Captain Fantastic strike sinks Confey
Thursday 6th March
Peamount United FC was the venue for the Dr. O'Neill Senior Leinster soccer final between Confey of Leixlip and the Patricians.
The game started very well with both teams getting stuck in from the word go. Chances were created by both teams early on. Great work from Ciaran Troy on the left wing resulted in him cutting in and being denied by Confey goalkeeper Mick Kelly. Confey threatened the Patrician defence but the centre back partnership of Jamie Harte and Con Kavanagh dealt with any danger that came their way.
Confey could have struck first with a majestic header from centre back Padraig Burke, but his header soared just over the Patrician crossbar. Both Michael Logan and Sean Healy were in supreme form in midfield, with the pair breaking up several pieces of play. The score at half time was 0-0.
At the start of the second half, Confey had a brilliant chance to take the lead, but Sean Gilbert's was denied by Patrician goalkeeper Aaron Masterson. Masterson again denied Gilbert after the ball fel to his feet in the six yard box, but somehow Masterson pulled off a dramatic save to keep the teams level. Chances for the Patricians were created by both Troy and Glynn but they resulted in Confey 'keeper Mick Kelly saving well from both.
Andrew Doolin of Confey had the chance to score the crucial winner but his deflected shot just crept wide off the post. In the 84th minute a back pass towards Confey goalkeeper Mick Kelly resulted in Patrician Captain Darragh McHugh pouncing and tapping the ball into an empty net to give the Patrician's a crucial goal. Six minutes remained and Confey pushed on to try find a last gap equaliser. A swung in corner from Sean Gilbert resulted in Aaron Masterson plucking the ball from the sky to deny any chance of a Confey revival.
After the final whistle blew, scenes of emotion and pride were shown as there was a sea of black and amber in the middle of the pitch. It is the first time since 1975 that a Patrician team won the Leinster Senior Cup and what a victory this team secured. A man of the match from Con Kavanagh resulted in Patrician Newbridge being crowned Kings of Leinster.
Congratulations to the squad and also to management Mr. Hegarty and Ms. McBride on a fantastic and historic victory. The squad will now face the Ulster champions in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Patrician Squad - A.Masterson, E.Aldwell, J.Harte, C.Kavanagh, I.Meehan, C.Glynn (K.Morris 65), A.Burke, S.Healy, M.Logan (L.McDermott 85), D.McHugh, C.Troy.
Confey Squad -
M.Kelly, C.Dennehey (K.Belhout 86), P.Burke, C.Lyons, S.McGillen, S.Ferris, A.Doolin, B.Donnelly, S.Gilbert, S. Reynolds, D.Moran (J.Aherne 61).
Referee -
A.Carey
Written by: Liam Mc Dermott
Patricians, a bridge too far for Blackrock
Wednesday 30th Janurary
Peamount United FC astro was the venue for this well anticipated game between the Patrician Secondary School Newbridge and Blackrock College. Both teams started strongly with chances at both ends of the field. After just six minutes it was the Patrician’s who took the lead. A good build-up of play between Cillian Whelan and Michael Logan in midfield lead to a brilliant through ball and finished cooley by the Patricians’ captain Daragh Mc Hugh. Patrician’s could have taken a 2-0 lead just 3 minutes later when Cillian Whelan dribbled into the box but his shot was brilliantly saved by the Blackrock goalkeeper. Blackrock started to dominate the middle of the field and finally got the equaliser with 20mins in. A corner was swung in dangerously and was met by the boot of lead striker Brian Horgan for Blackrock to level the game. A rare missed placed pass from Patrician keeper Aaron Masterson could’ve lead to another goal victory for Horgan but he booted the ball over the crossbar. Pressure was mounting on the Patrician defence late in the half but Aaron Masterson stayed strong and pulled off a number of crucial saves to keep the score ar 1-1. Towards the end of the first half, Patrician’s could’ve taken the lead by midfielder Ciarán Troy but his shot was again saved and the score at half-time was 1-1.
The Patrician’s started the better team in the second half with Adam Burke and Cillian Whelan performing brilliantly in the centre of the field. The Patrician’s had an excellent opportunity to take the lead early on as Ciarán Troy made a bursting run down the left wing and put in a dangerous cross but the chance couldn’t be converted by Darragh Mc Hugh. Blackrock tried to create chances, but centre- backs Con Kavanagh and Jamie Harte dealt with any danger that came their way. It was a very nervous last 10 minutes as both teams were pushing frantically to find a winning goal. The decisive breakthrough came with 7 minutes remaining in favour of the Patricians. Great work from substitute Ben Mc Cormack down the right wing crossed the ball to Ciarán Glynn to cooley convert the goal that edged the Patrician’s even closer to a first Leinster final since 1975. Patrician’s had a third goal within minutes who and it was Glynn who scored after a sensational corner ball from Mc Cormack. Blackroack were denied a second goal as Masterson, Harte, Kavanagh stood up tall against the Dublin side.
As the final whistle blew, scenes of joy and celebration were shown on the pitch as the Patrician’s qualified for their first Leinster senior soccer final since 1975. They await the winners of Confey and Templeogue which will be no doubt an exciting game.
Excellent perfromances by goalkeeper Aaron Masterson, Adam Burke, Ian Meehan for the Patricians.
Written by: Liam Mc Dermott
Basketball Triumph
Tuesday 21th Janurary
Congratulations to our U16 basketball team for their huge achievement in winning their All Ireland playoffs.
