St Killian’s defeat Edmund Rice College to reach Faul Cup final

Edmund Rice had defeated the north Antrim side in the league before Halloween and looked the more co-ordinated team in the opening half, but relied heavily on Odhran Johnstone for scores.

And the centre-forward delivered, hitting five of their six first-half points as the teams were tied on 0-6 each at the break.

St Killian’s played in fits and bursts during that opening half, with Ronan Donnelly and Eoin Hynds scoring two points each.

Conleth O’Loan set the tone for the second half with an early point, quickly followed by a scorcher from Eoin Hynds which went inches over the crossbar.

Hynds then punished fouls from the Edmund Rice defence with three more points in succession before Kieran Mulvenna picked up his own rebound off a terrific save from Jonah Magill and passed the ball into the net.

Ronan Donnelly and James Morgan quickly added two further goals and the game was as good as over.

Edmund Rice’s reply did not come until a couple of minutes from time when Eoin McNicholl got inside the Garron Tower cover and beat Caolan Morgan.

St Killian’s now face De La Salle Downpatrick in the final. The game is likely to take place next week at a Belfast venue.

St Killian’s: Caolan Morgan, Declan McAuley, Peter McLoughlin, Francis McCurry, Michael McDonnell, Aidan McKenna, Caolan O’Connor, Conleth O’Loan 0-1, James Morgan 1-1, Sean Paul McKenna, Finlay Walker 0-1, Eoin Hynds 0-6, Kieran Mulvenna 1-0, Ronan Donnelly 1-2, Sean McKay 0-1

Subs: Conor Martin for F McCurry, Ruairi McAuley for C O’Loan, Thomas Scally for R Donnelly, Paul McMullan for C O’Connor, Conor Higgins for D McAuley.

Edmund Rice: Jonah Magill, Aaron Thompson, Joseph Craig, Ruairi McFadden, Caolan Hunter, Eoin Murphy, Aodhain Casey, Oliver Breen, Ciaran Toner, Ryan Maxwell, Odhrán Johnstone 0-7, Patrick Down