Ballyboden St Endas 1-08 St Patrick's Louth 0-07
Ballyboden St Enda's dug deep to take a 1-08 to 0-07 win over St Patrick's of Louth in the AIB Leinster Club SFC quarter-final in Drogheda.
It took a 34th-minute goal from Colm Basquel to help the Dublin champions on the road to victory, in a game which saw the Louth winners begin strongly.
Scores from Karl White and Paddy Keenan saw Pat's take a 0-03 to 0-00 lead early on, before Boden equalised by the 26th minute thanks to scores from Andrew Kerin (0-05) and Conal Keaney (0-03).
A Daniel O'Connor point handed Pat's a 0-04 to 0-03 interval lead, but Boden stormed back on the restart.
Basquel's goal opened up a three-point gap and put Boden into a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Pat's tried hard and had a goal from Keenan disallowed after a quick free but Boden finished strongly with two fine Keaney points in injury-time.
Despite just claiming their third Dublin SFC title last weekend with victory over reigning Leinster champions St Vincent’s, Ballyboden were installed as second favourites for All-Ireland silverware before this match.
It didn’t go to that script however as Andy McEntree’s charges were forced to dig deep, with St Patrick’s working hard, as the Louth champions got off to a perfect start.
Karl White set the early tone with two points, one from a free and another from play inside the opening nine minutes, while by the 12th minute St Patrick’s held a 0-03 to 0-00 lead.
Scores were at a premium in the opening quarter, and indeed it wasn’t until the 15th minute before Ballyboden opened their account, through Keaney.
This score started a bright patch for his side, with a brace of Kerin points levelling the game for the first time in the 26th minute.
A Keaney effort to take the lead dipped into the hand of Patrick’s keeper Sean Connor two minutes later, with the Louth side taking the lead at the break, following a Daniel O’Connor score in injury-time.
Boden looked better on the restart, and although a Kerin effort dropped short inside the opening minute, a foul on Basquel three minutes later, saw Kerin convert from the resulting placed ball.
A minute later Ballyboden were on fire, as Basquel scored the only legitimate goal of the hour, after a Darren O’Reilly assist, and from then on, only one team held the lead.
1-04 to 0-04 ahead, Ballyboden didn’t score for a further 15 minutes, but crucially St Pat’s only managed one point during this spell.
Pat’s needed scores quickly with Keenan claiming his second point in the 40th minute to cut the gap to two.
Pat’s tried hard, but Boden stood firm with Kerin continuing to keep the score-board ticking over, while there was also some great play from the likes of Darragh Nelson who caught a fine ball cleanly at midfield.
Keenan and Kerin swapped points to ensure a 1-06 to 0-06 score-line with three and a half minutes remaining.
Pat’s were hungry and looked to have Boden on the rocks approaching injury-time, when Eoin O’Connor fed Keenan from a free, for the latter to put the ball into the Boden net.
However, referee Patrick Maguire adjudged that the free was taken too quickly, with the goal disallowed.
Keenan managed a score from the resulting called back free, but Boden and Keaney finished strongly with two fine points inside 20 seconds in injury-time to ensure a four-point win.
BALLYBODEN ST ENDA'S: C Dooley; B Dwan, S Hiney, S Clayton; S O'Connor, D Nelson, A Waters; MD Macauley, D O'Mahoney; S Gibbons, C Basquel (1-00), D O'Reilly; C Keaney (0-03), S Molony, A Kerin (0-05 4f). Subs: D McCabe for O'Mahoney (HT), R McDaid for O'Connor (38), D Davy for Gibbons (47), C McCormack for Molony (49), S Durkin for O'Reilly (54).
ST PAT'S: S Connor; K Toner, Patrick Kirk, Darren O'Hanlon; O Zambouglou, E Lafferty, E Breen; P Keenan (0-04, 3f), E O'Connor; D O’Connor (0-01), K White (0-02, 1f), A McCann; D Lafferty, C Grogan, D Finnegan. Subs: R Murphy for Zambouglou (55), A O'Connor for D Lafferty (61).
Referee: Patrick Maguire (Longford).
