Ardscoil na Tríonóide Athy out of Bosco Cup with defeat to Moate CS

Moate Community School 2-9

Ardscoil na Tríonóide, Athy 0-12

Ardscoil na Tríonóide, Athy exited this year's Br. Bosco Cup at the group stages at the hands of Moate Community School. The three-point defeat will be a huge disappointment for the Kildare school who reached the final of this competition in 2024.

This fixture was a straight shootout for knockout football and, although not needed, a draw would have been enough for the Westmeath side.

There were three minutes of Moate possession from throw-in to the first green flag as they got off to the perfect start when Billy Stenson broke down the side of the Athy defence and took aim at the posts. The centre-back’s effort dropped short but did so perfectly beneath the crossbar and into the far corner.

The Athy then rattled off three points without reply between the 10th and 16th minute of this game. The first two came back-to-back when Caulm Keaveny’s opener off of a turnover was followed by a goal-kick infringement. The resulting free was tapped over by Ronan Kelly who started for Athy five days ago in their Leinster Senior Championship win over Summerhill. Wing-forward Cian Murphy levelled things with a superb point from range.

Darragh Madden was the Moate man to buck the trend of sidewards passes when he injected some pace into things with a sharp one-two and a fine point to follow as he edged his side back in front.

Cian Murphy was back on the scoresheet for Athy less than a minute after and again cut inside to beautifully curl over a score off his left side, but this time did so from outside the arc as Ardscoil took an 0-5 to 1-1 lead after 24 minutes.

Ronan Kelly doubled his side’s lead when he latched onto a loose ball in the forward line but Moate got back to within one again with a fisted effort from Darragh Deegan that bounced over off the top of the bar.

It was the home side that finished the half strongest and Ronan Kelly added two to his tally late on to leave Ardscoil Na Tríonóide with an 0-8 to 1-2 advantage at the break.

Moate full-forward Sean Mackey was first on the scoresheet after the restart as they were let off the leash and his point was quickly followed by a Brian Doyle score that made this a one-point game.

A sensational point from Ardscoil’s Niall Hickey in the 40th minute pushed them two clear again at 0-9 to 1-4, but Hickey’s superb point from a tight angle would be the home side’s last for 18 minutes.

Moate then hit a quickfire 1-2 in a Brian Doyle-inspired spell as the midfielder raised a white flag and also slipped in Ben Martin to raise a green one with a fine finish after he rounded the ‘keeper. 

Darragh Madden pushed Moate further ahead before a brilliant two-point free from goalkeeper Jack Ryan sent the visitors five points clear at 2-8 to 0-9 with seven minutes to go.

Ardscoil began to push late but could only find a route to score through Ronan Kelly frees with the centre-forward dispatching three-in-a-row before the hour mark.

The Athy school needed a goal but were thwarted at every opportunity and their fate was sealed with the last play of this game when Moate broke out of defence. 

After bursting forward at pace, Darragh Deegan fired over a superb score to send Moate Community School into the Br. Bosco Cup knockout stages with a 2-9 to 0-12 win over Ardscoil Na Tríonóide, Athy.

Moate Community School, Billy Stenson 1-0, Ben Martin 1-0, Jack Ryan 0-2 (1x2ptf), Brian Doyle 0-2, Darragh Deegan 0-2, Darragh Madden 0-2, Sean Mackey 0-1.

Ardscoil Na Tríonóide, Ronan Kelly 0-7 (0-5 frees), Cian Murphy 0-3 (1x2pt), Calum Keaveny 0-1, Niall Hickey 0-1.

MOATE COMMUNITY SCHOOL: Jack Ryan; Mark Loddick, Anthony King Carroll, Lee Corcoran; Ben Martin, Billy Stenson, Alex Mullen Adamson; Brian Doyle, Conor Daly; Aaron Claffey, Kevin Boland, Darragh Deegan; Eoin McCormack, Sean Mackey, Darragh Madden. Subs: John Paul for Eoin McCormack (42 minutes).

ARDSCOIL NA TRÍONÓIDE: Rory Chanders; Hugh Kennedy, Daniel Henry, Glenn Doyle; Mark Grufferty, Cameron Pedreschi, Calum Keaveny; Robert Murphy, Padraig Grufferty; Cian Murphy, Ronan Kelly, Fionn Whelan; Harry Grainger, Niall Hickey, Sean Rowan. Subs: Conor Byrne for Hugh Kennedy (52 minutes).

Referee: Lar Murphy (Carlow)

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