U21A Antrim Championship
St Gall's 2-21
St Paul's 0-7
At Milltown
AN exhibition in scoring was on display in Milltown on Sunday afternoon as St Gall's oversaw the challenge of fellow West Belfast club St Paul's in the last eight of the U21A Championship.
St Gall's showed their intention of clinching a second U21 Championship in consecutive seasons as they put the Shaws Road side to the sword on the Falls Road in a fantastic display of attacking Gaelic football.
Manus Crossan got the scoring underway with a clinical finish from a short distance after the Milltown men enjoyed an early spell of possession. The star of the show would be Paul Austin who kickstarted a star performance on the day with a superb point, cutting inside and drilling an effort between the posts.
Callum Walsh's effort sent St Gall's in front by two in the early stages of what looked to be a back and forth game but when Pádraig Murray found the net on the 18th minute the clear day light was made between the sides.
Murray was at the back post to meet Niall Fallon's clipped effort and punched into the goal under serious pressure before Austin pointed a free to extend the St Gall's lead to five points with just eight minutes remaining of the first period.
Dubhultach Mac Cracbhaga and Paul Austin pointed another pair of scores to increase the lead just before the half as St Gall's enjoyed a commanding lead.
St Paul's showed some fight when Ó Dufaigh pointed from a free inside the close range but this score would be cancelled out after Callum Walsh struck a terrific effort from inside the right hand side.
St Gall's strolled to victory over their Belfast rivals
At the break St Gall's led their Shaws Road rivals by six points which tasked St Paul's with a a mountain to climb in the second half of football.
Murray and Austin would open the second half with two scores as St Galls' tally continued to increase with a relentless attacking front-line. Crossan and Walsh linked well once more as St Gall's controlled the scoreboard and tallied up an 11-point lead over St Paul's.
Murray again led the St Gall's attack this time powering past the St Paul's defence and clipping a great free over the bar to increase his side's lead once more as he proved another standout for the Milltown men.
St Gall's continued to pounce on the St Paul's frail backline when Austen struck free after free before St Paul's could mount an attempt of a comeback, although limited, when Ciaron Ó Dufaigh struck a brace of free efforts to reduce the deficit to nine but made little to no headway when it came to stopping a St Gall's attack who were in no mood to halt their scoring efforts.
The home side were home and hosed when Austin once again finished off a great attacking move after Gaireach Adams played a great pass into the path of Ethan Walsh who laid it off to Niall Fallon who drove at the heart of the St Paul's defence and laid off the ball to the oncoming Franco McCullagh who found himself out of position to punch home another goal for St Gall's.
Paul Austin's two-pointer sealed the fate for St Paul's as it stretched a gap far too big to eat into with the Falls Road side now firmly in the next round and piling misery on their opposition.
Ciaron Ó Dufaigh struck what proved to be a mere consolation score for St Paul's as St Gall's ran out worthy winners on the day and will no doubt be hopeful they can make it a second U21 championship in a row.
St Gall's will now head for another quarter-final in consecutive years with another title in the eyes of the West Belfast side.
St Gall's: C Óg Mullan; C Hale, G Adams, F McCullagh 1-0; A Mackel, L Lynn 0-1, E Walsh 0-1; M Crossan 0-2, O Maskey; D MacCracbhaga 0-1, P Austin 0-9 (0-2f, 1x2P), C Walsh 0-4; J Rafferty, N Fallon 0-1, P Óg Murray 1-2
Subs: C Wilson, L Walsh, O Kelly 0-1, C Devine
St Paul's: A Carroll; T Duff, E McGreevy, D O'Sullivan; C Burke, C McAlea, L Phillips 0-1; C Killiyleagh, C Trainor; C Duffy, S Óg McClaren; P Crawford, C O'Dufaigh 0-5(0-5f), S Burns 0-1, S Munce
Subs: B Morrow, B Burns, P McDonnell, O Casey
