas Purcell, Martin Dowling, Jack Dowling, David Walsh, Aidan Lawlor, Paddy Dowling, James Kelly, Donal Shore (0-1), David Breen (1-1), Tom Morrissey (0-5), Shane Kinsella (0-6), Conor Dowling, Conor Kinsella (1-0), Eugene Maher.

Subs: Ronan Tynan, Aidan Egan, Damien Egan.

Team Selectors: Seamus Tynan, John Buggy, John Ryan

Referee: Peter Burke

31st July 2013