WITH four county final appearances to their name since 2002, Mattock Rangers know a thing or two about winning semifinals, but the Collon men had to draw on every last ounce of that experience on Sunday afternoon to edge past St Patrick's in a thrilling contest in Dowdallshill. With 10 minutes remaining Kit Henry's side trailed by 1-11 to 1-8, having led by three points twelve minutes earlier. But just when their composure seemed to have deserted them, the men in black bossed the crucial final stages of the match and sealed the deal with a superbly worked Mark Brennan goal with just over a minute of normal-time on the clock.

When Christy Grimes picked the ball up in acres of space in front of the stand, everyone thought he would steady himself and level matters up, but the former Louth star had other ideas and picked out his brother Shane with a superb diagonal pass. The younger Grimes held the ball up just long enough for Brennan to burst through the centre of a deserted Pat's defence and he rounded Robbie Arthur to send the Collon crowd wild.

Eamon Carroll pulled one back for Pat's as a draw looked a distinct possibility, but crucially it was Mattock who won possession from the ensuing kickout and Shane Grimes settled the issue with a sweetly struck point from the outside of his right boot.

It was a dramatic end to what was an absorbing encounter, but when the dust settles, Pat's will again feel they left something behind.

Last season, at the quarterfinal stage, Gerry Cumiskey's side were nine points ahead of Rangers at half-time, but somehow contrived to throw it away. This time it was much closer throughout, but when Pat's kicked six points on the bounce to lead by three at a crucial juncture in the second period, the final berth looked to be theirs to lose.

That said, the grandstand finish was an appropriate end to a truly entertaining game. You just couldn't take your eye off the action for a moment as both sides battled for control of proceedings from the off.

It was Pat's who drew first blood with early points from Paddy Keenan and Daniel O'Connor and they established a very handsome lead in the ninth minute when Sean Connor beat Mike Englishby to a high ball into the danger area from Dessie Finnegan and flicked it to an empty net to make it 1-2 to no score.

Mattock eventually opened their account in the 12th minute as Mark Brennan finished off a good move and they had the gap back down to two points soon afterwards as Adrian and David Reid got off the mark.

Eamon Carroll's close range effort made it 1-3 to 0-3 on the 20 minute mark, but that was to be Pat's last score of the half as Mattock wrestled control.

Christy Grimes converted a free before setting up his brother for another good point and two more white flags in the closing seconds of the half from Mark Brennan and Christy Grimes sent Mattock in 0-7 to 13 to the good.

They were two ahead within seconds of the restart, but Pat's got back on terms almost immediately through a superb point from Finnegan and Connor from a 45.

To say that Mattock's first goal was avoidable from Pat's point of view would be a bit of an understatement. A long Niall Callan delivery didn't appear to pose any threat, but when Colin Goss and Jamie O'Hare collided under it, Robbie Brennan gratefully picked up the break and drove a low finish past Robbie Arthur.

Determined to put things right, Pat's took almost complete control of the game. They were back on terms four minutes after the goal as Sean Cumiskey fired over a fine brace and Paddy Keenan let fly with a trademark effort.

Eamon Carroll, Owen Zamboglou and Karl White – with one of the scores of the championship – stretched their advantage to three, but, crucially, Carroll and White passed up good opportunities soon afterwards, as did Ray Finnegan, who opted to square to Daniel O'Connor instead of taking his point.

Those misses eventually came back to haunt Pat's and from Finnegan's chance, Mattock broke the length of the pitch and won a free which David Reid tapped over.

He repeated the trick a minute later to reduce the arrears to the minimum and get the Collon faithful believing, and their prayers were answered when Brennan kept his cool to net his side's second goal. MATTOCK RANGERS: Mike Englishby; Thomas Murphy, David Brennan, Pauric Bannon; Sean Gilsenan, Christy Grimes 0-2f, Daire Englishby; David Reid 0-5 (3f), Adrian Reid, Mark Brennan 1-2; Shane Grimes 0-2, Robbie Brennan 1-0, Ryan Lenaghan. Subs: Donal Geraghty for T Murphy, Keith Brennan for R Lenaghan. ST PATRICK'S: Robbie Arthur; Jamie O'Hare, Colin Goss, Diarmuid MacArtain; Liam Oliver, Owen Zamboglou, Darren O'Hanlon; Eamon Carroll 0-3 (1f), Paddy Keenan 0-2; Dessie Finnegan, Ray Finnegan 0-1, Shane Hynes; Karl White 0-1, Daniel O'Connor, Sean Connor. REFEREE: Kevin Carroll.

