St Patrick’s 4-21 St Paul’s 1-8
St Patrick’s eased to the Intermediate Championship title with a one-sided, 22-point victory over St Paul’s.
The inter-county quality of Aidan Nugent, Ross McQuillan and Jason Duffy stood out for Stephen Reel’s side. All three contributed heavily on the scoreboard.
Nugent rattled off two second half goals while McQuillan and Duffy set up majors as well as chipping in with scores.
But the main man on a day of standout performers was Man of the Match Shea Hoey. His first half goal changed the complexion of the game.
For St Paul’s, it’s their third championship final defeat in four years and while they started brightly, Cullyhanna were simply too strong.
The sides were tied 0-4 apiece but the turning point came in the 20th minute. St Patrick’s rattled the net for the first time.
Nugent captured a loose short kickout and after an assist from Duffy, Hoey fired low to the bottom corner.
Cullyhanna dominated the remainder of the contest and 1-4 on the bounce saw them stretch their lead to nine at the break. 1-10 to 0-4.
St Patrick’s carried that outstanding scoring form into the second period as Gavan Duffy and Nugent raised white flags.
Nugent then added a second goal to open up a 14-point margin at the start of the second period.
Tony Donnelly traded scores with Niall McCorry before another quick fire 1-1 from Nugent, assisted for the goal by his club and county teammate McQuillan.
Fives scores on the trot stretched the gap further before Nugent played the role of provider, setting up Caolan Reavey for his sides fourth three-pointer.
St Paul’s did add a goal of their own near the end. McCorry, who missed an open net moments before hand, drove the ball to the net but it was just a consolation score at that stage.
