Round 1 results of the Senior Football League
The GAA season began in earnest in Hertfordshire last weekend with three games in the Hertfordshire Football League played in Radlett Road, Watford on Saturday evening and Sunday.
Results
17/04 | Éire Óg | 3-12 | 1-14 | St. Josephs |
18/04 | St. Colmcilles | 1-04 | 3-09 | St. Dympnas |
18/04 | St. Vincents | 2-11 | 0-03 | Cambridge Parnells |
Éire Óg v St. Josephs, Saturday 17 April, 17.00, Radlett Road
Martin McManamon had the whistle for the first competitive GAA game in Europe this year between St. Josephs, Waltham Cross and Éire Óg, Oxford on Saturday. The Oxford men got off to a great start with points from Joe Scullion and Kevin Morrisey. Scullion goaled in the seventh minute when a speculative shot edged under the crossbar. The goal clearly provoked a response from St. Josephs. Three points from sharpshooter Hugo Harding and a point from Ryan Gordon without reply left the minimum difference between the sides after twelve minutes. Alan Hayes doubled the Éire Óg advantage with a fine strike from 30 metres, quickly followed by a point from St. Josephs wing forward Michael Downey. The first fifteen minutes had seen St. Josephs seize the early advantage in midfield through the tenacious work of Darragh Gallagher but the following five minutes proved decisive, with the Oxford men gaining a foothold. Colin Forde and Conor Dillon won some clean ball at midfield and supplied Piers McGlynn with enough procession to go on the rampage. Between the sixteenth and twentieth minute McGlynn scored 2-02 without reply; his first goal was another speculative shot that beat the St. Joes keeper, the second goal was a well taken shot from just inside the square gifted to him by Kevin Morrisey. This left the score 3-05 to 0-05 in Oxford’s favour after twenty minutes. St. Josephs responded well with two points from Hugo Harding but the Oxford lead was restored to nine with a fine effort from Morrisey and another from the irrepressible McGlynn. Conor Barker reduced the Oxford lead to eight points on the stroke of half-time to leave the score line 3-07 to 0-08 at the break.
Whatever St. Joes manager Noel Griffin said at half-time had the desired effect as the Waltham Cross side stormed back into the game like men possessed following the restart. Two quick points from Harding and a magnificent solo effort from Darragh Gallagher reduced the Oxford lead to five points before the thirty fifth minute. The score of the match came from Shane Tuberty who smashed the ball from outside the twenty-metre line past keeper Callum Chiaponi and into the Oxford net. Although the Oxford forwards were working from very little, Alan Hayes made the most of his opportunities and took his point to restore the Oxford lead to three. St. Joes were failing to capitalise on their midfield domination and should have reduced the deficit, instead kicking three wides in the subsequent two minutes. What little ball was making its way to the Éire Óg full forward line was well used and McGlynn pushed the Oxford men four ahead just before the water break. The resumption saw an exchange of points between St. Josephs’ Conor Barker and Oxford’s David Walsh to leave the score line at 3-10 to 1-12 with ten minutes remaining. Tuberty and Hayes exchanged points in the space of a minute, but the Oxford men were once again gaining a vital foothold in midfield. Joe Scullion kicked a fine point to leave five between the teams with four minutes to go and Éire Óg kept the ball very well with some intricate handpassing, frustrating the Waltham Cross men. Deep in injury time Hugo Harding scored his eight point of the day to leave the final score Éire Óg 3-12 St. Josephs 1-14. Harding and Gallagher were excellent for St. Josephs while Forde and man of the match Alan Hayes ensured that the points travelled north up the M40.
St. Colmcilles v St. Dympnas, Sunday 18 April, 14.00, Radlett Road
Sunday’s opening game between St. Colmcilles of St. Albans and Luton side St. Dympnas was refereed by Paul Connolly. St. Dympnas raced out of the blocks and early points from Steven Lavery and James McKenzie were supplemented by an excellent McKenzie goal in the sixth minute. St. Colmcilles were finding it difficult to get out of their own half and were hounded out of procession on several occasions. Lavery extended the advantage in the eight minute and St. Dympnas could have been out of sight except for five poor wides. Conor Taggert of Colmcilles was very unlucky not to goal in the thirteenth minute when his screamer of a shot hit the post and rebounded into the thankful arms of the St. Dympnas full-back. A scrappy period followed and St. Colmcilles proved as wasteful as the Luton men by kicking four wides before Luke McAndrew opened the scoring for them in the twenty third minute. Shane Fennelly kicked a great point just before the half-time whistle to leave the Luton men ahead 1-04 to 0-01.
The second half began much like the first, with the Luton men well on top; Aaron Jarvis goaled for St. Dympnas from the throw in after some excellent play from the Dympnas half-forwards. Less than a minute, later Martin O’Donnell scored another goal for St. Dympnas to increase their advantage to twelve. Conor Carney struck back immediately for St. Colmcilles with a fine individual effort but any potential comeback was dampened by two quick wides from the St. Albans half forwards. Steven Lavery compounded the St. Colmcilles pain with two coolly slotted frees that stretched the Luton advantage to eleven. Carney and McAndrew kicked two excellent scores from play for the St. Albans men but with just ten minutes to go these barely dented the lead. Ciaran Gallen & Tommy Nolan re-established the eleven-point lead and a late exchange of points between the teams left the score line at 3-09 to 1-04 to St. Dympnas. Man of the match went to the industrious James McKenzie.
St. Vincents v Cambridge Parnells, Sunday 18 April, 15.30, Radlett Road
The final game of the weekend between St. Vincents and Cambridge Parnells saw Shane Gill in the middle. The opening minutes offered a microcosm of the game as a whole; Cambridge too wasteful from promising possession and an opening free kick, while St. Vincents ruthlessly effective in establishing a commanding early lead with some excellent first half points. Pat McCafferty led the way with three, while Dan Galvin scored twice and Ryan Devlin, Liam Taylor and Steven McKiernan all chipped in with a point each. Mick Nelligan opened the Cambridge account with a point coming late in the opening period, while good shot-stopping from Cambridge keeper Fergal Hanna held the score to 08 to 01 at halftime. Liam Taylor opened the St. Vincents account in the second half with a fine long-range point. At this point, Cambridge began to find a foothold in the game, notably through the work rate of John Hickey, Michael Purdy and Carl Reilly through the spine of the team. However, chances of a comeback were extinguished by a fine goal from Danny McGovern on the fortieth minute. Reilly opened the second half account for the Parnells shortly after, following some deft passing around the Vincents 13m line but points from Tom Taylor and Joe Timmoney extended the Luton men’s lead further. A fine point from Cambridge captain Hickey late in the game provided some succour for an inexperienced side still finding its feet but McGovern had the last say with an excellent second goal just before the final whistle. Final Score Cambridge Parnells 0-03 St. Vincents 2-11. Man of the match Danny McGovern.
Table
Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Points | +/- |
St. Vincents | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +14 |
St. Dympnas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +11 |
Éire Óg | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +4 |
Glen Rovers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
St. Josephs | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -4 |
St. Colmcilles | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -11 |
Cambridge Parnells | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -14 |
Round 2 Fixtures
SUN 25th APR | Éire Óg v Glen Rovers | SFL | Radlett Road | 12:00 |
SUN 25th APR | St. Vincents v St. Colmcilles | SFL | Radlett Road | 14:00 |
SUN 25th APR | St. Dympnas v St. Josephs | SFL | Radlett Road | 16:00 |
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