St Brendans 6-9
St Finbarrs 1-4
ERIN go Bragh have finished the Division Two campaign unbeaten, after their final two games of the season were automatically awarded as walkovers, as the league season came to a climax on Sunday.
The battle to avoid the drop went to the final fixture at Holbrooks where St Brendans bagged six goals against St Finbarrs to not only finish second, but condemn Finbarrs to bottom place after St Marys were awarded a walkover in the final game.
A victory for Finbarrs could have left the league in the precarious position of four teams finishing on six points; however one final Brendans flourish avoided that scenario.
With the half-back combination of Ben Birch and ex-Belleeks man Ciaran Deighan raising green flags for Brendans the pressure was starting to mount for the home side, who were hit by another goal from corner-forward Sean Mills.
In retaliation midfielder Martin Crowley launched a superb long distance effort between the posts early in the second-half for Finbarrs, yet they were made to suffer once more when Mills stepped up to a free 30 metres out and lobbed a speculative effort which beat a ruck of players to nestle into the far corner of the net.
With the game becoming increasingly open Brendans kept the score ticking through a couple of frees from Birch, one fine strike from midfielder Dan McAndrew and a fine counter-attack made by Tom Hayden that was sent over the bar by Mills. Sean Doyle came close to a late goal, but it didn’t matter as Brendans ran out the victors.
It’s been a jubilant couple of weeks for Erin go Bragh, coupling success on the GAA front with success on the soccer field after they won Division Three of the Sutton & District league and the Rose Cup.
They will be staging a presentation night for that achievement at Holly Lane on Friday June 12, but before then they will be hosting a car boot sale at Holly Lane this coming Bank Holiday Monday, May 25 between 6am and midday – prices are £9 for a car and £12 for a van, with visitor parking at just £1.
