St Mary’s U13’s bounced back from last week’s setback against Abbeyvilla to record a comprehensive 4-0 rout of old foes Bloomfield at Mallusk on Saturday, a result which puts them back to the top of the table. But for the heroics of the Bloomfield keeper, the score could have been doubled at least, such was their dominance in a very one-sided affair.
They got a dream start when O Reilly passed to Ross on the corner of the box with less than a minute gone, and he cleverly beat the keeper with a perfectly judged lobb. Minutes later it could have been two when O Reilly went on one of his mazy wing dribbles during which he beat three defenders and fired a shot which went inches wide from a very narrow angle.
At the other end , Quinn who was in nets for the day, dived bravely at the feet of the onrushing Bloomfield striker to prevent them equalising, and got some stud marks on his head for his efforts. He was replaced in goals by McNaughton who was resting himself as he was fighting for the Dockers later that night. The revamped defence of Bannon, Begley ,Breen and Morgan were in total control , and were ably assisting the midfield to create plenty of chances for their teammates.
With 15 minutes gone O Reilly fed Ross on the right flank, and he crossed for McGarritty, who deftly glanced a header into the far corner of the net to make it 2-0 St Mary’s. The very next attack they came close to making it 3-0 only for the keeper to make a brilliant triple save to deny Park , McGarritty and O Reilly. Park was not to be denied however, and made it 3-0 when he took a pass from McCormick in his stride, turned the defender , and curled in a cracker from the corner of the box. With the first half coming to a close, the keeper made another great save from a Breen header following a Ross corner kick. Half time 3-0.
The second half was similar to the first, with St Mary’s applying most of the pressure in search of a fourth goal. Minutes in, the keeper was left with no chance when Park fed Donaghy down the rifg and his pinpoint cross was ‘ chested’ into the net by Ross to make it 4-0.
Midway through the half Bloomfield were awarded a soft penaly when O Breen was judged to have brought down the striker. Justice was seen to be done, when he hit the spot kick wide of the goal. There was an even stronger claim for a penalty at the other end when Donaghy was barged off the ball in the box, but the referee waved play on.
In the final minutes the Bloomfield keeper made another great save from a Park shot from the edge of the box, and Conal Breen thumped an effort against the crossbar from 12 yards. All in all the coaches were proud of how the players put last week’s disappointment out of their minds and put in such a commanding performance, with star men on the day being Park, Ross and O Breen.
This week the boys play Celtic Boys at Mallusk in a 10:00 am kick-off, and training is at St Patrick’s school as usual at 7:30 pm on Thursday. Barry and Eamonn also wish to than k the parent sfor the sponsorship they received for the coaches versus senior team fundraising match on Sunday which finished as an entertaining 5-5 draw.
Team : A Quinn, C Bannon, C Morgan, O Breen, A Begley, P Ross, C McGarritty, T McCormick, P Morgan, J Park, E O Reilly, O Donaghy, C Lynch, O McNaughton, C Breen.
