St Brigids battling Div 2 under 12 squad tonight played their last challenge game before the league proper starts next week.
Deprived of a number of unavailable players, and facing a bigger and more physical Gort na Mona side a collapse might have been on the cards. That wasn’t to be though and, built on a solid defensive performance with Michael Canavan superb in goals, the lads were competitive right up to the last whistle. There was tight marking and tough challenges going in from the full back line of Ryan Austin, Zach Porter and Eddie Devlin, which kept the Gorts score down to 4 scores by half time.
Despite enduring some very heavy challenges, the midfield of Paddy McAllister and Eoin Mitchell, who put in a huge effort for the entire match, kept the supply line into the forward line alive. Conor Mulgrew and Ciaran Muldoon were involved in some clever link play and created chances for Joseph Muldoon and Ciaran Shearer. Shearer opened the St Brigids account midway through the first half with a well taken score and the home side had the better of the exchanges from then until half time.
In the second half John Higgins burst into life and won a lot of possession in the half back line, with Eunan Carlin doing likewise at midfield. John O’Sullivan had entered the fray by now and helped tighten the St Brigids defence. Daniel Foster was playing further up the field and might have had a score himself before two scoreable frees were unfortunately sent wide. James McKenna had a very strong second half and became more and more assured as the game went on. However, Gort na Mona are a strong team and their pressure eventually paid off with second half scores.
The St Brigids boys can now look forward to the league, knowing they are well able to compete with any team they meet.
Team: Michael Canavan. Ryan Austin. Zach Porter, Edward Devlin, James McKenna, Daniel Foster, John O’Sullivan, John Higgins, Eoin Mitchell, Paddy McAllister, Ciaran Muldoon, Conor Mulgrew, Joseph Muldoon, Kieran Shearer, Eunan Carlin
