St Brigid’s minors v Ardoyne minors
16/3/08 Cherryvale
This clash at Cherryvale between St Brigid’s and Ardoyne promised to be a tough encounter, and that is what it proved to be. At the start of the match the sun shone, and a cool breeze blew, but as the game wore on conditions became windier and harder for the forwards.
St Brigid’s started the brightest, with great approach play from midfielders Chris Mooney and Ben Sinnot, as well as corner-forward Michael Lavery leading to scores from Paddy Nolan and the promising Conor Mackle. Sinnot also charged forward for an excellent score off his left foot. The hard-working Cormac McGrady added a couple of frees and Paddy Nolan hit two from difficult angles, but Ardoyne stuck to the boys in blue like limpets, all of their scores coming from frees. Conor McGranaghan ,Ciaran Connolly and Daniel Nolan were strong coming out of the full-back line for St. Brigid’s, ably assisted by the sharp Kelly brothers and Thomas Mc Keogh. Conor Mackle got a knock and had to go off, replaced by Jack Dowling.
St Brigid’s lost Ryan Mackle, who had been recycling ball between the half-back and forward lines to good effect, to a knee injury for the second half. He was replaced by Simon Ramsey. The second half began and Ardoyne raised the tempo from the off, with a couple of frees and well-taken points. St Brigid’s maintained their lead, though by this stage it had been cut to two points.
They say that great players produce the goods when it matters, and just when Naomh Brid needed a score, Simon Ramsey tucked a goal neatly beyond the Ardoyne goalkeeper’s reach to give his team some breathing space. As Ardoyne racked up one or two more scores, Michael Lavery scored perhaps the point of the game – again showing leadership when it mattered. However, just when St Brigid’s thought that they had the win in the bag, Ardoyne blasted a goal to the back of the net. All the St Brigid’s players breathed a sigh of relief a second or two later when the referee blew the final whistle.
Encouraging displays from both sides but, as I’m sure both management teams will agree, plenty to work on.
Final score: St Brigid’s 1-11 Ardoyne 1-9.
PS. A speedy recovery to Conor Mackle, one of the rising stars of the clubs underage structure, who suffered a fracture during last Sunday’s game.
