Published: Thursday, 17th December, 2009 6:31pm

St Peter's fail to impress but still advance in cup

by Kevin O'Neill

St Peter's 2 Yellowstone Celtic 1

ATHLONE's St Peter's squeezed into the third round of the LFA Junior Cup on Sunday, following a patchy display against Dublin-based Yellowstone Celtic.

On a dry, crisp but very cold afternoon at McCarthy Park, St Peter's relied heavily on a much-improved second-half performance to see them through against very average opposition, with goals from Damien Rushe and Brian Caldwell ensuring their passage to the next round.

St Peter's, who memorably reached the FAI Junior Cup final last season, certainly needed to pick things up following the interval, after Alan McNamara's free header from a corner kick had put underdogs Yellowstone in front early in proceedings.

Yellowstone's beginning to the game completely went against their seemingly ill-judged preparations, as the Dubliners only arrived at the ground a couple of minutes prior to the scheduled 2pm kick-off time, meaning the start of the match was delayed by some 25 minutes.

However, to their credit, they didn't allow their late arrival to hamper their first-half display, making their intentions known early on when McNamara clattered into home 'keeper Keith Hynes, forcing the St Peter's netminder to receive treatment before eventually regaining his bearings and carrying on.

The opening ten minutes proved largely fruitless in terms of goalmouth incident, with only long range shots from St Peter's Adrian Carberry and Yellowstone's David Glennon coming anywhere near close.

The visitors' were forced into the first of two opening half changes in the 13th minute when Mark Donohoe picked up an injury and was replaced by Gary Hennessy.

But the visitors' stunned St Peter's by opening the scoring on 15 minutes. The lively Chris Hennessy floated over a corner kick from the left and the completely unmarked David McNamara easily nodded home from close range. The St Peter's defenders could only look at each other and wonder how Yellowstone's second tallest player could possibly be left unmarked from a set-piece.

St Peter's passing was continuously going astray and a bit of frustration was creeping into their play. Dave Donohoe tried to lift their spirits with a couple of good solo runs and on one occasion he teed up Brian Caldwell whose low drive was blocked away from goal.

On the half hour, Aidan Warde latched onto a loose ball at the edge of the Yellowstone penalty area and his bobbling shot fell to Mark Sherlock but he failed to connect from close range and the ball dribbled wide.

Five minutes later, and with St Peter's slightly upping the tempo, Niall Scullion's brilliant through ball picked out Carberry but his cross-goal shot was well stopped by the impressive Mark Walsh.

Sherlock then picked out Caldwell but his long range effort was too close to Walsh. Quickly, Yellowstone broke upfield and St Peter's needed right-back Pascal Dillon to turn the ball around for a corner after Gary Dunne's dangerous shot.

Sherlock had another couple of good efforts before half-time, while Walsh also did well to deny Scullion, but St Peter's knew their level of performance needed to pick up dramatically after the break.

In the end, it was a quick-fire ten minute spell after the interval which ultimately won the game for the Athlone side.

On 50 minutes, Donohoe pierced the Yellowstone defence and Damien Rushe - St Peter's most lively player on the day - raced beyond the home rearguard to fire the ball past Walsh and into the roof of the net.

Yellowstone were visibly tiring and St Peter's netted a second goal on 56 minutes. Sherlock was brought down inside the penalty area by Christy Kearney and Caldwell made no mistake from the spot, sending Walsh the wrong way and putting St Peter's back on track.

Soon after, Walsh was forced into a very good save from Caldwell, getting down well to his right to turn the ball away from danger.

Carberry then tested Walsh at his near post but the visiting 'keeper maintained his side's fading hopes with yet another fine stop.

St Peter's were totally in the ascendency at this point and Warde saw his goalbound effort hacked off the line by Peter Priestly.

The game faded into something of a lull towards the end with Yellowstone never looking good enough to equalise and St Peter's seeming content and competent enough to see the game out with a slender lead.

St Peter's manager Michael Collins will be happy to see his side through another round of this competition. However, the experienced former Athlone Town midfielder will also know that better performances are required if St Peter's are to fulfil their potential and become a serious threat in this cup competition.

St Peter's: Keith Hynes; Pascal Dillon, Adrian Carberry, Tom Silke, Niall Scullion, Damien Rushe, Dave Donohoe, Patrick Craughwell, Mark Sherlock, Brian Caldwell, Aidan Warde.

Yellowstone Celtic: Mark Walsh; Peter Priestly, Brendan Priestly, Neil Swinburn, Christy Kearney, Mark Donohoe, David Glennon, Stephen Hughes, Alan McNamara, Gary Dunne, Chris Hennessy. Subs: Gary Hennessy for Donohoe (13 mins), Anto Hughes for Hughes (26), Darren Henderson for A Hughes (55).

Referee: Tony Ward.

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