Great to get over the line says Chris as St. Paul’s edge past Eire Og

St. Paul’s exciting young attacking wing back Chris Lavery said his team were delighted to book their place in the next round of the Intermediate Championship after a narrow win over Eire Og.

“It’s just great to get over the line. We got a number of breaks at the right time particularly when we scored our first goal,” said Chris. “Eire Og maybe deserved to get something from the game, but I think we deserved to be in front at the final whistle.”

Lavery, who plays in the Irish League with Dungannon Swifts, added. “We had a lot of players who did well, it was a team performance. We had to pull out all the stops as Eire Og were there right to the bitter end.”

Of the three big local derbies the clash of St. Paul’s and Eire Og was by far the best. The game was riveting from start to finish and although losing out the Pinebank men contributed to a superb encounter.

The winners crucially grabbed their goals at the right times, the initial goal from the Saints which was part of a double salvo from Ryan Gilmore arrived at a time when Eire Og were attempting to dominate the pattern of the game, Gilmore’s first goal on four minutes was followed by a barrage of points from the Ogs who cracked over scores from Nathan McConville and Ryan Devlin, The brilliant Phelim O’Neill broke a barren spell of 11 minutes to put St. Paul’s back in front and Chris Lavery squared the game with a great score at pace.

Ryan Gilmore’s second goal which came following a fundamental error put the Teghnevan side three in front but Conor Martin’s chip over the advancing Ciaran Toman in the Saints goals put Eire Og back on level terms.

St. Paul’s led by two at the break with Michael Shanks concluding the scoring.

The winners found Nathan McConville in top form, the Pinebank forward hit four second half points, but points from Mickey Shanks, Chris Lavery, Niall McPartland and a great finish from Charlie Harte on the volley neutralised a good effort from Declan Shanks for the Ogs.

Darren Fox finished the scoring to secure a two points victory for Shane McConville’s team who can reflect on a brilliant point blank save from their keeper Ciaran Toman 12 minutes before the end with just a goal separating the sides which proved crucial.

The game was a great showcase for local football and the big crowd were entertained from start to finish,