St.Josephs players celebrate teamate Bryan Powers stunning goal in the second half.
St Joseph’s 3; Ballyduff 2
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The top two teams in the Youth ‘B’ League served up a cracking affair on Sunday morning in the St John’s Park Council Complex. Both sides had won five of their six opening games and a close contest was predicted. However, when St Joseph’s raced into a two-goal lead after only 10 minutes a lopsided match looked the likely outcome but Ballyduff fought back manfully and made a right game of it. The Saints did eventually take home all of the points on offer but not without a real fright from the visitors. Played on what was a glorious morning, this was an exciting 90 minutes from two very good teams.
St Joseph’s made their intentions known from the opening minute when Darren Flanagan knocked the ball forward to Martin O’Neill; he in turn passed to Bryan Power who produced a fine save from the Ballyduff goalkeeper Marcus Millea.
The Saints took the lead from the penalty spot on 5 minutes. Left winger David Sutton was taken down by full-back Declan Cheasty just inside the left edge of the penalty area and Martin O’Neill duly dispatched the spot kick with ease.
The hosts continued to press forward and O’Neill went close with an angled drive from the right after latching on to a pass from Jamie O’Mahony.
The visitors fell further behind after 10 minutes. O’Neill took off on a powerful run from just inside the halfway line before releasing Bryan Power who drilled the ball low past Marcus Millea from 16 yards.
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