St. Patricks

1 May, 2003

Bray Emmets 1 - 12   St. Patricks 2 - 12

St. Patricks came back twice from second-half deficits to claim the spoils in this Coillte Senior Football Championship first round tie. Bray now enter the qualifier series where they will meet the winners of Carnew v Dunlavin in the next round.

The small attendance in Aughrim all agreed that this was an excellent game of football which was played in the right spirit. It was a shame that not more people from the respective clubs were there to witness it. The first-half saw many fine scores with both sides trading blows (on the scoreboard that is) for the full thirty minutes. After a nervy start Bray settled into their task after an excellent point from centre-forward John O'Keeffe. Bray enjoyed periods of dominance in the opening half but were unable to capitalise and thanks to a fine save by the St. Pat's keeper Bray only entered the dressing rooms at the break with the slimmest of margins.

The second half proved a real ding-dong battle. Bray soon extended their lead to five points after a Breandan O'hAnnaidh goal and a number of free kicks which made their way between the sticks. However, St. Patricks were not out of it and asked many questions of the Bray defence. A co mbination of attacking flair and some questionable decisions by the referee saw the teams back on level terms again. Once again Bray re-established a lead and once again the Wicklow town side fought back. With the game in the melting pot in the final few minutes Bray were pinned back into their own half. Some breaking ball fell the way of the men in blue and they took their chances when they came.

This was the seasiders first competitive loss this season and they are eager to make amends in the coming rounds of the league and, indeed, the championship.