Hat-trick hero Steven Priestnal proved the difference between the two sides at Mullen-e-Cloie on Saturday as St Mary’s battled past a lively St John’s side in the Canada Life Premier League.
The Douglas-based club gained revenge over their western rivals who had knocked them out of the BCS Railway Cup recently at the semi-final stage on the same ground. Sam Kenny’s men were certainly up for the encounter, playing some neat and clever football as they put the home defence under serious pressure.
But thanks to a stout back four the home side restricted their visitors early on to two efforts from Brian Crellin that skimmed the crossbar.
Gradually the Johnners worked their way into the contest and they too began to look dangerous on the counter.
Nick Hurt and Malcolm Blackburn’s side were, in fact, rewarded midway through the half when a Johnny Holland effort from just inside the box beat keeper Max Thomas with the aid of a deflection.
But it took the visitors only two minutes to respond as the exciting Priestnal raced clear of the home defence before finishing with aplomb.
Then, with half-time beckoning, the Bowl outfit took the lead when another sweet move resulted in Ste Whitley delivering a measured cross for Priestnal to add his second.
The home side may have levelled before the break but an Andy Glover strike whistled inches the wrong side of an upright.
The visitors regained the initiative soon after the restart and Marc Priestnal was unfortunate to see a fine effort deflect off the woodwork.
Then seven minutes into the half the visitors delivered the killer blow. A mistake in the home defence gifted the ball to Steven Priestnal and, without hesitation, he steered it home.
To be fair the home side never gave up and mounted a period of sustained pressure on their opponents’ goal. Indeed Nick Hurt looked to have pulled one back with a spectacular effort but the ball rebounded off the angle between crossbar and post.
Substitute John Haggerdon produced a clever lob that beat keeper Thomas but slipped past the goal and Jamie Moffatt also drew a fine save from the St Mary’s custodian.
The Douglas side too had their moments and it required three impressive saves from Damyan Petkov to deny Steven and Marc Priestnal, together with a fine effort from the busy James Murphy, to keep the scoreline the same.
TEAM CHECK
St John’s: Damyan Petrov, Eric Kelly, Sam Ingham, Nick Leung, Wes Kitching, Jamie Moffatt, Johnny Holland, Nick Hurt, Tony Duggan (Krasmir Stoev) Stephen Glover (John Haggerdon), Andy Glover (Harry Rothwell)
St Mary’s: Max Thomas, Harry Wetherill, Martin Reilly, Dominic McGreevy, Karl Clark, James Murphy, Liam Doyle, Ste Whitley (David Priestnal), Steven Priestnal, Brian Crellin, Marc Priestnal, (Paul Doyle)
Referee: Danny Cowin - not an easy game to handle, but, without the help of any assistants, he did a first class job
Man of the Match: Steven Priestnal - was the difference between the two sides
Match rating: HHHHI Attendance: 64