St Joseph's hold off late charge from Graiguecullen to advance to last eight of SFC

While there was later drama in the last of the Senior football championship clashes this weekend, it's fair to say St Joseph's and Graiguecullen failed to live up to its potential. The first half in particular was an awful watch, with no score for the opening quarter.

However, St Joseph's probably won't care too much about the spectacle as they came out on the right side of this result. A goal from substitute Dylan Doyle was enough to see them over the line and hold off a late comeback from Graiguecullen.

As mentioned above, there wasn't much to report on in the opening quarter. While the bit of rain probably didn't help, that can't be used as an excuse for some of the terrible shot selection and poor turnovers from both sides.

Graiguecullen kicked most of the wides during this opening period. Mark Timmons also had a good goal chance blocked down by the St Joseph's defence, while Danny Hickey had the same happen to him down the opposite end from the Graiguecullen rearguard.

After the barren spell, the game finally began to get going a bit in the second quarter. It took a Dylan Murphy two-pointed free to open the Graiguecullen account on the sixteenth-minute mark, as the crowd almost gave a sarcastic cheer for the score.

St Joseph's, to their credit, picked it up a gear and were the slicker team for the remainder of the first half. Eoin Johnston got them up and running with a point before they had another sniff at goal.

Danny Hickey managed to find Darragh Farrell inside, but Farrell drilled the shot over the bar for just a single point to level. Mikie Dempsey then edged St Joseph's in front as they dominated possession thanks to their midfield continuously winning the Graiguecullen kick-out.

The best score of the half went the way of St Joseph's. They patiently held on to the ball for a couple of minutes, baiting the Graiguecullen defence before transferring swiftly through the hands. It finally ended up with Eoghan O'Flaherty firing over the bar to move St Joseph's two clear.

The lively Oisin Hooney then hit a fine outside of the boot score to push St Joseph's three to the good. When Eoin Johnston added anothee point, it looked like St Joseph's had taken control of this round two championship clash.

However, Graiguecullen did finish the half strongly to only leave the single point between the teams at half-time. After going scoreless for over ten minutes, it was the experienced Mark Timmons who took it upon himself to land a trademark two-pointer from distance.

Brian Byrne then popped over the final score of the half to leave Graiguecullen trailing by 0-5 to 0-6 at the interval in Laois Hire O'Moore Park. They could have had a goal just before the break as well, but St Joseph's number one Aaron Cooney atoned for his awful kick-out to save excellently from Aidan Bradley's low effort.

The first half was a difficult watch at times but the positive news from a neutral point of view was the scoreline. This round two clash was still in the melting pot and a chance to go straight through to the quarter-finals was there for either team to grab if they showed a bit more ambition.

St Joseph's made a very strong start to the second half. Eoin Johnston landed a two-pointed effort that was just outside the arc before Robbie Murphy did likewise with a massive score. St Joseph's lead jumped from one point at half-time to five after a few minutes of second half action.

Mark Timmons almost replied with another two-pointer but the effort ricocheted back off the upright. Jack Byrne managed to secure the loose ball and curl over from close range for one point though.

Mikie Dempsey restored St Joseph's five-point cushion, but Graiguecullen would cut into that deficit slowly after that. Josh O'Brien dropped over two points from the same spot on the pitch in between one from Trevor Collins as Graiguecullen now trailed by just two points.

However, the crucial goal of the game arrived in the fifty-third minute of the match and it went the way of St Joseph's. Graiguecullen midfielder Jamie Sheehan had a pass intercepted by Darragh Farrell in the middle of the pitch.

St Joseph's sprinted in numbers, with Farrell finding Oisin Hooney who played it across to substitute Dylan Doyle and he found the net. When Brian Daly drove over a two-pointer straight after, it looked like St Joseph's were home and hosed here.

To their credit though, Graiguecullen pushed them all the way to the end. Dylan Murphy started the late onslaught with a free before Josh O'Brien added another moments later. Jack Byrne was then brought down in the square by St Joseph's Ian Shanahan (who also receieved a black card) and Graiguecullen had a penalty in stoppage time.

Mark Timmons had no problem converting that penalty to leave Graiguecullen trailing by two with six minutes of injury-time to play. However, unfortunately for the men in green and red, they only managed a single Trevor Collins point as St Joseph's held on for a deserved victory.

FINAL SCORE

ST JOSEPH'S 1-13

GRAIGUECULLEN 1-12

SCORERS- St Joseph’s: Eoin Johnston 0-4 (one two-pointer), Dylan Doyle 1-0, Mikie Dempsey, Brian Daly (two-pointer) and Robbie Murphy (two-pointer) 0-2 each, Darragh Farrell, Oisin Hooney and Eoghan O'Flaherty 0-1 each. Graiguecullen: Mark Timmons 1-2 (1-0 pen, one two-pointer), Dylan Murphy (one two-point free, 0-1 free) and Josh O'Brien 0-3 each, Trevor Collins 0-2, Jack Byrne and Brian Byrne 0-1 each.

ST JOSEPH’S: Aaron Cooney; Ciaran Condron, Adam Campion, Niall Brennan; Jack Lacey, Danny Hickey, Sean Brennan; Mikie Dempsey, Brian Daly; Eoin Johnston, Michael Keogh, Robbie Murphy; Oisin Hooney, Darragh Farrell, Eoghan O'Flaherty. Subs: Ian Shanahan for Jack Lacey (38 mins, inj), Gearoid Lynch for Hickey (50 mins), Josh Lacey for Hooney (57 mins), Tom Dunne for Condron (57 mins).

GRAIGUECULLEN: Luke Dooley; Warith Oyeniyi, Danny McGrath, Sean McGrath; Jamie Sheehan, Mark Timmons, Danny O'Brien; Aaron Dorgan, Trevor Collins; Josh O'Brien, Brian Byrne, Dylan Murphy; Jamie O'Brien, Aidan Bradley, Jack Byrne. Subs: Daniel O'Reilly for D O'Brien (HT), Danny Aylesbury for Jamie O'Brien (47 mins), Aaron Forbes for Bradley (51 mins).

Referee: Brendan McCann (Portarlington)