No Joy for St. John's

Furey Coaches SFL Division 2:  St. Farnan’s 1-16 St John’s 2-7

St. Farnan’s Fenney & Ryan put St. John’s to the sword, writes Michael McGee

Razor sharp Shane Fenney &  Liam Ryan were the match winners  for  St. Farnan’s as the duo sliced through a porous looking St. John’s  rearguard to claim both points in a blustery St. Farnan’s Community Park on Saturday evening last.

With injury’s mounting up for the Carraroe side and their lack of forward penetration it proved a mountain to high to scale. The Dromore West/Templeboy combination were full value for their victory.   St. Farnans were the first to opening the scoring when Shane Fenney pointed from 28 metres on 3 minutes. Liam Ryan doubled it with great movement from the inside forwards causing the St. John’s rearguard plenty of problems right from the get go. Brian McGowan put St. John’s on the scoreboard when running through  the St. Farnan’s defence and pointing from 21 meters on six minutes. A free from Liam Ryan put St. Farnan’s 3 points to 1 up after just 9 minutes.   St. John’s John Reilly had them right back in it when he lobbed the St. Farnan’s goalie Padraic Harte. Reilly’s attempted point dropped under the cross bar and deceived Harte in the St. Farnan’s goal. Three minutes later the sides were level  for the first and only time in the match when St. Farnan’s dangerous Corner Forward  Shane Feeney gathered a weak kick out and slotted over. The tactic of St. Farnan’s using the right wing caused most damage for the St. John’s rearguard.   In a nine minute spell St. Farnans blitzed St. Johns  1-6 without reply.  Liam Ryan again on target for St. Farnan’s with a well worked goal. Indeed the entire St. Farnan’s defence played well as a unit closing down the Sky blues at every opportunity and moving the ball fast up to their forwards most notably Shane Feeney and Liam Ryan who gave the St. John’s rearguard a torrid evening overall.   Indeed these two lethal full forwards accounted for 1-12 of the St. Farnan’s entire total of 1-16. With Liam Ryan accounting for a personal tally of 1-5 and Fenney with 0-7 to his credit.  Both forwards scoring almost at will and looked very dangerous almost every time when in possession. The two inside forwards was ably assisted by David Culkin.  Points from Dylan Healy St. John’s and Eoghan Coggins St. Farnan’s ended the scoring in the first half with St. Farnan’s leading by 1-10  to 1-3.   At half time St. John’s management of Ray Henry & Niall Gordon rallied the troops with some straight talking and this seemed to have given the Carraroe side new impetus.

 

 Within a minute of the restart John Reilly struck for his second goal .  Fiachra Grennan’s  shot was initially blocked by Padraic Harte in the St. Farnan’s goal but Reilly was following up quickly and made no mistake from 14 metres out.  St. Farnan’s Shane Fenney put his side 5 point in front with a long range score.   David Culkin from St. Farnan’s pointed twice within a minute.  Alex Selby & Terry Farrelly  in the St. John’s full back line stood up to the almost incessant St. Farnan’s onslaught .Rory Kearins & James Noonan also played well against the St. Farnan’s barrage.  St. John’s midfield pairing of Mark Rooney & Mark Cunningham tried hard in the centre of the park. Rooney pointed a free from 24 metres half way through the second half.  With the rain  now sweeping in from the sea across the picturesque ground making attractive football difficult.  Both sides battled the elements.  But with five points in it and ten minutes left St. John’s were left with an almost impossible task as full-forward Killian Harris more out of frustration than anything else was shown a straight red card for a knee tackle on a St. Farnan’s  player.  Soon after Liam Ryan put further daylight between the teams.   St. John’s made a substitution bringing on Andrew Kerr for Geoffrey Corcoran.  Dylan Healy brilliant score on the right wing from 26 metres giving St. John’s a glimmer of hope and this was followed up minutes later by Mark Rooney’s free straight over the bar.   It was to the Carraroe’s side’s  last score however as St. Farnans finished strongly with points from Shane Fenney and a expertly well judged score from substitute  Brian McCombe  His shot  looked to be going wide but  curled in beautifully  in the wind to end the scoring with St. Farnan’s  winning by 1-16 to 2-7.   Best for St. John’s were Brian McGowan, Alex Selby, Rory Kearins, Mark Rooney, Terry Farrelly & John Reilly while St. Farnans best were Liam Ryan, Shane Fenney, Thomas Ryan & David Culkin.

St. John’s:  Brian McGowan 0-1, John Reilly 2-0. Dylan Healy 0-2, Fiachra Grennan 0-2, Mark Rooney 0-2.

St. Farnan’s Shane Fenney 0-7, Liam Ryan 1-5, Eoghan Coggins 0-1, David Culkin 0-2, Brian McCombe 0-1.

St. John’s:  Noel Hynes, Alex Selby, Adam Donnellan, Terry Farrelly, Enda Roche, Rory Kearins, James Noonan, Mark Rooney, Mark Cunningham, Brian McGowan, John Reilly, Dylan Healy, Fiachra Grennan, Killian Harris, Geoffrey Corcoran. Sub:  Andrew Kerr  for Corcoran (46 mins)

St. Farnan’s: Padraic Harte, John Quinn, Declan Taylor, James Flynn, Gregory Fenney, Cormac Hallinan, Stephen Gallagher, Thomas Ryan, Kieran Killgallon, Eoghan Coggins, Niall Hynes, David Culkin, Shane Fenney, Liam Ryan, Shane Neary: Subs:  Brian McCombe for Killgallon (32 mins) Niall Culkin for Neary 56 mins