Goal propels St. Joseph"s into last eight in Leinster

St. Joseph"s, Rochfortbridge advanced to the quarter-finals of this year"s Leinster Colleges senior football "A" championship by virtue of a deserved win over Westmeath rivals, Marist College.The winners were the better team on the day, particularly in an impressive second half display, when they outscored their opponents by six points.The fact that this was achieved despite being a player down - centre halfforward Jason Cully having been sent off in first half injury-time - was all the more noteworthy.This eagerly-awaited fixture was switched from Rochfortbridge to nearby Rhode in County Offaly and attracted a decent crowd of parents and neutrals, although the absence of students from both schools took away somewhat from the traditional atmosphere associated with the colleges scene.The main talking point prior to the game was the inclusion of promising Tubberclair teenager, Ian Coffey in Marist"s ranks, the DRA having cleared last year"s Athlone CC captain to participate, despite his earlier appearances for the Community College in the 2008/09 North Leinster League (a competition won by St. Joseph"s).A very strong crosswind favoured neither side on what was a pleasant but very cold afternoon. The winners looked the livelier team in the early exchanges and they raced into a three-point lead by the seventh minute. Team captain, Wayne Fox was already prominent as a provider of chances, with the scores coming from Clive Kiernan (a tidy shot from close range), Mark Conroy (a fine score under pressure) and Eoin Gorman (a tricky left-footed free).At the other end, the St. Joseph"s defence had a solid look about it and they did well to keep out a promising Marist move in the 12th minute, before the ball was swept upfield to Wayne Fox who duly slotted over a superb point.TempoThe Athlone lads gradually upped the tempo with Ian Coffey and especially Callum McCormack more to the fore, but they were unable to open their account until the 20th minute when centre half forward Jack Carty dissectedthe posts from 30 metres at the end of a patient move. Two minutes later, St. Joseph"s restored their four-point cushion with a neat score from Eoin Gorman.However, the losers" best spell soon followed and two routine converted frees from Ian Coffey and a terrific point from Brian Mulvihill brought them to within a point of their rivals by the 28th minute. In injury-time, it took outstanding mass defending by the "Bridge lads to keep out Ian Coffey but the winners were then dealt a body blow when Jason Cully was sent off, following an altercation with Jack Carty. Given this, St. Joseph"s slender interval lead of 0-5 to 0-4 looked precarious.Marist wing back Ronan Stack was the free man on the change of ends and his side was on level terms after a mere 20 seconds, Jack Carty setting up Callum McCormack for a lovely point. Some two minutes later, Clive Kiernanpointed a 25-metre free and his team should have gone further ahead in the next passage of play, but a great move broke down in front of the Marist goals.The Athlone lads made the most of this let-off when an immediate counterattack resulted in a marvellous point from 35 metres from the boot of Callum McCormack. Indeed, David Fagan almost gave them the lead but hisfine effort was barely wide of the target.That was as good as it got for the side in gold and blue and St. Joseph"s took control of the contest at this juncture. A routine free from Clive Kiernan, a fantastic point from a seemingly-impossible angle by Donal Hickey and a composed score from Wayne Fox, following great work by outstanding defender, Cormac Boyle, suddenly opened up a three-point gap by the 12th minute. There followed a definite turning point when Ian Coffey very strangely elected to try for a goal from a close-range free, despite a packed St. Joseph"s goalmouth, and the number 10"s effort flew wide of the target. A couple of minutes later, the same player was wide from a very ambitious attempt from a lineball and Marist"s challenge began to peter out from then on.With five minutes of normal time remaining, Jamie Gonoud had a great opportunity to wrap up the tie but his well-struck shot for a goal shaved the post on the wrong side. In the 27th minute, the issue was well and truly settled when Marist goalkeeper Conor Fitzgibbon fumbled a routine ball and Paul Lewis was on hand to toe-poke home the decisive goal. The winners" netminder Paul Coates had been virtually redundant throughout but he showed he had maintained his concentration when he got down very well to keep out David Fagan"s goalbound effort.On the stroke of the half-hour mark, Cormac Boyle surged forward to rifle over a fine point and Ian Coffey"s last-gasp attempt to blast a face-saving goal from a close-range free was easily saved in the final action of the game.St. Joseph"s, Rochfortbridge: Paul Coates; Stephen Hannon, Mark Gorman, Eoin Rigney; Sean Deegan, Paul Carey, Cormac Boyle (0-1); Eoin Gorman (0-2, 0-1 from a free), Paul Lewis (1-0); Mark Conroy (0-1), Jason Cully, CliveKiernan (0-3, 0-2 from frees); Jamie Gonoud, Wayne Fox (capt) (0-2), Donal Hickey (0-1). Subs: Paul Rabbitte (for Kiernan, 59 mins), Brian Duignan (for Hickey, 60 + 3 mins).Marist College, Athlone: Conor Fitzgibbon; Nigel Farrell, Trevor Farrell, Luke Kelly; Ronan Stack, Paul Furey, Seamus Connaughton; Robert Buckley, Aidan Connaughton; Ian Coffey (0-2, both from frees), Jack Carty (0-1),David McCormack; David Fagan, Callum McCormack (capt) (0-2), Brian Mulvihill (0-1).Referee: Vincent Dowling (Laois).