St Josephs' Noel Flynn in command against De Le Salle's Ricky Kempton.
St Josephs 5; De La Salle 1
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This game played on Sunday afternoon was due to take place in the home ground of De La Salle but such was the softness of the pitch the game was switched to the home venue of St Joseph’s and they took full advantage of that last-minute change of plan.
They did fall behind to an unfortunate OG early on but when they equalised they took total control and ran out very easy winners and they will now play at home to Villa in the next round. This Saints side are a well-balanced outfit and the watching Villa management contingent will take nothing for granted against them next weekend.
The game was only six minutes old when St Joseph’s fell behind in unfortunate circumstances. David McGrath whipped in a free kick with pace from the left and the Saints’ central defender Ian O’Regan glanced an attempted headed clearance past his own goalkeeper Ross O’Keeffe.
Four minutes later Declan Daly should have doubled De La Salle’s lead when he had only goalkeeper O’Keeffe to beat but he shot straight at the net minder when it looked easier to score.
St Joseph’s got back on level terms on 14 minutes from the penalty spot. Stephen Westwood, the former Ferrybank striker had a shot handled in the area by Colin Grant. Westwood took the penalty kick himself and he sent David Underwood the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Declan Daly missed another glorious chance to regain the lead for DLS on 20 minutes when he was put clear by Philip Blake but with the goal at his mercy he shot wide from a great position inside the 18 yards box. Mark Masterson, who looks like a very decent front runner put the Saints in front for the first time on 24 minutes, running onto a through ball from James Manning and chipping over the head of the advancing David Underwood.
The third St Joseph’s goal was a joy to behold. Shane O’Brien took off on a strong run down the right flank before picking out Stephen Westwood at the near post and Westwood delightfully glanced the ball to the back of the net with a magnificent header.
Daly unlucky
Five minutes before the interval, Declan Daly was dreadfully unlucky not to pull De La Salle back into the game. Daly, who had missed two good chances previously rose brilliantly to meet a left wing cross from Eoin Kelly but his bullet-like header came crashing back off Ross O’Keeffe’s crossbar.
Whatever chance DLS had of getting back into the contest disappeared completely five minutes into the second half when Mark Masterson scored his second goal of the contest. Three players were involved in the build-up and when the ball eventually was played into the path of the Dublin born striker he turned two defenders before cracking the ball high into the of the net from 12 yards.
The De La Salle team battled on manfully but Paul Butler completed the scoring 6 minutes from full time when he controlled a pass from Anthony Phelan before drilling the ball under the body of the stranded David Underwood..
St Josephs: Ross O’Keeffe, Dean Foley, Clive Power, Noel Flynn, Shane O’Brien, Ian O’Regan, James Manning, Stephen Westwood, Paul Butler, Ger Quinlan, Mark Masterson. Subs. Anthony Phelan for Power (57 mins), Declan Phelan for Masterson (82)
De La Salle: David Underwood, Andrew Caulfield, David McGrath, Colin Grant, Michael O’Brien, Paul Power, Philip Blake, Declan Daly, Ricky Kempton, Darren O’Loughlin, Eoin Kenny. Subs. Andrew Howard for McGrath (57 mins), Paddy McGrath for Daly (67), Peter O’Hagan for Kempton (72).
Referee: Anthony Walsh.
