U16 SL: All square in a cracker at Millbrook.
July 16, 2014
Paul Bellew Killary Emmets
Oldcastle: 1-06
Killary Emmets: 0-09
A cracker of a match was had at the Milbrook venue in Oldcastle on Tuesday night as Killary Emmets (Castletown/Syddan combination) travelled to meet their Oldcastle opponents at the well-appointed grounds. The game schedule was disrupted due to a start time communication problem, so the Oldcastle team were out on the field a long time before the Killary Emmets players had even arrived.
Referee Seamus O'Connor applied common sense in relation to the start time so a reduced game was played at 20 minutes per side , which was agreed by both teams . This match was always going to be a tight and exciting affair, after the two teams had met in the 2014 U16 Div 5 League Final with a tight and exciting final played under sporting conditions. A final in which the town team won by a solitary point after a topsy turvy game where both sides took the lead a various stages .
Because of their exploits in 5th Division both teams were promoted to the 4th Division of the U16 Summer League.
Both teams lined out with 13 a side, and in the overall scheme of things the first half was a very tight affair with the half time score of 0-02 points each reflecting this. Both defences curtailed their respective opponents in the first half and so the teams started the second half in the knowledge that for twenty minutes they were going to have to give their all to decide who would come out on top .
Half time score
Oldcastle: 0-02
Killary Emmets: 0-02
The quality of some of the players on display was never in question with underage county panellists from both teams wearing their club colours on the night .County U14 panellist Ryan Summersby curtailed the lively Jason Scully ( County U16 panellist) for most of the game , while Rob Smith ( County U15 panellist) met his match in Syddan's Michael Fedigan , and to a lesser extent JJ O Dea (former County U15 panellist) and Cathal Dardis (former County U15 panellist) who both stood strong at mid field and put in some very solid tackles for the combination team .
In defence for Killary Emmets, Evan Hoey, Cormac Rafferty, Thomas Meade, Summersby and goalie Shane Clare were effective with Shane Clare pulling off numerous saves during the match and especially a penalty save in the final minutes. Oldcastle's Rob Smith went down in the square and Seamus O'Connor immediately pointed to penalty spot. When Shane Clare save the attempt , the Killary Emmets team must have thought that this was their night . Up to this point Killary Emmets had bossed the second half and they were ahead by couple of points.
Up front the Killary attack were firing on all cylinders, with Mark Kelly and County U14 panellist Paul Bellew putting in some trojan work, and with Eoin Lynch Duff firing over a handful of scores in the second half Killary Emmets were well in the driving seat . As the second half progressed the forwards from both teams started to exert the pressure, and the defences leaked a little more than in they did in the first half as the full time scores show.
While the Killary Emmets forwards were moving well when in possession, the Killary Emmets defence had to try to keep the Oldcastle attackers out as they went in search of the all-important equalising score. Unfortunately after surviving the penalty attempt, and after putting up a heroic defence in the first and most of the second half the Killary defence buckled and Oldcastle were able to get the vital score that gave them a share of the points . Upon the restart Seamus O Connor blew the final whistle and both teams left the pitch knowing that they had been in a football match. And with the knowledge that they may be meeting again before the season is finished .
Best for Killary Emmets were : Shane Clare, Ryan Summersby, Cormac Rafferty, Evan Hoey, Thomas Meade, Eoin Lynch Duff, Paul Bellew, JJ O Dea, Michael Fedigan and Alan Weldon.
Best for Oldcastle were : Conor Hetherton, Dylan Garrigan, Rob Smith, Oran O'Reilly and Jason Scully .
Oldcastle team : K Gibney , T Flood , C.Hetherton , S Milmo , O Reilly , K O Connell, D Garrigan, S Lawless, R Smith , K Kavanagh , J Caffrey , R Taggart , J Scully , C Smith , L Healy , C Hawdon .
Killary Emmets Team : S Clare , A Weldon, E Hoey , T Meade, R Summersby, C Rafferty , JJ O Dea, C Dardis, M Kelly , M Fedigan , E Lynch Duff , P Bellew, D Smith , P Dillon , C Deane , K Markey .
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