U16s draw again

The original venue for this tie was Hannahstown, but with the heavy rain taking its toll on the pitch, St. Brigid’s agreed to host the match at Musgrave Park.
This was a tough, clean football match with scores galore and plenty of excitement. St. Brigid’s had the upper hand in the first half. James Gildea was foraging to good effect and was very unlucky to hit the bar with a thumping shot, while Ronan McGrady looked sharp. Ben Leonard was catching plenty of ball around the middle-but Naomh Brid were guilty of wasting a few good chances. They could have been ahead by more, but went in at the break four points up thanks mainly to a goal by Matt Keenan, finished well into the corner, calmly slotted home.
In the second half Lamh Dearg really upped the tempo. They were determined to win and avoid defeat at all costs. Were it not for a magnificent save by Michael Campbell, some goal-line blocking by Jack Langan and frantic defending by the home side, Lamh Dearg could have had a couple of goals. As it was, Ryan Murray was excellent at full-forward for the away team. He was not only clinical from frees but caused headaches to numerous St. Brigid’s defenders. He was the man inspiring Lamh Dearg to a valuable point, and what might have been victory, but a debatable decision by the referee to show him a straight red card for dissent put paid to that. Having said that, almost straight after his sending off the ref blew for full time so it mightn’t have made a huge difference anyway.
On the one hand, Lamh Dearg showed great spirit to come back from three points down with five minutes to go. St. Brigid’s may be disappointed to have let slip such a lead. On the other hand, Naomh Brid could count themselves lucky to get a point out of the match, after numerous occasions when it looked like their net could ripple.
An exciting match, which showed that both sides have great potential and should provide an intriguing contest next time out.