De La Salle see-off Bush PP to secure their place in Lennon Cup final

The De La Salle deservedly booked their place in the Lennon Cup decider, with a brace of goals in either half seeing off Bush Post Primary in Dowdallshill on Friday afternoon.

Having suffered a disappointing loss at the same stage of the competition last year, the De La Salle were determined to go one better this time around, and the Dundalk side displayed a sheer hunger and work ethic which laid the foundations for this victory.

By the time the first quarter drew to a close, the De La Salle led Bush by 1-4 to 0-1, making the most of a first half wind advantage, as they tackled and harassed Bush PP, who struggled to get through a well organised DLS defence, as well as struggling to cope with their physicality.

The De La Salle had an impressive defensive spine, including full back Ruairi Traynor and centre half Daniel Craven with half backs Luke Shevlin and Fionn Holmes offering an impressive supporting cast.

Their midfield pair Rian Devlin and Evan McArdle also worked tirelessly over the hour.

When you have forwards with the class of Donal McArdle, Pearse Grimes Murphy and Shane Lennon in attack, the De La Salle boast major scoring intent.

In fact, it was a goal from Donal McArdle which gave his side the upper hand early on. The St Brides clubman orchestrated many attacks, finishing with 31 possessions over the hour.

Tenacious tackling from Evan McArdle saw a ball delivered to Pearse Grimes Murphy in space, and following a lung bursting run towards the goals, the St Josephs man teed up Donal McArdle who fired to the net, which have DLS a 1-3 to 0-1 lead after 7 minutes.

Donal McArdle had earlier opened the scoring from play following a patient move, while Shane Lennon put the Del La Salle back in front, following a Cian McKenna free for Bush.

Bush almost grabbed a goal themselves moments before the De La Salle green flag, when Ruairi Traynor heroically cut out a pass across his square. Traynor’s battle with St Patrick’s clubmate McKenna was intriguing throughout.

Despite the best efforts of Cian McKenna for Bush, the De La Salle put themselves in a commanding position, as they made use of the Dowdallshill pitch, and wind advantage, to lead 1-5 to 0-1 after 20 minutes, thanks to fine points from Lee Casey, Luke Shevlin, and Pearse Grimes Murphy (f).

Having set up the first goal, Pearse Grimes Murphy was the recipient of a neat pass by Shane Lennon, to calmly slot to the net for the De La Salle’s second goal, to put nine between the sides after 25 minutes.

Grimes Murphy (45) and Cian McKenna (f) exchanged scores, leaving the De La Salle ahead by 10 points at the break.

Second Half:

Despite having a mountain to climb, you felt that Bush PP could still mount a comeback, as they had the breeze at their backs in that second period.

Bush PP boasted several members of the 2024 Louth minor squad among their ranks, including St Patricks’ pair Michael O’Shaughnessy, and Ciaran O’Hanlon, as well as Cooley pair Jack Long and Joe Hanlon, not to mention Emmet Duffy who missed this game due to a shoulder injury.

Joe Hanlon was lively throughout for Bush, and the young forward kicked an excellent point following neat play from Cuchulainn Gaels’s Adam Sharkey.

Cian McKenna’s accurate shooting did manage to narrow the gap to five and six at different stages, but you felt that Bush PP needed at least one goal to really set the cat amongst the pigeons.

Four points in a row from McKenna including three from play, left it at 2-6 to 0-7 in the final quarter.

The De La Salle were guilty of pushing for goals when taking the point and keeping that scoreboard ticking was a better option, with Bush keeper Adam Brady producing several impressive saves from Pearse Grimes Murphy and Donal McArdle.

Grimes-Murphy (f) traded scores with Cian McKenna, who produced another wonderful strike from range, following an impressive fetch at midfield from the hardworking Larry Brennan of Cuchulainn Gaels, while Joe Hanlon was unlucky to see his close range strike cannon off the crossbar and over for a point, instead of a goal.

In the last five minutes, the De La Salle secured their passage through to the final, when Shane Lennon took a Donal McArdle pass, before sliding the ball to the bottom corner, while a quickfire 1-1 from sub Alex Babbington put further icing on the cake, as the De La Salle now look forward to a Lennon Cup final clash with back to back champions Ardee Community School.

De La Salle: Senon Connolly; Lee Casey (0-1), Ruairi Traynor, Michael Dubilovics; Luke Shevlin (0-1), Daniel Craven, Fionn Holmes; Rian Devlin, Evan McArdle; Michael Kirby, Donal McArdle (1-1), Alex McArdle; Shane Lennon (1-2), Ben Turley, Pearse Grimes Murphy (1-4) (2f) (one ’45).

Subs: Cathal Corrigan for Turley (54), Alex Babbington (1-1) for Lennon (54).

Bush PP: Adam Brady; Shea Connolly, Sam Elvin, Sean Thornton; Sean Holland, Larry Brennen, Darragh Flynn; Jack Long, Ciaran O’Hanlon; Joe Hanlon (0-2), Michael O’Shaughnessy, Adam Sharkey; Conall Shields, Cian McKenna (0-8) (6f), Tiernan Hannify.

Subs: John Boyle for Shields (38).

Referee: Ultan McElroy (Kilkerley Emmets)