De La Salle turned on the style in the Antrim Year 10 Shield Final with a 4-12 to 1-00 victory over a gallant St Patrick’s Lisburn side at Dunsilly on Wednesday 5th October.
In sunny yet brisk conditions, De La Salle started off on the front foot and almost forged the perfect start when a 45 from Odhrán McClean drifted into the net, only for the referee to call for an infringement in the square against the Edenmore students. This only served as a warning for Lisburn as in the next attack, Dáire Thornbury scored a fantastic goal from the right, clipping the ball over the keeper.
De La Salle kept the pressure on Lisburn when in the third minute Ben Riley was fouled and stepped up to knock over the resulting free to put DLS 1-01 to 0-00 ahead. A minute later, the increasingly influential Dylan Fegan jinked around his marker and put his side five points up with just five minutes gone.
St Patrick’s Lisburn, to their credit, upped their work rate and pushed La Salle back into their own half for a sustained period, hitting their first wide in the 9th minute in the process. Fantastic defending from the De La Salle full back line Nathan Mullan, Jayden Seedan and Tiernan Lee provided the foundation for many attacks for their side, with McClean knocking over a free to increase his side’s lead to 1-03 to 0-00 in the 12th minute.
Three minutes later, a mesmerising run and pass from Riley found Carl McCaffrey just outside the square whose effort rebounded off the post. Soon after, another mazy run by Fegan resulted in a skillful solo point. In the next attack, a probing ball into the scoring area saw McCaffrey make no mistake this time as he found the net to put DLS 2-04 to 0-00 up with 20 minutes on the clock.
De La Salle kept their foot on the throttle, knocking over three points in three minutes courtesy of McClean, Kevin McArdle and Fegan again. Just before the half-time whistle, DLS proved to be firmly in control when a fine catch from McCaffrey set up Fegan for a goal chance which he duly dispatched. Fegan had time for another fabulous solo point to leave the half-time score:
De La Salle College 3-08
St Patrick’s Lisburn 0-00.
As expected, Lisburn came out looking to take the game to De La Salle and only for heroic defending from Daniel Kelly, Shay McCarron and Aaron McCrory, they would have made headway on the scoreboard. Having survived the St Patrick’s onslaught unscathed, DLS almost added to their tally in the 5th final only for efforts by Riley and Fegan to be cleared off the line, with McCarron especially dominant at this stage from centre half back and Brian Gough on the wing.
Nathan Mullan came to La Salle’s rescue as St Patrick’s pressed again and his clearance led to his side forcing a free up the field which McClean confidently pointed for the game’s first score in the second half, after 8 minutes. Aaron McCrory pulled off a fantastic catch to repel another Lisburn attack and his efforts were matched by the impressive work rate of Seenan and Lee to keep their opponents out.
Scores were hard to come by at this stage in the game although only the post denied DLS after a storming move involving Dillion Duffy and McClean who fed the Lórcan Córdner whose shot hit the woodwork.
After 17 minutes, St Patrick’s Lisburn finally got off the mark when their number 13 Christopher McGarry found the net with a looping shot from the right. DLS ran their bench as the game slowed somewhat with, more impressive defensive work by the winning side being the standout moments. Oisín McLaren in goals repeatedly dominated the airspace around his goalmouth.
Substitute Dillion Duffy added to La Salle’s tally with an impressive point to leave the scoreline 3-10 to 1-00. McClean capped off an impressive midfield performance with a storming run through the middle, resulting in a memorable solo goal. Córdner and John Austin rounded off the scoring with a point each to leave the final score:
DE LA SALLE 4-12
ST PATRICK’S LISBURN 1-00
This was a majestic performance against a determined St Patrick’s Lisburn side who never stopped trying until the final whistle. Kevin McArdle collected the trophy to the delight of the De La Salle following in attendance. A proud moment for the school and their management team of Mr Burns, Mr Wallace, Mr Doherty and Mr Alea.
TEAM: O MCLAREN, N MULLAN, J SEENAN, T LEE, D KELLY, S MCCARRON, A MCCRORY, K MCARDLE (0-1), O MCCLEAN (1-3), B GOUGH, L CÓRDNER (0-1), D FEGAN (1-4), D THORNBURY (1-0), C MCCAFFREY (1-0), B RILEY (0-1).
SUBS: C HERRON, D WALSH, D DUFFY (0-1), J AUSTIN (0-1), A MCILROY, G LOUGHRAN, R SMITH, P HUGHES, R O'CONNOR