On Sunday the 19th of Jan, the team and management team of Sanusi Jinadu, Colin Tyrell and Bernard Alexander travelled to Bray for their qualifiers. The First game was against Pres Bray and as always, they provided very tough competition. Newbridge settled better, running out eventual winners 38 - 25, with David Marnell scoring 10 points.
Our second game was against Rathmore from Kerry and was probably the toughest, with both teams within touching distance of each other for long stretches of the game. However big performances from Louis Ambrose and David Marnell pushed the team forward and they won the game 60 - 49.
The last game was against a very good Drogheda team, who had just run Pres Bray to overtime. This was a very polished performance by Newbridge, with all team members contributing to the result. Newbridge won the game 42 - 24.
The team has now reached the All Ireland quarter final, which will be played, the week of the 10th March. The exact time and venue have yet to be finalised. Huge congratulations to the team and Sanusi, Colin, Bernard, Ms. Woods and Ms. Nugent.
A lot Done, More to Do for Patricians
Monday 20th Janurary
Two goals from the youngest member of the Patrician side, Conor Hartley, in 60 seconds effectively decided this tie after 19 minutes of play as the Newbridge side moved into the draw for Round 2, with the tag of “A Lot Done, More to Do”.
St Benildus came into this game on the back of a two-point defeat in the Dublin Schools Final to Maynooth PP & with the North Kildare school unlucky in Round 1 last Thursday, Patricians were taking nothing for granted. Up to this, Patricians have qualified for the South Leinster League Final – which was postponed prior to Christmas due to a referee no-show – & their form suggests a run at a previous unclaimed Leinster title.
From the off, Benildus took the game to Patricians with Callum Pearson pointing before a Newbridge players had touched the ball. Ben McCormack led the charge back with a 45 and a similar free before captain Cian Scanlon capitalised on a poor kick-out to return the ball over the bar after 9 minutes & leave the score 0-3 to 0-1.
Benildus started to dominate possession around the middle, but a tight Patrician defence led by Moorefield men Seán’s Healy & Dempsey denied them scores. McCormack then gained possession & moved the ball to the edge of the square where Peter Howard tapped the ball down to Suncroft’s Ciarán Troy to find the net. This was quickly followed by another long range free from McCormack.
Patricians were six points up, when Hartley took control breaking forward to finish two good team moves to the back of the net. Two men who were heavily involved in the goals – Luke Doran & Ryan King kicked two points, before Howard linked up with Cian McConnell to send the wing-back free to put beyond Dillon Rafferty. Moments before that Cian O’Connor had kicked Benildus’ second point, to leave Patrician Newbridge 4-6 to 0-2 in front.
The Kildare school were guilty of a slow start to the second period & this allowed O’Connor to dominate, firstly goaling after 33 before kicking two frees. King settled some Patrician jitters when pointing after a good break by Peter Howard on 39. What followed was a period broken up by a number of substitutes before Andy McGowan & Ben McCormack exchanged scores around the quarter mark to leave Newbridge still in front at 4-8 to 1-5.
Scanlon & King further increased the lead with their 2nd & 3rd points by the 49th minute. Benildus applied some pressure on the Patrician defence & were rewarded with three frees in four minutes, which their main man O’Connor pointed. However, there was still some kick in Newbridge & they finished strong with points from King – following an excellent interchange of passes down the field – and substitutes Padraic Murphy & Cian Byrne.
Newbridge know that they have some things to work on before the play old foes Good Counsel of New Ross in College Park on Saturday, February 1. (TBC) On occasion they tended to take too much out of the ball & their inside forward line was starved of possession at times. A lot for the management team of Padraig Gill, Joe Lyster & Killian Whelan to think about.
Patrician, Newbridge: Conor Earley (Raheens); Ian Meehan (Moorefield), Tom Aspell (Sarsfields), Seán Healy (Moorefield); Seán Dempsey (Moorefield), Adam O’Brien (Moorefield), Cian McConnell (Sarsfields) 1-0; Conor Hartley (Sarsfields) 2-0, Con Kavanagh (Sarsfields); Ciarán Troy (Suncroft) 1-0, Ben McCormack (Sarsfields) 0-4 (2 45’, 2 f), Cian Scanlon (Sarsfields) capt. 0-2; Luke Doran (Moorefield) 0-1, Peter Howard (Sarsfields), Ryan King (Suncroft) 0-4
Subs: Paudie Murphy (Ballyteague) 0-1 for Ciarán Troy 40mins; Adam Burke (Two-Mile-House) for Conor Hartley; Cian Byrne (Sarsfields) 0-1 for Cian Scanlon; Ryan King (Sarsfields) for Adam O’Brien black-card 58mins.
St Benildus College: Dillon Rafferty; Eoin Ryan, Michael Mitchell capt., Graham Fallon; Brian McGarry, Mark Doyle, Callum Pearson 0-1; Conor Lyndon, Ronan Costelloe 0-1; Seán O’Brien, Sean Bedford, Tom Fox; Andy McGown 0-1, Peter Ryan, Cian O’Connor 1-5 (3 f)
New Sponsor, New Jerseys!
Friday 17th Janurary
Steve Clayton of Steve's Daybreak of Main Street, Newbridge presents a new set of jerseys & gear-bags, to Patrician Senior Gaelic team vice-captain Cian Scanlon, alongside Ben McCormack & Conor Earley.
The management of Mr Gill, Mr Lyster & Mr Whelan and the Senior panel would like to thank Steve for his generous sponsorship.
The Seniors play Benildus College in Round 1 of Leinster Schools Senior Football Championship in Benildus at 2pm on Monday January 20.