Cambridge Parnells GAA secure first win of the season

Cambridge Parnells GAA clinched their first win of the season, beating St Colmcilles GAC in the Hertfordshire Senior Football League.

It was a tense game of gaelic football as the Parnells overcame a difficult start to dominate the middle portion of the match before standing firm against a spirited fightback from the hosts.

Cormac Breen got the first point for the visitors with a curling effort, but a goal and a point from Colmcilles saw Cambridge go three points down.

Conor O’Reilly reduced the arrears with a point, and after Luke Duffy’s goal chance cannoned off the upright and back into play, Colmcilles broke to get another point of their own.

A 45-metre point from player-manager John Hickey started a hot streak for the Parnells, with Barry Grogan adding two in as many minutes, and Robbie Fitzpatrick another. Cambridge’s strong finish to the half saw Grogan add another point to his tally.

At the start of the second half, Fitzpatrick squeezed in a low shot to increase Cambridge’s lead to five.

There was a 15-minute period of Cambridge dominance that brought two more points for Grogan and one each for Breen and Fergal Hanna, but Colmcilles dug in to weather the storm.

Two goals in quick succession changed the game as it brought Colmcilles to within two points of Cambridge.

Their back-line stood firm and conceded just one more point while, at the other end, Breen got a goal which put the Parnells just out of reach for a long-awaited first win of the season by 1-14 (17 points) to 3-4 (13 points).

Hickey said: “It’s no more than these lads deserve. They’ve been training hard since the start of the year and have built some serious momentum recently. I’m looking forward to seeing where we can go from here.”