Francis Under 19s are on Cloud Nine
ST FRANCIS underscored their intent on lifting the Leinster Senior League Under 19 division title following their 9-1 drubbing of Cherry Orchard in Baldonnell on Sunday morning.
It was a somewhat tentative start by both sides, but the match soon sprung to life in the 10th minute when Garret O'Reilly from St Francis latched on to a sublime pass from Adam Clarke and, attacking the box from the left, he unloaded a low drive to the back of the Orchard net.
Nine minutes later Luke Devlin made it 2-0 from the penalty spot after Garrett O'Reilly was taken down in the box.
The hosts appeared to be cruising, but five minutes later Luke Murtagh pulled one back for the Orchard with well-placed header.
Bolstered by this score, the Ballyfermot side began to press forward and it took a massive save from the Francis goalkeeper Adam Murphy to keep the score at 2-1.
And minutes later he did it again, this time pulling off a great penalty stop from the Orchard’s Stephen Reilly. These two stops were to prove very telling factors in this match as Francis made the most of this reprieve with an onslaught that resulted in a further seven goals.
Indeed the floodgates were opened when, on the half hour mark, Adam Clarke made it 3-1, before Gareth O’Reilly fired home a fourth for the Saints just prior to the halftime break.
And the second half started as the first had finished as, five minutes in, Ben McShane found the back of the net with a confident finish to make it 5-1.
Francis where now attacking the Orchard from all angles resulting in goals for Conor Ray and Luke Devlin before Ben McShane registered his second goal and Jack Connor completed the rout to help keep their side at the top of the table.
The battle for the prize remains tight with just four points separating the top four sides in this division and third place Crumlin United having two games in hand over the other three.
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