U16A's beat Cuala

Hard earned victory for U16's

A hard earned 3 point victory over local rivals Cuala gave Kilmacud Crokes their third victory out of three in Division 1A of the under 16 hurling league on  Saturday afternoon at Silverpark. The pitch, rain sodden from the morning's rain, made conditions difficult but with no breeze and good temperatures it was a reasonable day for hurling.

Cuala  started better  and worked hard all afternoon for every ball. Crokes started to come more and more into the play however and began to take their scores. 2 goals from Ben Rafter and a further goal by Darragh Jones gave Crokes a 6 point lead at half time.

If the lads thought it was all over they learned from the start of the second half that they would have to work all the  way to get a victory. Crokes  were made fight for every ball and  2 frees converted and well taken points by Sean Dunbar and Michael Roche was the full return for the second half. Cuala, with a very determined aggressive display, scored 7 points in the half leaving, the final score 3-6 to 12 points.

Crokes were deserving of their win though and played some clever and determined hurling. With  stronger opposition to come they will know that  there is hard work ahead in training.  With three deserved victories achieved already there is much to be positive about.

The back line will be pleased with their display . Well on top in the first half and even if the back line were under pressure for much of the second half Cuala never looked like getting a goal due to the work rate at the back. Jim Gibbons caught and cleared a lot of ball and Cian Ryan put in a great final quarter coming back to help in defence.

Team: Paul Buckley, Matthew Morrissey, Conall Keane, Darragh kennedy, Oisin o Siochru, Jim Gibbons, David Dagg, Sean Dunbar, Cian Ryan, Paddy Flatherty, Michael Roche, Ronan Hayes, Darragh Jones, |Ben Rafter, Tom Keogh. 

Substitutes: Evin Comerford , Ciaran Gorman, Daithi Sultan.

Photos by Steven Dagg