Under19
- Sunday January 25th, 2015 @ 13:33
U19's Into Cup Semi-Final
St Patrick's Athletic under 19's advanced to the semi-finals of the Enda McGuill Cup following a 3-0 away win against Sligo Rovers at the Showgrounds thanks to goals from Craig Hanlon, Darragh Markey and Stephen Ball.
The Saints' victory sees them advance to the last four of the cup competition where they will meet either Cork City, UCD or Derry City/Mervue United.
Aiming to get a result against a side that had beaten the Saints earlier in the U19 season in the Northern Elite Division, the Saints started brightly with Rory Feely going close with a volley in the opening the scoring on five minutes.
The Bit O'Red eventually settled and Darren Kilcawley forced Saints' goalkeeper Lee Doyle into a decent save shortly before Mark Hannon saw his header cleared off the line.
Paul Rooney and Feely once more went close for the Saints as the team managed by Cyril Walsh and Richie Smith began to take more control of the game as the opening half wore on.
On 43 minutes, the Saints pushed home their advantage by going ahead. Jack Bayly's cutback from the right endline eventually found Darragh Markey, who teed up Craig Hanlon to side foot the ball off the underside of the crossbar and into the net as the Saints led 1-0 at half-time.
McGrath and Hanlon both had shots on target early in the second half, while another chance for McGrath was cleared off the line midway through the half, and midfielder Bayly saw a long range strike tipped over the bar by Sligo keeper Burke.
The Saints however secured the win and their semi-final place on 80 minutes with another great team goal. Markey picked up the ball on the halfway before heading to goal, where after Feely linked up with McGrath, the onrushing Markey collected the ball once more to finish the move off with a left footed strike to the net.
Substitute Stephen Ball made it three for the Saints in injury time, latching onto McGrath's pass and finishing smartly to ensure that the Saints go marching on to the semi-finals of the Enda McGuill Cup.
St Patrick's Athletic U19: Lee Doyle; Tom Callaghan, Paul Rooney, Jordan Delamer, Curtis Murphy (c); Rory Feely, Craig Hanlon, Darragh Markey, Jack Bayly (Fuad Sule), Jamie McGrath; Tommy Ilunga (Stephen Ball).
Subs Not Used: Mikey Hannigan, Stephen Hogan, Ian O'Brien, Ryan Ennis.
