Douglas Hall U17s strike late to break St Mary's hearts

Douglas Hall 3 St Mary's 0

Douglas Hall defeated St Mary's in a very competitive Daly Industrial Supplies U17 Premier League encounter at Moneygourney.

However, the scoreline was very harsh on the Northside outfit as they dominated for large periods in the second half and were only undone by two late Hall goals.

The home side took an early 1-0 lead when the Gary McCarthy Trophies Man of the Match Ryan Hourihan scored an excellent individual goal 13 minutes into the game. St Mary's responded well after going behind, however, they couldn’t make the breakthrough and trailed at half-time.

The second half was very competitive as the game was played at a ferocious pace, but after Mary's had some excellent opportunities to level the game, the Hall who extended their lead 2-0 through Hourihan in the 80th minute. They scored again deep into injury time when Matthew Dowling added their third goal from inside the box.

It was the Hall who made the better start to the game and could have taken the lead only after three minutes, Ryan Hourihan peeled off the shoulder of his defender to race through on goal, however, his curling effort sailed inches over the bar. 

That was a warning for Mary's, as Hourihan’s pace was giving them all sorts of trouble and they conceded 10 minutes later when that man Hourihan received a slimline pass by Darragh Morley to drill home. 

St Mary's responded well after that early setback with Craig St Ledger-Mosyton forcing a great save for the Hall’s keeper Daniel Wiseman in the 26th minute. 

They came even closer to an equaliser 12 minutes later. Sean O’Keeffe released St Ledger-Mosyton down the right wing, he then cut inside his defender and from the edge of the box only to see his powerful effort crash back off the crossbar. 

The northsiders started the second half on the front foot and came very close when Braoi Walsh pounced on a loose ball inside the Hall box, but he dragged his effort inches wide. 

Two minutes later Hourihan got behind the Marys back line again, but this time Jack Daly was alert to race off his line to make a timely save. 

The visitors had another excellent opportunity on the hour mark when they were awarded a free kick from the edge of the box, up stepped St Ledger-Mosyton but his curling effort just went the wrong side of the post. 

With St Mary's pushing for that all-important goal, they were nearly caught on the break in the 76th minute, Matthew Dowling released Hourihan again with a clever ball, however, after lifting his effort over the advancing Daly it came crashing off the crossbar. 

The Hall did grab their second goal four minutes later minute to lead 2-0, Dowling’s initial effort came back off the butt of the post and Hourihan was first to react to smash home from the edge of the box. 

To be fair, St Mary's left everything on the pitch for their management team as they battled for every ball, but they conceded again deep into injury time when Dowling scored from close range.

DOUGLAS HALL: Daniel Wiseman, Darragh Long, Rory Denn, Larry Butler, Matthew Ray, Denis Kelleher, Conall McBride, Sean Linehan, Ryan Hourihan, Matthew Dowling, Darragh Morley.

Subs: Micheal Karuru for Morley (54), Mark Keeshan for Ray (65).

ST MARY'S: Jack Daly, Charlie Joyce, Rory Horgan, Brian McCarthy, Ben O’Donovan, Lee Hendley, Sean O’Keeffe, Craig St Ledger-Mosyton, Braoi Walsh, Chris O’Keeffe.

Subs: Oisin Sheehan for C O’Keeffe (70), Dean Mannix for Hendley (80), Matthew Cripps for S O’Keeffe (80).

Referee: Patrick O’Keeffe.