Tir Chonaill Gaels 2-12
North London Shamrocks 0-4
EVERY year Tir Chonaill Gaels carry equal measures of hope and expectation into the Danny Sullivan London SFC so manager Barney Breen will be satisfied with this convincing win.
North London Shamrocks brought momentum and a real willingness to graft with them to Ruislip, but Tir Chonaill Gaels were simply operating at a higher level. Mark Gottsche was the standout performer and it was his splendid 41st minute intervention which ultimately decided this match.
Just at a stage when North London Shamrocks were beginning to acquire some belief Gottsche assumed centre stage making a darting run which culminated with a pass to Cathal Magee, who subsequently found Brian Duddy. The Shamrocks’ net was rattled, and from then on all that needed to be determined was the Gaels' margin of victory.
Ashley Carr's smooth opportunism enabled the favourites to seize the initiative at the outset, but North London Shamrocks responded. Carr struck 1-1 in the first eight minutes, but the Shamrocks battled with admirable grit.
Danny O’Reilly, noted for his musical work with the Coronas, clocked up serious mileage as the Shamrocks toiled diligently. Despite all of the Shamrocks' honesty they just weren't clinical enough in attack converting only two from seven scoring chances manufactured in the opening period. Tir Chonaill Gaels half-time advantage was 1-5 to 0-2 with Carr the chief threat inside.
Shamrocks enjoyed a decent spell immediately after the restart narrowing the gap to four points, but Tir Chonaill Gaels weren't overly bothered. In the closing 23 minutes Shamrocks failed to register as the Gaels struck 1-7 on the spin including Duddy's decisive goal.
The standard bearers moved the ball smartly during the contest with Magee capable of gathering long deliveries which were repeatedly drilled inside by man of the match Gottsche. It is still early in the campaign, but the standard bearers have the cut of a team anxious to stay on the summit of the London game.
Scorers for Tir Chonaill Gaels: A Carr 1-6 (4fs), B Duddy 1-0, C Magee 0-2, T Gribben 0-1, A Askin 0-1, J McAteer 0-1, E McConville 0-1.
Scorers for North London Shamrocks: C Greene 0-1, P Healy 0-1 D Siddell 0-1, J Murphy 0-1 (f).
Tir Chonaill Gaels: D Traynor; B McAtarney, P Butler, N Travers; B Ross, E McConville, M McCoy; A McDermott, M Gottsche; T Gribben, A Askin, N Boyle; A Carr, C Magee, B Duddy. Subs: J McAteer for Boyle (47 mins), G Keane for Ross (55 mins).
North London Shamrocks: K Egan; B Galvin, D Meehan, P Lynch; L Doherty, C McAdam, C Green; B Feeney, J Power; D O' Reilly, E Jennings, J Glynn; P Healy, D Siddell, J Murphy. Subs: V Murphy for Siddell (49 mins), T McCann for Murphy (51 mins), J Sweeney for Galvin (55 mins).
Referee: B Collins.
