U11 Football League Round 2

Newcastle West 2-9 Feohanagh/Castlemahon 7-2

We travelled the short distance to a sun drenched Coolyroe last Saturday morning (June 29 th ). The home team were a man short and we had no shortage of volunteers to make up the numbers with Max Normoyle, Shay Collins, and James Douglas Normoyle each playing one period in a Blue and White jersey. Having won the toss and the home team had the advantage of a strong breeze for two of the three 15min periods. Feohanagh/Castlemahon dominated the first period who took every advantage of the strong breeze. Credit is due to our full back line of Diarmuid Cremin and Mark Healy who were under intense pressure throughout the opening 15 and fought hard to repel the onslaught. At the end of the first period we trailed 4-1 to 1-1 with a well taken goal from Leon O’Flynn and a point from Tristan Kirwan.

The main focus of our team chat at the break was marking. We resolved to draw a line under the first 15 mins and mark up in defence. It was a much different game after that and we were noticeably stronger in our defence and added 5 points in the second period all from the boot of Tristan Kirwan. With the wind we were also playing down in the opposition half more and were unlucky with many goal opportunities narrowly wide or saved. Feohanagh/Castlemahon added 1-1 to their tally, their goal coming from a close range free saved by Evan Crowley but they were sharper to the rebound and found the net.

We headed into the final period with a renewed confidence that we could reduce the deficit even further despite again facing the strong breeze. As expected we found the ball was sent down our end but Feohanagh/Castlemahon weren’t finding the space they had been with Adam Nolan and Rory Vaughan doggedly chasing down their men. Evan Crowley in goals was finding his team mates with very accurate short kick outs which completely negated the disadvantage of playing into the wind. Our backs made good use to the possession working the ball up to our midfield of Cormac Noonan and Tristan Kirwan who linked very well to build some excellent attacks. Our forwards continued to be unlucky with their goal chances, the woodwork denying Declan O’Grady on at least 3 occasions. Tristan Kirwan continued his fine scoring form adding a goal and a point. Cillian Shanahan was also on target superbly putting the ball over the bar despite being surrounded by a blanket of Feohanagh/Castlemahon defenders. Our final score came from a Rory Vaughan point who was always a threat venturing upfield with several solo runs from Half Back. In the end its the goals that decided the match. Congratulations to Feohanagh/Castlemahon for a very sporting game. We have a lot of positives to take from the match, notably the manner in which the team took on board the responsibility of man marking and also how they adapted their use of the ball to the strong breeze.

Lets take that into the next match at home to St. Kieran’s on July 20th to hit the ground running.

Team: Leon O’Flynn (1-0), Adam Nolan, Max Normoyle, Shay Collins, Cillian Shanahan (0-1), Evan Crowley, James Douglas Normoyle, Declan O’Grady, Cormac Noonan,Tristan Kirwan (1-7), Diarmuid Cremin, Mark Healy, Rory Vaughan (0-01)