Crust and Crumb Senior Football League Division 2
St. Pat’s 0-12 Newtownbutler 2-19
NEWTOWNBUTLER swept aside their neighbours St. Pat’s with a clinical scoring display on Friday night at Louis Leonard Park.
The result leaves Donagh with just the solitary point carried over from the Club Players Championship, while Newtownbutler sit on four points, two of which came from Coa conceding their game the previous week.
Diarmaid King struck two early points to get the visitors off to a flying start, with Kealan Fitz scoring to stretch the lead to three points.
A solitary point from St Pat’s was severely punished approaching the halfway mark of the half, as Ger O’Keefe pointed from close range before Diarmuid King maintained his composure from the penalty spot to hammer in a goal and extend the lead to six.
Nathan Beattie, who was St Pat’s most consistent performer on the day, pulled one back for the home side, but Newtown extended their lead with three more points, two from O’Keefe, and one from Fitz with a well-taken effort.
Damien McManus pointed for Pat’s, before Tiarnan Wray and Eoghan Curran further clawed back the deficit. However, Newtown finished the half as strongly as they started, adding three more points, including yet another score from the efficient Diarmuid King.
The second half was a carbon copy of the first, with St. Pat’s punished further for an inability to create solid chances. Nathan Beattie scored twice for St Pat’s, the first came shortly after the restart, and the second midway through the second half.
In the time between Beattie’s scores, Newtownbutler effectively killed off the game, with Daire Chapman, Sean Conlon, and Diarmuid King all adding points, before Ruairi O’Keefe clipped in a goal to leave no doubt about the winners.
As the match drew to a close, St Pat’s miserable day was compounded by a straight red card for Dara Foster, who had come on as a substitute and was dismissed for dissent aimed at the match official.
Shortly after this, the final whistle sounded. While Newtownbutler will be buoyed by the result as they prepare to visit Roslea this Friday, St Pat’s will be hoping to put the defeat behind them before their trip to Derrylin.