Seniors v St. Croans – Leo Kenny Cup – Match Report
Davitts Senior’s advanced to the second round of the Leo Kenny Cup after a fine 3-14 to 3-9 away victory over Roscommon side St. Croans on Tuesday night. This sets up a mouth watering derby match against Milltown in the second round in two weeks time.
Davitts played their best football against the wind in the first half. They built up a 2-6 to 0-6 halftime lead thanks to some very good attacking play. At the other end, the St. Croans attack was very wasteful, shooting some poor wides.
Davitts goals came via Dmitry Trench in the 12th minute, after a sweeping move, and Aidan McTigue in the 25th minute. Liam Kearns scored three points with the very impressive Evan Ronane, Aidan McTigue and Padraic Mangan tagging on three more to leave Davitts ahead by six points at halftime.
St. Croans came storming back into the game after the break. They attacked with abandon and only for the excellent shot stopping of Davitts keeper David Mitchell, who made a number of superb saves, the outcome of the match could have been different. The home side pointed in the first minute and goaled from the penalty spot five minutes later. Aidan McTigue pointed for Davitts in the ninth minute with St. Croans matching that score int the 13th minute. Points from Ronan McNamara and Liam Kearns (2) gave Davitts some breathing space as the game entered the final quarter. Two St. Croan points narrowed the deficit to three points and a late flurry of scores in the final eight minutes led to a very exciting end to the match.
Keith Prendergast fired over two points in the 23rd and 24th minutes, before St. Croans got their second goal in the 27th minute to narrow the gap. Keith Prendergast restored Davitts six point lead with another goal a minute later. Some sloppy Davitts defending allowed the homeside to score their third goal inside a minute but injury time points from Aidan McTigue and Evan Ronane finished the game off.
Davitts will have to improve if they are to trouble Milltown in the next round. Their best performers in this game were David Mitchell, Dmitry Trench, Padraig Mangan, Ronan McNamara, Evan Ronane, Liam Kearns, Keith Prendergast and Aidan McTigue.
Davitts: David Mitchell, Patrick Keadin, Cathal Higgins, Kevin Gallagher, Dmitry Trench (1-0), Padraig Mangan (0-1), Liam Macken, Ronan McNamara (0-1), Michael Waldron, Daniel Huane, Liam Kearns (0-5), Evan Ronane (0-2), Keith Prendergast (1-2), Darragh McGale, Aidan McTigue (1-3). Subs used: Aidan Macken, Shane Mitchell, John Macken, Tommy Clarke.
