Kilkenny rivals James Stephens and Dicksboro meet in early season league clash

In a bitterly cold and wet Saturday afternoon the James Stephens senior footballers produced an impressive all round team performance of slick passing and quality finishing to account for in their second round senior football league fixture in Palmerstown.

Trailing by a point after three minutes a fine Sean Manogue solo effort set the all rolling for the Village with a quality point in the seventh minute.

In the tenth minute Fionn Cody with a blistering shot for goal forced the 'Boro goalkeeper into a top rate save but now with their tails up Sean Manogue followed up kicking three points from play and placed balls to give the visitors a 0-4 to 0-2 at the 15th minute.

In the 22nd minute after the ball ricocheted off the Dicksboro goalpost, corner forward James Carroll opened his account with a well taken point.

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Continuing to dominate with patient combination play the Village won a penalty award in the 27th minute after Fionn Cody was tripped as he was about to kick for goal but his subsequent strike failed to hit the target. Unfazed the in-form James Carroll (29 min), Sean Manogue (31min) and Fionn Cody (32min) finished the half giving James Stephens a 0-8 to 0-3 lead.

The early minutes of the 2nd half saw Dicksboro force the pace but each of their scoring efforts were balanced by the sharp shooting trio of James Carroll (4min), Fionn Cody (6min) and Sean Manogue (10min) with solid back up play by half forwards Oisin Bateman,Niall Mullins and Stephen Manogue to retain their lead at 0-11 to 0-05.

The midfield duo of Eoin Deely and Luke Scanlon were highly effective tracking back to help the defence and opening opportunities in attack throughout the fast paced fixture in testing conditions.

In the 16th minute James Carroll kicked over a morale boosting two pointer to push James Stephens into a 0-13 to 0-06 lead. Dicksboro fought hard to close the gap but points by Fionn Cody and a second two pointer by James Carroll sealed the victory despite the 'Boro hitting the Village net in the 30th minute.

Like with most winning teams this victory was built on a sturdy defence with strong leadership from David Hennessy, Sam McEvoy,and Luke Hickey, in particular, that frustrated the many Dicksboro attacks with their tight marking tactics over the hour.

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