Fermanagh Juniors 0 St Patrick's Athletic 4

Fermanagh Juniors were unable to repeat their opening day heroics as they lost 4-0 to a strong St. Patrick's Athletic side at Castlerock.

The Juniors went into the game looking to build on their 2-1 win over Rangers, but from the outset it was the Dublin side who dominated possession.

They fired a shot over the bar after eight minutes, but Fermanagh were working hard to restrict their chances in front of goal and after 15 minutes the County side tested the keeper for the first time. A Nathan Coyle cross was only cleared as far as Luca Hall but his 20 yard volley was straight at the keeper.

St. Pat's were quickly back on the front foot however and a looping cross dropped just wide of the far post before captain Daniel McCarron was called upon to make a last ditch block as the pressure on the Fermanagh goal increased.

The Dubliners finally got their reward in the 27th minute when a cross from the left wasn’t dealt with by the Fermanagh defence and the striker drilled a low shot from the edge of the area into the bottom corner of the net.

Three minutes later they doubled their advantage when they got in between the full back and centre back and O’Halloran fired a shot across the keeper into the far top corner.

St. Pat's continued their domination after the break with a header and a shot narrowly off target in the first two minutes of the half, before they added a third when a cross was not cleared and Fitzgerald fired high into the net from 10 yards out.

Fermanagh were struggling to get striker Jay Ely into the game, but he had a sight of goal when he got on the end of Timothy Armstrong’s free kick but could not get enough power on his back post volley and the keeper gathered comfortably.

A minute later it was 4-0 when a shot from 18 yards sneaked in off the inside of the post.

Fermanagh’s best chance of the match fell to Cathair Maguire, but his shot from the corner of the penalty area was well saved by the keeper.

Fermanagh goalkeeper Shea McManus was only drafted into the squad after an injury to Ethan Boylan prior to the tournament, but the stand-in keeper was called upon twice in the closing moments, saving shots at the near post to keep the final score at 4-0.

The Junior’s final group game is on Wednesday against FC America at Parkers Avenue, Portrush at 5.30pm.