U8 N Antrim League Div 2
Venue: Cross & Passion College, Ballycastle
Date: 15th Feb 2015
Brid Og U8s travelled to Ballycastle for their Division 2 matches in the N Antrim league. With the U10s recently winning Division 3 of this competition the U8s had something to emulate.
The first match was against Ruari Ogs 2 and the Cushendall team scored early on to take the lead. The Ogs showed a lot of courage and determination and were rewarded with goals from Conor McE and James K to get the day off to a winning start. The second game was against Oisins 2. We were of the belief that this would be a very good team as the U10 boys from Glenariffe have won Division 1 of the competition for the past two years. And this proved to be true as they came away with a narrow 2-1 victory. James K got the Ogs goal, but it wasn’t enough to get a result. The Ogs did have a number of chances but the Oisin’s goalkeeper made a number of stops. The goalie fumbled one shot and Brid Og thought they had got the equaliser as the ball had clearly crossed the line before it was cleared. However, the referee failed to award the goal (where’s Hawkeye when you need it?).
The players didn’t let that setback get to them as they came out firing against St Ergnats, Moneyglass. By the end of the match, Brid Og were winners by 6 goals to 0. James K & Conor MacE shared most of the scoring and young James McC also weighed in with one.
Dunloy Cuchullians were becoming Brid Og’s main rivals for a place in the Division 2 final They had also lost to Oisins 2 and crucially had drawn against Ruari Og 2. So, the final match of the day was a head-to-head between Brid Og and Dunloy for the right to play Oisin’s in next week’s Division 2 final. Things didn’t start too well for the Ogs as Dunloy scored an early goal. With their backs against the wall another comeback was needed to get into the final. Brid Og pressed and were awarded a penalty when the Dunloy goalkeeper went out of the semi-circle. James K’s penalty was struck too centrally and the keeper made the save. It was looking like was going to be a hard-luck story for Brid Og. All the kids were performing brilliantly and they were pushing hard and pressurising the Cuchullians defence.
Eventually, James K made amends when he scored the equaliser. This was followed by the award of another penalty when the goalie again left the semi-circle. With confidence that he wasn’t going to miss two penalties in the one match, James was instructed to take this penalty as well and aim for the corners. He duly obliged and dispatched the ball well beyond the reach of the keeper to give Brid Og the lead. With only about 1 minute left the Brid Og supporters could relax a little as due to the earlier results a draw would be enough to keep the Ogs above Dunloy in the league table. Dunloy pressed during the final minute and during quite a long bit of stoppage time, but the Brid Og defence were strong and held firm to see out victory and clinch a place in next week’s Division 2 final. They will again face Oisins 2 in the final and hopefully we will see a repeat of the success that the U10s had.
There were great performances from all the players today. They had different jobs to do at different times and they did what was asked of them each time.
The team also showed tremendous courage, grit and determination as two victories came after falling behind. They didn’t let their heads drop, but kept working hard and fought to get the reward that their hurling deserved today.
Brid Og squad: Conor MacE, Conor McK, James K, James S, James McC, Liam, Ciaran A special mention for Conor McK as he was returning after suffering a broken arm. Good to see him back in action
