Leinster Colleges SFC / St Mel's, Longford 5-9 St Declan's, Cabra 2-8: Dublin's main contender for the Leinster Colleges' title, St Declan's, were unceremoniously dumped out of the competition by defending champions St Mel's College at DCU yesterday.
The crucial period came five minutes before the interval when two goals from the excellent Mark Smith left his opponents with a steep mountain to climb.
St Mel's were in command from the start, opening up a four-point lead thanks to scores from Smith, his brother Colin, and Shane Dowd, before two minutes of sheer calamity in the St Declan's defence left them chasing the game.
The first goal came after Ciarán Williams' high ball into the square brokefor Smith, who finished from close range. Possession was turned over directly from the kick-out, allowing midfielder Joe McCormack to drift the ball to the far post, where Smith punched to the net.
With the wind at their backs, the Cabra school finally began to claw their way back into the contest. Three minutes into the second half, Ian Fleming got a vital goal, while points from Paídí Kelly, Mark Cahill and Fleming left them just five points adrift.
But St Mel's were content to defend in numbers, Ulster-football style, leaving only the two-pronged attack of Williams and Smith in the opposing half.
Despite all the possession, St Declan's struggled to create opportunities as Peter Foy and McCormack cleared up countless loose balls. In fairness, the sleeting rain negated the wind advantage, but St Mel's players also seemed to be in front of their markers all afternoon.
Thomas Dalton eventually lifted the siege with a pass to Williams who quickly transferred to Smith, again unmarked at the far post, for his third goal.
The Dublin college rallied once more with substitute Collie Curtain finishing soccer-style to the net, but as they threw everything forward, St Mel's merely picked them off on the break. They scored two late goals, courtesy of their attacking double-act, to keep a mouth-watering semi-final showdown against St Patrick's, Navan, well on track.
ST MEL'S COLLEGE: D O'Connor; C Keenan, J Balfe, A Corcoran; S Dowd (0-1), C Maguire, P Kelly; J McCormack, S McCormack; T Dalton (0-1), N Mulligan, C Smith (0-2, 1f); C Williams (1-2), P Foy, M Smith (4-3).
ST DECLAN'S COLLEGE: P Brogan; C Plunkett (0-1), D Redmond, S McMahon; C Dorney, P Curtain, B McEnerney; W Tyrell, D Stephens; M Cahill (0-3, 3f), P Kelly (0-1), E Maguire; I Fleming (1-2), L Fleming (0-1), J Brogan. Subs: P Brogan for McMahon (half-time), C Curtain (1-0) for McEnerney (35 mins).
Referee: S McCormack (Meath).
