The U 16s did themselves credit in the Brackaville 7 a side tournament on Saturday. Despite having to set off with a player short after a no show the lads produced a great effort,winning their first game against Clonoe (much to the joy of Conor MacSherry!).
A very slick Eglish team were up next and given that the lads went straight into this game with no rest they acquitted themselves well. We were only a point down at half time but went down by 5 pts with Eglish getting a goal in the last seconds after the chance of a goal had been squandered by St Brigids.
In the final section game against Donagh the boys were starting to look tired and at half time the score was only 2 points each with the second half continuing to be hard fought.Then with practically the last kick of the game Donagh got a goal which came from some lazy, tired play on our part which left Hughes and Sean McKernan trying to hold out 5 attackers. So both the games we lost were well within our grasp and it was with that positive attitude we approached the Shield semi final vs Ballinderry.
Well that was the plan but after a dismal first half the riot act was read and a second half of pride and passion was produced and but for a unlucky misses who knows what might have happened had some pressure been applied. As it was this was an enjoyable day and given our total lack of 7s experience,the fact we were short on numbers which contributed to the fatigue, and the closeness of the games,the management were very pleased with the lads who made the effort to represent the club so well.
Sean McKernan played the role of goal keeper and playmaker superbly and was ably assisted by his brother Finn and Niall Lundy who are as committed and tenacious as any 2 young defenders around. Hughes and Conway fought, battled,hit hard and produced some great scores and with McGovern contributing to the scores assisted by ‘wee’ Alex Lavery,Kane and O’Boyle it was a great team effort. Special thanks to the Brackaville and Clonoe clubs particularly for removing the lifetime bans they had in place on Conor MacSherry and Frankie Devlin that allowed us to participate!!
Oh All U16s to attend training at HQs at 6pm on Tuesday. Some of you may need directions in which case I would speak to the hardy band of team regulars and I am sure they will point you in the right direction!!!
