St Mary’s U13’s proved their mettle with a 6-1 drubbing of title rivals Holywood at a sodden Mallusk on Saturday, a result which keeps them firmly in the hunt for the First Division title. It was a just reward for a quite breathtaking performance in their first match in a month due to postponements.
They were quicker out of the blocks than Hollywood and in the first minute Ross tried his luck from 20 yards only to see his shot go inches wide of the post. Minutes later they took the lead when Ross floated over on of his trademark corners and Breen powered home a thunderbolt of a header to make it 1-0 St Mary’s.
This was the wake-up call Holywood needed and they went straight up the park, but their effort was tipped past the post by the ever-reliable Quinn in nets.
St Mary’s continued to push forward with O’Reilly playing his first game in almost two months coming close after 10 minutes. Midway through the half St Marys doubled their lead thanks to an own goal from a defender who under pressure from O’Reilly and Ross turned the ball into his own net.
Holywood tried to get into the game and had a chance when the forward went through and his shot was well saved by Quinn on the penalty spot. The match was end to end and O’Reilly went close again after a great run and his shot was only inches wide. With the game nearing half time, McCarthy fed O’Reilly who went through and was dragged down by the keeper and the excellent referee pointed to the spot. Breen charged down from his own half to take the penalty and slam it home to give the Saints a well deserved 3-0 half-time lead. Breen’s team-mates have officially given up hope of him missing a penalty, thereby ruling out another shoot-out to decide who takes penalties !
The second half started the same as the first, with both teams looking to push forward in search of goals. St Mary’s had efforts from Ross and Park which failed to trouble the keeper and another from McGarritty which the keeper did well to hold on to. At the other end, Quinn tipped another another shot just past his post to maintain his clean sheet. From the next attack, a surging run from O Reilly saw the striker chopped down at the corner of the box, near the corner flag. Ross stepped up to have a look and obviously fancied his chances, and from a very narrow angle fired in a cracker which gave the keeper no chance. 4-0 St Mary’s.
Instead of finishing the game off as a contest, the fourth goal was the start of a shaky 5 minute period for St Mary’s when Holywood pulled a goal back, and but for the woodwork and another fine save from Quinn in nets, the score could have been much closer.
St Mary’s to their credit then got back into their stride and made it 5-1 as O’ Reilly got a deserved goal when he charged down the line and deftly dinked the ball over the advancing keeper. With the clock ticking down, St Mary’s were awarded a free kick all off 40 yards out, and Breen, who was in brilliant form at the back with the in-form Begley, took the free kick and scored a screamer past the hapless keeper to finish the scoring for the day at 6-1. The referees whistle was a godsend for Holywood who were quite simply blown away on the day.
Star men in a team brimming full of brilliant performances were hat-trick hero Breen, Begley in defence, Quinn in nets and O Reilly back in his customary role up front.
After the game, the coaches presented the December player of the month award to Jack Park and the January award to Aidan Quinn. Congratulations to both boys.
