Under 15 Hurlers – End the season on a high and complete the double
Date of Match: 9th December 2006
Versus: St Vincents Venue: Silverpark
Competition: Under 15 Division 1 League Playoff
Management Team: Pat Halpin, Tom Murphy, Daibhi dePaor, Gearóid O’Riain
Match Result
Crokes 2-08 v St Vincents 1 - 03
Scorers;
Crokes: Seanie McGrath (0-05 (0-03 f)), Johnny Brew (1-01), Naomhan O’Reardon (1-00), Killian Doherty (0 – 01), Barry Mulligan (0 – 01 (65))
Match Report/ Match Highlights:
Under 15 Hurlers – End the season on a high and complete the double
To most people, the thought of paying competitive hurling in December is pure madness, but the Under 15 sides from Crokes and St Vincents produced a good competitive game on a cold afternoon last Saturday up in Silverpark. The pitch was a little soft, but otherwise was in great nick for this time of the year. Both these two sides finished their league campaigns on level points and as was the case last year, needed an extra match to decide who would take home the league title.
Crokes started the game playing up towards the dressing rooms and against a stiff cold breeze, but were the quicker side to settle into the game and opened the scoring when Seanie McGrath converted a free in the opening minute. Five minutes later, Seanie increased Croke’s lead with another point, this time scored from play after great work by Eddie in mid field. Despite playing against the breeze, Crokes were doing all the attacking, but the Vinnies defense were playing well. Barry Mulligan converted a 65-meter free in the twelfth minute to increase Croke’s lead to three points. Four minutes later, Seanie added another converted free to his tally. Crokes were in control, especially in the half back and mid field lines and were slowly pulling away from Vincents. Eighteen minutes in and Naomhan gathered the sliotar into his hand, darted away from his man and buried the ball into the back of the net to give Crokes a commanding lead. But Vinnies rallied and with twenty two minutes of the half gone, scored a goal, their first score of the game, when their full forward gathered a loose ball and ran across the fourteen yard line before he struck the ball into the back of the net. Four minutes later, Vinnies narrowed the lead even further when they converted a free; they were now playing with a lot more conviction. However it was Crokes who had the last word in the half, when on the stroke of half time, Seanie calmly converted another free to extend Crokes lead at half time to four points.
It was a great first half performance against the breeze by Crokes and they should have had another couple of goals but were denied by good goalkeeping and defending by St Vincents.
The second half was a low scoring tight affair, neither side were able to pull away from the other. The bulk of the play was centered around the midfield and both half back lines. But it was Crokes who opened the scoring in the half, when Killian Doherty struck over a well-taken point after four minutes. We had to wait another seven minutes before the next score, when Seanie popped over a great point to extend Crokes lead to six points. But Vinnies cancelled out these two points with two well-taken points in the twentieth and twenty sixth minutes. But Johnny Brew put a stop to the St Vincents rally, when in the twenty seventh minute, he pulled on the ball, while he was on his knees, and drove the ball into the roof of the net. Three minutes later, Johnny added a great point to his tally and ended the scoring for the game. When the whistle sounded, Crokes lead by 2 goals and eight points to St Vincents one goal and three points, a great win and added the League title to the Championship title won last month. The standard of hurling in the second half was not as good as in the first half, but the cold started to affect both sets of players and their handling skills suffered a bit.
Crokes deserved their win, but St Vincents showed that they will not allow Crokes any easy titles next year. Overall it has been a good year, every player has improved and the team as a whole is playing very well. The management would like to thank all the players involved with the team, nothing would have been achieved without all the work and effort of every player on the panel.
The lads will now take a well-deserved break before starting back again next year and try to emulate this years Under 16’s who also carried away both the League and Championship titles.
Kilmacud Crokes:
Keith Hogarty, Cian O’Brien, Paul Collins, Jack Doughan, Matthew Kinsella, Bill O’Carroll, Alan Carr, Eddie O’Byrne, Killian Doherty, Eoin Dalton, Sean Murphy, Barry Mulligan, Johnny Brew, Naomhan O’Reardon, Seanie McGrath.
Subs: Cillian Casey and Brendan Halpin.
Unavailable: - Darren McVeigh, Jack Kelly, Jude Sweeney, Louis Whelan, Mark O’Dwyer, Dillon Mulligan, Hugh Byrne & Peter massage.
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