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 overcame 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 under way 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 clear daylight opened up 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 Daniel Quinn 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 from close range but this score would be cancelled out after Callum Walsh struck a terrific effort from 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 gave St Paul's a mountain to climb in the second half of football.
Murray and Quinn opened the second half with two scores as St Gall's tally continued to increase with a relentless attacking frontline doing the damage. 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 a standout for the Milltown men.
St Gall's continued to pounce on the frail St Paul's backline when Austen struck free after free before St Paul's mounted an attempt at a comeback, although limited, when Ciaron Ó Dufaigh struck a brace of frees to reduce the deficit to nine. But that made little to no difference 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 to drive at the heart of the St Paul's defence and lay off the ball to the oncoming Franco McCullagh who punched home another goal for St Gall's.
Dan Quinn’s two-pointer sealed St Paul's fate as it opened up a gap far too big to eat into with the Falls Road side now firmly in the next round and piling misery on the 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 to the quarter-final in consecutive years with another title in sight for 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, D Quinn 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
