St Patrick's Cup Finals 2006
Sunday May 14th

Ladies Football Final - Saoirse 1-9 (12) Fog City Harps 3-2 (11)
Men’s Junior Football Final - Celts 3-8 (17) Sean Treacy’s 1-13 (16)
Men’s Senior Football Semi Final - Ulster 2-13 Boru 1-5 Report...
Hurling Final - Na Fianna 6-10 Naomh Padraig 3-9 AET Report...

Boru Mown Down as Ulster Batter Through to Final
Men’s Senior Football Semi Final
Ulster 2-13 Boru 1-5

It was an unsettlingly low-scoring first ten minutes in which there was a lot of tough play but poor finishing at both ends of the field. A turning point came when Ulster squeezed two balls over the bar from tight angles followed by a superb goal from the edge of the box. The speed had built up by this stage as Ulster stamped their authority on the game with goal number two and almost got a third that was kicked over the bar to clear an empty net.

Boru were just not in this game at all as Ulster pounded away mercilessly all the way to the half-time whistle with a nine point lead.

Tweny-five seconds into the second half, Ulster resumed the onslaught with another string of scores without reply until Boru got a punched goal that came perilously close to being disallowed as a square ball. This was one of only two scores that they managed to get in the rest of this devastatingly imbalanced game.

Referee: Declan McConn

Na Fianna Have the Stamina for Victory
St Patrick’s Cup Hurling Final
Na Fianna 6-10 Naomh Padraig 3-9 (after extra time)

Na Fianna had the edge for the most part as this one and only competitive game of the St Patrick’s Cup hurling competition got underway. It was a much higher quality match than the previous week’s effort. Instead of frantic scrambling around on the ground to get the ball lifted, this was a more flowing game with good skill on display all around.

Na Fianna were getting a lot of ball into the forwards and taking plenty of shots, but poor accuracy resulted in little more than a string of wides. Naomh Padraig initially made better use of their scoring opportunities, but by half time they trailed by a point.

The second half saw the lead pass from one side to the other and back again as point after point was fired over the bar at each end of the field between three goals, and it seemed like a fair result at the end of regulation time when Naomh Padraig had 2-6 to Na Fianna’s 1-9.

Twenty minutes of extra time were played, and Na Fianna seemed to have better stamina to keep on going in these very hot conditions as they blasted five goals into the net to pull clear for a convincing win.

Referee: James Kinnealey