Published: Wednesday, 27th January, 2010 4:30pm

St Francis prove too strong for spirited Coman's outfit

by Matt Scally

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St Francis 5 St Coman's 1

A physically imposing St. Francis side eventually swept aside the highly spirited challenge of St. Coman's at a foggy Iona Park last Saturday afternoon.

Having gone two goals down inside the opening five minutes, it looked like it was going to be a long day for Ronnie Coleman's young side. A goal from Cathal Daly just before the break gave them some unexpected hope but, after a good showing from Coman's in the second half, St. Francis eventually pulled away with goals at crucial times coming from Adam Conroy (2) and Konradt Krysiak.

St. Francis flew out of the blocks and with their very first attack found the net. Having won a corner, the ball was sent in low by Krysiak. The St. Coman's defence failed to clear the ball at the first attempt and it rolled right across the face of the goal where Tiernan Dickson poked home from close range. A blow for St. Coman's but a perfect start for Francis.

And that start was to get even better three minutes later when Sean McKenna managed to break the offside-trap (despite looking suspiciously offside) before finishing coolly to the net. 'Keeper Kevin Cuffe did manage to get a hand to the ball but couldn't keep it out.

Things were looking ominous for St. Coman's. Their young side was struggling to cope with a much stronger opposition. However, Darragh Healy at centre-back was marshalling his defence well and doing everything he could to keep St. Francis out.

After twelve minutes of play, Coman's finally managed their first meaningful attack and when the ball dropped on the edge of the box to Niall Hanevy, one of St. Coman's' more skilful players. He let fly with a shot that just curled away from the target at the last moment.

By now St. Coman's were finally finding their feet and were beginning to fight their way back into the game. But a skilful Francis side always posed a threat and this was shown on 15 and 18 minutes when both Darragh Curry and Konradt Krysiak went close to extending the 2-0 lead.

But still St. Coman's came forward in search of a goal. And it finally came on 26 minutes when Hanevy picked the ball up in midfield before floating a beautiful ball in behind the St. Francis defence for the speedy Cathal Daly to run on to. Daly collected the ball before outpacing his marker and finishing coolly past Ryan Jinks to make it 2-1.

And it could have been all square just seconds later when the same combination of Hanevy and Daly fashioned another opportunity for Daly to shoot. This time, however, Jinks managed to get behind the ball to make a save and ensure that St. Francis' lead remained intact at the interval.

Play restarted at a slow pace with little in the way of goalmouth action at either end. But on 39 minutes, St. Francis got extremely lucky when a tame shot from Adam Conroy was fumbled into the goal by Coman's 'keeper Kevin Cuffe. From this moment on, St. Francis looked comfortable and never in any danger of losing the match despite St. Coman's best efforts.

On 46 minutes, they made it 4-1. And if there was an element of luck about their third, the fourth was anything but. Sean McGrane picked the ball up outside the St. Coman's penalty-area and threaded a perfect ball through to Konradt Krysiak, who calmly placed the ball to the bottom corner of the net.

St. Francis were now in complete control. A snap shot from Michael McGloin flew just wide of the post on 49 minutes and, a minute later, Krysiak brought a fine save from the Coman's 'keeper.

Cuffe, eager to make amends for his earlier blunder, did just that on 56 minutes tipping over a rasping strike from Adam Conroy that looked destined for the top-corner.

Still fighting all the way to the end, St. Coman's launched one final attack with brothers Lorcan and Cathal Daly combining down the left wing. Cathal, the elder, then cut inside but saw his shot fly just wide.

The last word was left to St. Francis, however. When the St. Coman's defence failed to clear their lines properly, Adam Conroy picked up the ball and rifled an unstoppable shot to the top-corner to make the final score a comprehensive 5-1 in favour of St. Francis.

ST. COMAN'S: Kevin Cuffe, Ciaran Egan, Niall Hanevy, Darragh Healy, Bart Gorski, Gerard Longworth, Conor Byrne, Eoin Heavin, Ross Daly, Ross Young, Cathal Daly. SUBS: Garry Egan for R. Daly (39 mins), Lorcan Daly for R. Young (47 mins).

ST. FRANCIS: Ryan Jinks, Daniel Reid, Conal Edmundson, Paddy Reilly, Conor Devaney, Michael McGloin, Konradt Krysiak, Tiernan Dickson, Adam Conroy, Darragh Curry, Sean McKenna. SUBS: Patrick Munnelly for S. McKenna (39 mins).