U12s overcome Sc Ui Chonaill to reach final
In ideal weather conditions KC 2 finally overcame Scoil Ui Chonaill in a pulsating semi-final and go on to meet St Brigids in the final. This game, played in Deerpark on Wednesday evening, had everything for the Hurling purest; passion, skill and lorry loads of commitment. Just as in as in the drawn game and extra time last week there was never more than a puck of the sliotar between the teams.
Crokes opened with a pointed free by Ciarán McIntyre (five minutes), quickly followed by a Barry O’Sullivan goal. Then Scoil got in on the scoring act with a goal from play and a pointed 65 to level matters. Good defending by the full backs Gregory Buckley and Karl Doyle kept the north-siders at bay; a goal from a line ball by McIntyre was again cancelled almost immediately.
With mighty puck-outs from keeper Stephen Faughey and David O’Connor - with his man towering over him - playing delightful ball into the corner, the full forward line was getting a good supply of ball and Bijan Melrose obliged with two superbly taken goals. But as the half was coming to a close Scoil again fought back with a goal and a point from play to leave the score 4 - 1 to 3 -2 in favour of the home side at the break.
The second period was tough and tense with scores much harder to come by; both defences were working tirelessly to prevent a breach of their net. The home half backline was immense during this half with Andrew Price and Ronan Horgan clearing wave after wave of attacks and Cathal Keane Breslin and Adam Brennan driving the team forward. Stephen Faughey moved from goals to left half forward in a direct swap with Tadhg Costello. This was a master switch as Tadhg let no ball past him and Stephen kicked a point and rattled home a goal. Scoil still refused to go away and exerted extreme pressure on the home goals, resulted with pointed 65 and free and a point from play. This left the margin at one capital score going into injury time, with both sets of supporters on tender hooks the sliotar traversed the pitch the tension grew. The home defenders Ferdia Rogers and Conor Egan would not yield, while at the other end Adam Spollen and Brian Molloy were putting pressure on the Scoil goal and on a few occasions went close to putting the game out of reach.
When Derek Oman sounded the full time whistle, there was great excitement and relief from the throng of home support. All present were agreed that they had witnessed a tremendous game of hurling and both clubs could be very proud of the exploits of their young men.
Even senior county manager Tom Naughton was out to run his eye over future county talent.
Final score Kilmacud Crokes 5 – 1, Scoil Ui Chonaill 3 – 5
Team:
Stephen Faughey, Karl Doyle , Gregory Buckley, Conor Egan, Ferdia Rogers, Cathal Keane Breslin, Ronan Horgan, Andrew Price, Ciaran McIntyre, David O’Connor, Adam Brennan, Tadhg Costello, Bijan Melrose, Adam Spollen, Barry O’Sullivan, Brian Molloy.