Gers defeat Brides to retain senior status

The Geraldines retained their Senior Championship status for another season at least with this victory over St Brides in Darver on Friday night, thanks in no small part to the evergreen Jim McEneaney.

2-7 from former county man McEneaney, including a thunderbolt to the Brides net from range in that second half, propelled his side to push on and secure their Joe Ward status for 2025.

Jim McEneaney who finished with 31 possessions on the night, grabbed the first of his two green flags inside 30 seconds, after slapping to the Brides’ net from a Michael Rogers long ball to give Micheal Magill’s side the ideal start.

However, this did not lead to a purple patch from the Gers, as the Brides’ recovered to lead by a point by the end of the first quarter at 0-6 to 1-2.

The Brides had the wind advantage in that opening half, and made the most of it, hitting 1-10 from 12 first half shots, with Donal McArdle a particular bright light for the Knockbridge side.

Along with some accurate free taking by Sean Marry and Kieran McArdle, Donal McArdle leapt into the air to collect a mark which your average rugby player would have been proud of to give the Brides that lead. Other players to register in this period also included the hardworking Bernard Laverty for Mark McCann’s side.

It was also the Brides’ impressive defensive shape which forced the Geraldines into some predictable sideways passing in their attack, with Cillian Kirk there to clean up any loose ball in his defence, while Andrew Smyth was a useful outlet for Aaron Devin’s kickouts.

The Geraldines did manage to stay in the game, with Jim McEneaney scoring prowess key. He also turned provider for Eoin McDonnell which all meant that the sides were level at 1-3 to 0-6 at the start of the second quarter.

However, the Brides continued to find success from the kick pass into the inside line. Following his wonderful mark earlier, Donal McArdle seized on a loose ball in the square following a Patrick Reilly flick on, to fire to an empty net to give the Brides a three point lead.

This led to four points without reply from the Brides, including three fine strikes from Kieran McArdle (2f) and Patrick Reilly who found himself on the square at times, as the Brides led by six heading towards stoppage time.

A Jim McEneaney free did leave five between the sides at 1-10 to 1-5 at the break.

Second Half:

The first 10 minutes of the second half saw St Brides retain that five point buffer thanks to more free taking from Sean Marry and Kieran McArdle, as they led by 1-12 to 1-7 with 38 minutes gone, with Shaun Callan responding for the Gers.

However, the tide soon turned when Andrew Smyth was dismissed by referee Stephen Devlin for a second yellow card, which left the leaders on the backfoot.

The Gers’ tails were up, and a superb strike from Jim McEneaney found the Brides net to close the gap, before the same player found the range time and time again, alongside James Craven and Michael Rogers who saw more of the ball as the game progressed.

The Gers pressed up on their opponents, winning 6 out of 16 on the Brides kickout, with Gareth Neacy, Eoin McDonnell, Michael Rogers, and Matt Corcoran all seeing more possession. While Brian Cafferty played a key role in the Gers dominating on turnovers in that half.

Sub Shane O’Hanlon also got in on the act with three second half points as the Geraldines landed 1-10 without reply to secure safety at the Senior ranks for another season at least, leaving St Brides to do battle with St Fechins in a relegation final in a repeat of last year’s relegation clash.

Geraldines: Sean McEneaney; Cian Farrell, Jack Traynor, James Craven (0-2); John McCrohan, Gareth Neacy, Eoin McDonnell (0-1); Michael Rogers (0-1) (1f), Thomas McNamara; Brian Cafferty, Shaun Callan (0-1), Matt Corcoran; Dan Corcoran, Jim McEneaney (2-7) (6f), Niall Brennan.

Subs: David O’Connell for Brennan (42), Shane O’Hanlon 0-3 for Callan (48).

St Brides: Aaron Devin; Ronan Bailey, Cillian Kirk, Steven Hoey; Andrew Smyth, Patrick Reilly (0-1), Michael Keane; James Costelloe, Bernard Laverty (0-1); Sean Marry (0-3) (3f), Kieran McArdle (0-5) (4f), Robert McCaughey; Donal McArdle (1-1) (1 mark), Emmet Kirk (0-1) (1 mark), Ross Murnaghan.

Subs: Darren Bailey for Costelloe (45), Morgan Tobin for Emmet Kirk (49), Daniel McArdle for Keane (49), Nathan Kirk for Donal McArdle (58).

Referee: Stephen Devlin (Naomh Fionnbarra).