Under 16s progress to Championship Semifinal

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Date of Match: 31st July 2007

Versus: Ballyboden St Endas Venue: Silverpark

Competition: Under 16 Division 1 Championship

Management Team: Pat Halpin, Tom Murphy, Daibhi dePaor, Gearóid O’Riain, Kevin Coakley

Match Result
Kilmacud Crokes 0 -18 v Ballyboden St Endas 1-05

Scorers;
Crokes: Seanie McGrath (0-08 (4 f)), Darren McVeigh ((0-04 (3 f)), Bill O’Carroll (0-01), Johnny Brew (0-01), Jude Sweeney (0 – 01), Killian Doherty (0-01), Mark O’Dwyer (0-01), Matthew Kinsella (0-01)

Match Report/ Match Highlights:

Under 16 Hurlers – Up the ante to progress into Championship Semi Final

Tuesday the 4th September saw Crokes line out against long time rivals Ballyboden St Endas in the first round of this year’s Under 16 Championship. Silverpark was in pristine condition and ideal for hurling, one of the few advantages of the wet summer.

Crokes opened the scoring in the 1st minute when Darren converted a long range free. But Boden were quick to respond and gained parity within two minutes with a well taken point and went into the lead three minutes later with another well taken point from play. Crokes fought back with a converted 65 from Darren and straight from the puck out, Darren won the ball and struck it over the bar to regain the lead for Crokes. In the 10th minute, Seanie converted a free for his first score of the evening and four minutes later Johnny extended the lead to three points with he latched onto a breaking ball from Jude and slotted it over the bar. So far it was a tight encounter with both sides defending strongly. Seventeen minutes in, it was Ballyboden who struck next with a good goal to level the match. Eight minutes later they regained their lead with a converted free and a minute later extended the lead to two points with another converted free. A battling Seanie reduced the Ballyboden lead to one point with a well taken point and on the stroke of half time; Killian leveled the game again with a great point following a surging run from midfield. Level at half time, the advantage seemed to be with Ballyboden as they had the breeze and the hill for the second half. A tough first half, but Crokes were not playing to their full potential, with the exception of Killian, who ran midfield and demonstrated what Championship hurling is all about, typified by his leveling point. Following a tirade from Kevin (while the players struggled to understand his Cork dialect, it was very clear that he was not happy) and some forceful talking by Pat and Gearóid, it was hoped that the lads would up their performance in the second half, otherwise it would be a short Championship campaign for a side used to extended runs in all competitions that they entered.

In the second half, Crokes burst into the game, scoring eight unanswered points in the opening 15 minutes of the half, to kill off the Ballyboden challenge. Jude, having moved to center forward, opened proceedings in the first minute when he scored a great point to regain the lead. Four minutes later, Seanie converted another free to extend the lead and two minutes later another long range free from Darren opened up a three point lead. Mark got his name on the score sheet a minute later with a great point. In the tenth minute of the half, Seanie started a deadly three minutes when he added another point from play to his tally, Matthew got his first score of the day following a burst from midfield and then Bill broke Ballyboden hearts, when he foiled a Ballyboden attack, soloed up the pitch and knocked over his first and only point of the match. Two minutes later, Seanie added another point to his tally and extended the Crokes lead to eight points. Sixteen minutes into the half Ballyboden converted a free for their first and only score of the half. Ballyboden still defended gallantly and limited Crokes to three points for the remainder of the game, all three from Seanie, two frees and one from play. When the referee blew his whistle, Crokes had a healthy 0-18 to 1-05 lead. For the good crowd of spectators in attendance, it was a good clean game played at a very high standard, a good reflection of the progress being made in Dublin hurling at the moment.

Overall a good performance, especially in the second half, against a strong competitive Ballyboden. A great performance by the backs, especially in the second half, limiting Ballyboden to one point. The next official outing is away in Clarecastle, Co Clare for a tournament and the Championship semi final is fixed for the 29th September ’07. With, Naomh Fionnbarra, St Judes and St Vincents also in the hat for the semifinal draw, Crokes will have to improve if they are to emulate last year’s Under 16’s and retain the Under 16 Championship crown. Unfortunately, Jude damaged his AC joint late into the game and will be sidelined for a while; the management and team wish him a speedy recovery.

Kilmacud Crokes:
Barry Mulligan, Cian O’Brien, Paul Collins, Jack Kelly, Louis Whelan, Bill O’Carroll, Sean Murphy, Killian Doherty, Jack Doughan, Eoin Dalton, Darren McVeigh, Mark O’Dwyer, Johnny Brew, Jude Sweeney, Seanie McGrath.

Subs: Sean Garvey, Hugh Byrne (in for Johnny Brew 36 minutes), Peter MacCague, Gary Melican (on for Eoin Dalton 53 minutes), James O’Keeffe (in for Louis Whelan 53 minutes), Mark Lynsky, Brendan Halpin, Matthew Kinsella (in for Cian O’Brien 12 minutes).

Unavailable: - Alan Carr, Eddie O’Byrne, Naomhan Reardon, Keith Hogarty, Dylan Mulligan.
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