An under 12 team selected from the 40 strong panel on the basis of who was not away on holidays travelled to Glenavy to participate in a very well run 9-a-side tournament on Saturday last.
The summer break took its effect on the rustiness of the boys in blue who were sluggish and slow to adjust to the pace of their first game when they took on a strong Emyvale outfit from County Monaghan. The Naomh Brid club could only muster a single point from the boot of Cathal Conway and were guilty of some poor kickouts from the goal area that gifted possession to the opposition.
The second match against Saul from County Down was a more even affair. Manager Frankie Devlin introduced Niall Lundy into the fray with good effect. St Brigid’s had the mighty boot of Shane Boyle taking the kickouts and Conor Leonard showed well to great effect in the midfield sector. The final score of four points to one did not reflect the closeness of the game and the match was a marked improvement from the first game.
The third game against Clann Eireann from Lurgan was a close affair until the final quarter when the Armagh boys pulled away. One excellent feature of the game was a sweeping move involving Conor Leonard and Cathal Conway with the former scoring from 30 yards.
Having shown steady improvement all along St Brigids entered the plate semi final with a good deal of optimism and played Aldergrove in hotly contested match. Two converted frees from Conway set up a two-point cushion at the break but there was just one point in it when Kealan McAllister scored a third and then led the line to put in a man-of-the-match performance. Joseph Cunane scored a fourth to leave the score four points to two when the final whistle went.
St Brigids faced Glenravel in the final of the plate, which turned out to be an excellent game of football. Garrett Mulholland awoke from his slumber to be a rock at the heart of the defence while Philip O’Sullivan put in a few jinky runs to trouble the Glens men. At half time the game was evenly poised with the score three points to two in favour of the north Antrim team. The second half was nip and tuck with Conway and Mulholland well to the fore. A free kick converted by the Glens team edged the opposition in front and St Brigid’s went into all out attack. The Leggett brothers, Eoin and Oliver, went close but the elusive scores would not come. The final score of five point to three meant the Malone road boys went home content with an excellent day’s football and renewed dedication to build upon the promising display.
This was an excellent competition and full credit to the hosts who provided food and drinks for the visiting teams. A word of thanks to Frank Devlin and Eunan Conway who both did a fine job looking after the team.
Panel: Conor Leonard, Shane Boyle, Niall Lundy, Garrett Mulholland, Philip O’Sullivan,
Cormac Devlin, Joe Cunane, Kealan McAllister, Cathal Conway, Eoin and Oliver Leggett
