U12 Football League Round 4
St. Kieran’s v Newcastle West 30.05.19
Match Report by Declan O'Keeffe
Our under 12 team were on the road again last Thursday evening making the short trip to Coolcappa to face a skillful St. Kieran’s team on a great evening for football. There was nothing between the sides throughout the encounter, but it must be said that the Ardagh boys showed a little more cunning, especially with their movement off the ball and ability to find a pass. There were times in this game where the supporters may have thought they were in Thomond Park as the referee seemed eager to ‘Let the game flow’. There were some bruising encounters all over the pitch & both sets of players deserve huge credit for the level of intensity & determination shown. We began brightly & soon had our reward with a well taken point from Darragh Tierney. Kieran’s responded well and two quick goals gave them the upper hand without either team really dominating. Some outstanding defending from both teams with Ashton Neville at full back for us not giving an inch physically and Sean Fitzgerald in goals mopping up any loose ball around the parallelogram meant that scores were hard come by and this was the trend for the most part throughout the game. Robert O’Grady at half forward chased and harried like a terrier and no doubt slept well after having run himself into the ground for the whole 45 minutes. While the possession stats may show that this was an even affair, our passing left us down on several occasions and we wasted good possession letting our opposition off the hook more than once. Darragh O’Keeffe provided some lovely touches when introduced and added a point from a well taken free before Darragh Tierney scored his second late on. Goals win games however and we failed to find the net which was really the deciding factor in this result. This game was played at a ferocious intensity and parents and coaches were held captive throughout. The boys from both teams cannot be praised enough for the display of commitment shown on the pitch. To a man our players put their bodies on the line and with better tactical awareness and some more accuracy with our passing I have no doubt the result would have been different. Other notable performances came from Tristan Kirwan & Conor Lyons. We would also like to wish a speedy recovery to the St Kieran’s player who suffered a collarbone injury during the game.
Team: Sean Fitzgerald, Darragh Doherty, Ashton Neville, Mark Healy, Leon O’Flynn, Paul Logue, Sean Lyons, Evan Crowley, Declan O’Grady, Conor Lyons, Jake Ri Ri, Jack Gallagher, Tristan Kirwan, Robert O’Grady, Darragh Tierney, Cillian McAuliffe, Darragh O’Keeffe.
