Immaculata III vs New Santos II
Having had over a month off due to Christmas and the weather, Santos returned to face Immaculata III at Cherryvale.
The opening half hour was a very tight affair with both teams battling hard but struggling to create many chances. Santos' best chance of the spell came when O'Reilly held the ball up well before laying the ball across the box for Martin Magee who blasted wide from 18 yards.
Throughout the half Immaculata threatened with corners and came close to scoring when their attacker climbed over Sean Murphy to head over from 2 yards despite no foul being given. It was a scrappy half and the goalless score reflected both teams struggle to create chances.
Half-time: Immaculata III 0-0 New Santos II
Early in the second half Santos pushed forward with frequent attacks but much like the first half, they were unable to find a way past the Macs' defence. The Mac responded with several counter attacks and threatened the Santos goal but an effort against the bar was as close as they came to scoring.
On 70 minutes, Sean Murphy making his debut for the club, scored from 25 yards with a curling effort into the far corner. Immaculata pressured for an equaliser and went 3 up front for the last 10 minutes. They thought they had equalised but for their striker to be given offside. Santos held on for the win in a close, hard fought game.
Full-time: Immaculata III 0-1 New Santos II
New Santos Team:
GK: JP Byrne
RB: Eamon Caldwell
CB: David Dougan
CB: Chris Monan
LB: Kevin Carson
RM: Martin Magee
CM: Sean Murphy
CM: Conor Chambers
LM: Stevie Copeland (Paul Barr)
ST: Anthony McGreevy (Ciaran Murphy)
ST: Paddy O'Reilly
Santos Goal : Sean Murphy
MOTM votes were split between: Kevin Carson, Sean Murphy, Paddy O'Reilly & Conor Chambers
