KILMACUD CROKES U16B’S SURVIVE LATE “SCOIL SCARE” TO REACH SEMI FINAL IN STYLE!
KILMACUD CROKES U16B’S SURVIVE LATE “SCOIL SCARE” TO REACH SEMI FINAL IN STYLE! (Match report by Diarmuid Coogan.)
On Saturday 16th October, Crokes U16B team overcame the formidable challenge of Scoil Ui Chonnail and will face St.Marks Tallaght in a Championship semi final on November 6th.
The match was less than 1 minute old when Scoil sent a long free into the Crokes square – it completely fooled the defenders and goal keeper and sailed into the top corner of the net to give the visitors a dream start! This kickstarted the home side and after a period of sustained pressure, roving corner back Seán McIntyre sent a great ball into midfielder Zeki Acka on the edge of the square and he buried the sliothar in the net to level the match after 4 minutes.(1-0 to 1-0)
From the puck out, Crokes wing back Niall McArdle showed great determination in securing possession and he played a clever pass to full forward Tadhg Rafferty in space around halfway. Rafferty hit a wonderful point from the Scoil 65. (1-1 to 1-0)
Crokes should have stretched the lead in then following 5 minutes but were denied by brilliant saves by Scoil keeper Seán Morgan and on 9 minutes Centre forward Cillian Molloy steadied the ship for Crokes with a tidy point from 20 metres after Morgan had made another double save. (1-2 to 1-0) McArdle then sent over a free from the 65 metre line on the left touchline. (1-3 to 1-0) On 12 minutes, McIntyre gathered possession on halfway and carried for a few metres before hitting another great point for Crokes. (1-4 to 1-0)
Just before the water break, corner forward Emre Acka won a battled tigerishly for the ball on the 65 on the left before kicking it forward 10 metres, regaining possession and playing the ball to half forward Matthew Peters who hit a sweet point. (1-5 to 1-0)
Crokes dominated the 2nd quarter but had only 1 point to show for it with Molloy tapping over after XXXX made another great save from Rafferty. In contrast, Scoil chipped away and scored 4 points, mainly from frees. (1-6 to 1-4)
2nd Half.
Just after the restart, Zeki Acka won a ball around half way on the left and sent a great diagonal ball into the path of Rafferty in front of goal; the sliothar bounced up kindly for Rafferty who tapped it past the helpless Morgan. (2-6 to 1-4) Rafferty followed up with another point 3 minutes later before Scoil Ui Chonnail midfielder Eoin McCormick hit a great individual point following a 60 metre solo from his own 20 metre line. Scoil full forward Jack Kennedy added another from 45 metres to make it 2-7 to 1-6.
On 43 minutes, sub forward Ciaran O’Donnell won possession on the left and found McIntyre with a great pass on the 45 and McIntyre drove it straight between the posts. McIntyre added a similar point a minute later to give his side a good 6 point lead with the water break approaching. (2-9 to 1-6)
SCOIL LIFELINE! With the ref about to blow up for the break, Scoil sent a high ball from the right into the goal area; Goalie Cormac Hall and the defenders delayed in attacking the ball and full forward Jack Kennedy had an easy tap in. (2-9 to 2-6)
Worse was to follow after the break as Scoil won possession and had a player fouled on the 20 metre line. Although Crokes had 6 players on the goal line, Scoil scored easily enough with a low free to the net! (2-9 to 3-6)
Crokes now faced a stern examination of their character as they had let a game completely in their control go onto a knife edge. However they rose to this challenge with minimum fuss. Hall hit one of his long pucks deep into the Scoil half and the ball found it’s way into the full forward line where O’Donnell was in a goal mouth scramble before the ball fell to Rafferty who made no mistake. (3-9 to 2-9)
Scoil played the puck out short only for Zeki Acka to latch onto the sliothar and score a great goal. (4-9 to 3-6) A minute later Zeki hit another point from 45 metres on the right to make it a 7 point game. His brother Emre then got on the board with a fine point from left of the posts. (4-11 to 3-6)
After more Crokes pressure from the left, Peters came onto the ball at pace on the 20 metre line before hitting his shot which a defender got a deflection on and Morgan could only look on as the sliothar “arched” over his head into the net! (5-11 to 3-6) Zeki and Scoil traded further points to leave it 5-12 to 3-7 at the final whistle.
Overall, while not perfect, this was a good team performance with 7 players contributing the scores (only one a free). Crokes showed character when called upon at various stages of the game and this will be invaluable in the semi final.
Scorers
ZEKE Akca 2 -2
Tadhg Rafferty 2 -2
Matthew Peters 1 -1
Sean McIntyre 0 -3
Cillian Molloy 0 -2
Niall McArdle 0 -1
Emre Akca 0 -1
KILMACUD CROKES. C.Hall,F.Robertson,A.Golden,S.McIntyre,N.McArdle,B.Mellon,D.Twomey,T.Rafferty,D.Buggy,R.Phelan,C.Molloy,M.Peters,E.Acka,D.Sheerin,Z.Acka. Subs: C.O’Donnell f Phelan, S.Coogan f Robertson, J.Candon f D.Buggy, B.Taylor f S.McIntyre, P.Bradley f A.Golden.
