St Flannan’s outclassed by superior St Brendan’s outfit

St Brendan’s  3-10   St Flannan’s  0-3

While a margin of 16 points isn’t a fair reflection on the efforts of St Flannan’s in their Corn Uí Mhuirí quarter-final tie played in difficult weather conditions at Foynes on Wednesday, there is no doubting the fact that St Brendan’s were the superior outfit.

That said, St Flannan’s will wonder what the final scoreline would have been had they capitalised on a number of good scoring opportunities in the opening half when they did quite well.
Indeed, the Ennis school made the better start but failed to turn their early dominance into scores and at the mid-point of the opening half they found themselves trailing by two points to one.
After each side had added a point, there was still just one between them as half-time approached but in the final two minutes of the half, St Brendan’s added 1-1 to take a flattering five-point advantage to the break after playing against the breeze.
On the day, the St Flannans’ defence played quite well but the forward line struggled when it came to capitalising on scoring opportunities.
This is reflected in the fact that full-forward Cathal Duggan was their only scorer and of their tally of three points, just one came from play.
Tony Kelly, Michael O’Neill and Aaron Considine had point-scoring opportunities in that first period when O’Neill also had a goal chance but none were availed of.
St Brendan’s stepped up a gear on the resumption and from the moment they had their second goal, following a defensive error nine minutes into the half, there was never a doubt about the outcome.
The Ennis side had their only score of the second half after 11 minutes but this period was dominated by a slicker Kerry side. They had their third goal with 12 minutes remaining after Liam Deasy in the St Flannan’s goal failed to control a delivery from outfield.
St Flannan’s made a number of changes in the second half but these failed to break the Killarney outfit’s dominance as they progressed to a semi-final date with the title holders Coláiste na Sceilge.
Eamonn Malone, Damian Lafferty and Jarlath Colleran did well for St Flannan’s in defence. Cathal Doohan worked hard in midfield but the forward line failed to trouble the winners.
St Brendan’s: David Gleeson; Chris Davis, Colm Tobin, Enda O’Sullivan; Damian O’Leary, Seán McCarthy, Cillian Fitzxgerald; Pádraig Lucey, Gary O’Leary; Cian Horan, Brendan Falvey, Christopher O’Leary; Tom Moriarty, Shaun Keane, Jeff O’Donoghue.
St Flannan’s: Liam Deasy (Ballyea); Manus Malone (Corofin), Eamonn Malone (Corofin), Eoin Enright (Kilmaley); Damian Lafferty (Inagh-Kilnamona, capt), Jarlath Colleran (Doora-Barefield), Brian Clancy (Doora-Barefield); Cathal Doohan (Lissycasey), Shane O’Connor (Doora-Barefield); Seán Hayes (Lissycasey), Aaron Considine, (Clarecastle), Jamie Malone (Corofin); Michael O’Neill (Kilmaley), Cathal Duggan (Doora-Barefield), Tony Kelly (Ballyea).
Subs: Conor O’Gorman (Clarecastle) for J Malone; Gearóid O’Connell (Ballyea) for Clancy; Cathal Malone (Ennistymon) for Hayes; Niall Arthur (Inagh-Kilnamona) for O’Connor.
Referee: Derek O’Mahoney, Tipperary.