Minor Ds beat Cuala in Quarter Final
Minor Championship D Football Sunday 15-10-2017
It was a beautiful morning in Silverpark & the match started with action at both ends of the pitch without any score. It was a good start from Cuala who got the 1st score of the match from a really well taken 45 in the early stages of this game. Crokes came back to level things with a free from Killian Walsh. It was very tight in the middle & Crokes got a good return from the hard-working Stephen Meagher & good distribution of Paul Buckley. Crokes were doing a lot of pressing but struggling to score in the early stages of this game. Killian Walsh was in very good shooting form & helped Crokes get their noses in front. Cuala added 2 more points in the 1st half while Crokes had scores from Hugh Birmingham, Adam Freely, Sam Lynch, Stephen Meagher, James Dalton & 1.01 from Paul Buckley. The Crokes defence was very stable & team captain Alan Lundon kept things well organised in front of goal, with Chris Farrell & Patrick O’Donnell supporting him either side. The Crokes half back line did a very good job with Conor Cassidy, Art Lynch & the very reliable Sean Burns well in control. In the forward division Cathal O’Connor was everywhere with a great work rate, Adam Freely, Hugh Birmingham Sam Lynch, James Dalton & Killian Walsh combined very well & made good use of possession. Crokes went in 1.12 to 0.3 ahead at the break with Killian getting 4 points.
At half time Kilmacud Crokes brought Austin Greham in for Stephen Meagher who had put in a great 1st half. Aran Murphy came in for James Dalton at full forward. Mark Scanlon came in for Killian Walsh who had a fine game. Jack Gallagher came in for Christopher Farrell at Corner back & George Kelly came on for Sam Lynch. Barry MacGabhann, Conor Nyland & William Farmer replaced Patrick O’Donnell, Art Lynch & the hard working Cathal O’Connor. Cuala redoubled their efforts in the 2nd half & pushed hard bringing the best out of goalkeeper Stephen Keegan on several occassions. Crokes were also saved by the crossbar. There were several goalmouth scrambles & Crokes had a mixture of good luck & good concentration to keep the ball out of the net. Barry MacGabhann & Conor Nyland intercepted several threats & Jack Gallagher who was in the right place to pick up a ball on the line following a wonderful save from Stephen Keegan. Stephen’s kick outs were a great advantage & good fielding from George Kelly & Aran Murphy resulted in William laying off a lovely pass which saw Austin getting a nice point. Hugh Birmingham had a great 2nd half with 3 points & Mark Scanlon used his pace & accuracy to get 2 points. A great move late in the 2nd half saw Conor Cassidy who had a terrific game, get on the end of a lovely pass to place the ball beyond the keeper. Final Score Kilmacud Crokes 2.19, Cuala 0.7.
Excellent referring from Declan Enright let the game flow. This match was not as one sided as the result might suggest. Cuala battled all the way to make it a very enjoyable game.
Kilmacud Crokes; S Keegan; C Farrell, A Lundon, P O’Donnell; C Cassidy (1.0), A Lynch, S Burns; S Meagher (0.2), P Buckley (1.02); C O’Connor, K Walsh (0.4), A Freely (0.2); H Birmingham (0.4), J Dalton (0.1), S Lynch (0.1).
Subs;
A Greham (0.1), Aran Murphy, M Scanlon (0.2), J Gallagher, G Kelly, B MacGabhann, C Nyland, W Farmer.