European Mortgages Senior Football Championship semi-final at Dowdallshill on Sunday. WITH four county final appearances to their name since 2002, Mattock Rangers know a thing or two about winning semifinals, but the Collon men had to draw on every last ounce of that experience on Sunday afternoon to edge past St Patrick's in a thrilling contest in Dowdallshill.

With 10 minutes remaining Kit Henry's side trailed by 1-11 to 1-8, having led by three points twelve minutes earlier. But just when their composure seemed to have deserted them, the men in black bossed the crucial final stages of the match and sealed the deal with a superbly worked Mark Brennan goal with just over a minute of normal-time on the clock.

When Christy Grimes picked the ball up in acres of space in front of the stand, everyone thought he would steady himself and level matters up, but the former Louth star had other ideas and picked out his brother Shane with a superb diagonal pass. The younger Grimes held the ball up just long enough for Brennan to burst through the centre of a deserted Pat's defence and he rounded Robbie Arthur to send the Collon crowd wild.

Eamon Carroll pulled one back for Pat's as a draw looked a distinct possibility, but crucially it was Mattock who won possession from the ensuing kickout and Shane Grimes settled the issue with a sweetly struck point from the outside of his right boot.

It was a dramatic end to what was an absorbing encounter, but when the dust settles, Pat's will again feel they left something behind.

Last season, at the quarterfinal stage, Gerry Cumiskey's side were nine points ahead of Rangers at half-time, but somehow contrived to throw it away. This time it was much closer throughout, but when Pat's kicked six points on the bounce to lead by three at a crucial juncture in the second period, the final berth looked to be theirs to lose.

That said, the grandstand finish was an appropriate end to a truly entertaining game. You just couldn't take your eye off the action for a moment as both sides battled for control of proceedings from the off.

It was Pat's who drew first blood with early points from Paddy Keenan and Daniel O'Connor and they established a very handsome lead in the ninth minute when Sean Connor beat Mike Englishby to a high ball into the danger area from Dessie Finnegan and flicked it to an empty net to make it 1-2 to no score.

Mattock eventually opened their account in the 12th minute as Mark Brennan finished off a good move and they had the gap back down to two points soon afterwards as Adrian and David Reid got off the mark.

Eamon Carroll's close range effort made it 1-3 to 0-3 on the 20 minute mark, but that was to be Pat's last score of the half as Mattock wrestled control.

Christy Grimes converted a free before setting up his brother for another good point and two more white flags in the closing seconds of the half from Mark Brennan and Christy Grimes sent Mattock in 0-7 to 13 to the good.

They were two ahead within seconds of the restart, but Pat's got back on terms almost immediately through a superb point from Finnegan and Connor from a 45.

To say that Mattock's first goal was avoidable from Pat's point of view would be a bit of an understatement. A long Niall Callan delivery didn't appear to pose any threat, but when Colin Goss and Jamie O'Hare collided under it, Robbie Brennan gratefully picked up the break and drove a low finish past Robbie Arthur.

Determined to put things right, Pat's took almost complete control of the game. They were back on terms four minutes after the goal as Sean Cumiskey fired over a fine brace and Paddy Keenan let fly with a trademark effort.

Eamon Carroll, Owen Zamboglou and Karl White – with one of the scores of the championship – stretched their advantage to three, but, crucially, Carroll and White passed up good opportunities soon afterwards, as did Ray Finnegan, who opted to square to Daniel O'Connor instead of taking his point.

Those misses eventually came back to haunt Pat's and from Finnegan's chance, Mattock broke the length of the pitch and won a free which David Reid tapped over.

He repeated the trick a minute later to reduce the arrears to the minimum and get the Collon faithful believing, and their prayers were answered when Brennan kept his cool to net his side's second goal. MATTOCK RANGERS: Mike Englishby; Thomas Murphy, David Brennan, Pauric Bannon; Sean Gilsenan, Christy Grimes 0-2f, Daire Englishby; David Reid 0-5 (3f), Adrian Reid, Mark Brennan 1-2; Shane Grimes 0-2, Robbie Brennan 1-0, Ryan Lenaghan. Subs: Donal Geraghty for T Murphy, Keith Brennan for R Lenaghan. ST PATRICK'S: Robbie Arthur; Jamie O'Hare, Colin Goss, Diarmuid MacArtain; Liam Oliver, Owen Zamboglou, Darren O'Hanlon; Eamon Carroll 0-3 (1f), Paddy Keenan 0-2; Dessie Finnegan, Ray Finnegan 0-1, Shane Hynes; Karl White 0-1, Daniel O'Connor, Sean Connor. REFEREE: Kevin Carroll.

European Mortgages Senior Football Championship semi-final at Dowdallshill on Sunday.

- John SAVAGE