Senior Football League Eire Og, Oxford 3-05 St Colmcille s 1-17 ST Colmcille s went clear at the top of the league with this deserved victory over Oxford and set up the chance to reach their third successive league final. Co-leaders Watford lost at

Senior Football League

Eire Og, Oxford 3-05 St Colmcille's 1-17

ST Colmcille's went clear at the top of the league with this deserved victory over Oxford and set up the chance to reach their third successive league final.

Co-leaders Watford lost at Cambridge opening the door after St Colmcille's played their part with a fine performance against a resurgent Oxford outfit. .

St Colmcille's welcomed back Paul Dolan from suspension, Aaron O'Byrne from injury and Garvan O'Callaghan. The trio made the difference up front and were the cause of Colmcille's high points score. Playing against a strong wind in the first half St Colmcille's used short hand passes and supportive running to get within range of the Oxford goal. Chris Lee and Paddy White continuously combined to get the ball out to Chris Marley and Adrian O'Rourke who pointed at every opportunity.

Despite the advantage of the wind, Oxford kept their long range efforts to a minimum and chose to point from close range. As St Colmcille's pulled away, Oxford started to go for the goals and were rewarded with a penalty. An attempt at goal rebounded off the bar and when an Oxford player fell to the floor in the resulting melee, a foul was called and the penalty was converted.

Some astute tactical changes in defence in the first half by Adrian Slavin had kept Oxford's points tally to a minimum. They failed to use the wind to build a lead and ended the first half two points down.

St Colmcille's continued to successfully go for the points in the second half. This allowed them to maintain a clear lead despite Oxford's two second half goals. Paul Dolan soloed from midfield and scored a goal himself to ensure that Oxford's hopes of a comeback were squashed. Stubborn defending from Neil Whitworth, Plunkett McGreavey and Jason Lohan also drew out frustrations from the Oxford forwards which allowed St Colmcille's to pull away and win the game convincingly.

St Colmcille's next match is against Cambridge at Cotlandswick on Saturday, September 6 after which the league finalists will be confirmed.