AFL1 Match Report
2016-04-06 13:50:00
St.Brigids 1-12 Cuala 1-13
Both teams had strong panels to choose from ahead of this game, with Dublin U21s Darragh Spillane and Martin Cahilan back starting with Cuala and Brigids had the might of John O'Loughlin (Laois) and Emlyn Mulligan (Leitrim) back from County duty and with the Championship three weeks away it was going to be a good opportunity for both teams to fine tune their game.
The game started at a really high tempo with St Brigidâs forwards guilty of some very poor shot selections having worked the ball from back to front well. A really pacey Cuala side were guilty of missing some handy chances themselves, but a Darragh Spillane goal midway through the first half brought them back into the game and then Brigidâs were reduced to 14 men following a yellow then black card for Cathal Doyle. Both teams reeled off a number of points before the break but Cuala went in ahead at the half time mark.
Despite being a man down Brigidâs played well and worked hard to stay in the game and were awarded a penalty with 10 minutes to go, it was converted by Shane Supple and it brought them to within a point. Brigidâs managed to draw level with five minutes to go through impact sub Kevin Bonnar but were unable to hang on as Cuala's Luke Keatingpopped over the winner in the 58th minute.
This was a very enjoyable open game where both teams came to play and attack at pace in perfect conditions out in Bray Emmets GAA Club.
St Brigids host Lucan Sarsfields in their next AFL game on April 16th ahead of the 2016 Championship.