Under 14 Hurling Feile: Ballyvarley enjoy Feile
On Saturday Ballyvarley’s
under 14
hurlers travelled to compete in the
Under 14 hurling
Feile.
Each club going was guaranteed four
games, with each game being seven
and a half minutes each way. With
ten teams competing from various
clubs, the teams were separated into
two groups with the winners of each
group meeting in the final.
Ballyvarley found themselves in a
tough group with
Kilclief,
Newry Shamrocks, Warrenpoint and
Clonduff.
Kilclief
were to be the Reds first opponents
and the Ballyvarley lads got off to
a bad start, conceding a goal early
on. The locals came storming back
for all their possession and
dominance they could only manage a
point. These were to be the only
scores of the game as Ballyvarley
lost by two points.
Knowing that they had not played to
their potential Ballyvarley went out
in their second game against Newry
to show they could hurl. Right from
the start Paul Cairns dominated at
centre half back setting up a wave
of Ballyvarley attacks. Tony
Hegarty
supplied the cutting edge upfront
with two glorious points, one from
each wing, before James Kennedy
soloed in and lobbed the
sliothar
into the net.
With Ballyvarley leading by five
points to no score at the break,
Newry battled on the restart to get
back into the game. However, a
thunderous shot from Tony
Hegarty
on the edge of the
box,
added three more points to the Reds
tally and knocked the fight out of
Newry. There was still time for Tony
Hegarty
to add two pointed frees to give the
locals a ten point win.
FULL-TIME: Ballyvarley 2-
4 Newry Shamrocks 0-0
The third game was against
Warrenpoint who had well beaten all
the rest of the sides. Ballyvarley
competed well early on reducing
Warrenpoint to long range shots.
Michael McDermott and Paul Cairns
had stormers
at the heart of the Ballyvarley
defence with long drives out of
defence relieving the pressure.
The turning point in the game was
when a long shot from the
Warrenpoint midfield dipped at the
last moment to hit the net. They
added a point soon after, but the
Reds went in at the break knowing
they were still in it.
When the game recommenced,
Ballyvarley camped in the
Warrenpoint half. Tony
Hegarty
and James Kennedy were giving the
‘Point backline a torrid time.
Kieran Maguire came more into the
game and stormed through the
oppositions defence to kick the ball
to the net. There was just a point
in it, but a quick point by the
blues stretched their advantage. The
last few moments of the game were
hectic with Ballyvarley close to
getting the winning goal on several
occasions.
FULL-TIME: Ballyvarley 1-
0 Warrenpoint
1-2
It was a sign of Ballyvarley’s
improvement from their opening game
that they were disappointed to lose
to the eventual group winners
Warrenpoint. They had pushed their
opponents further than any of the
other sides.
That left Ballyvarley with a final
game against
Clonduff with only pride to
play for, and the Reds left their
best performance to the last. Paul
Cairns, Patrick
Macken and Kieran Maguire
dominated the midfield diamond and
put the
Clonduff men on the back foot
from the off. An early point from a
Tony Hegarty
free saw Ballyvarley surge with
confidence, before a free from Tony
rattled their opponents net.
The second period was to be more of
the same, one way traffic with
Ballyvarley hungry for the ball.
Kieran Maguire showed this, out
infront
to lift turn and goal. It was a
great team performance from
Ballyvarley with eight points
between the sides.
FULL-TIME: Ballyvarley 2-
2
Clonduff
0-0
It was an enjoyable
Feile
for Ballyvarley with Paul Cairns,
Michael McDermott, and Tony
Hegarty
outstanding, ably assisted by
Christopher Martin, Kieran Maguire,
Patrick Macken
and James Kennedy.
A special thanks to all the parents
who helped transport and support the
team at the
Feile.
Ballyvarley Squad
Michael McAllister, Paul
Colgan,
Michael McDermott,
Cathal
McGrath, Christopher Martin, Paul
Cairns, Conor
Strain, Thomas
McKernan, Patrick
Macken,
James Kennedy (1-0), Kieran Maguire
(2-0), Shane
McAreavey, Tony
Hegarty
(2-7), Patrick McNally, Jonathan
Lennon, Martin Connolly, Michael
McKay, Owen Carlisle,
Conor
McShane,
Ciaran
Heaney, Aidan
McKernan,
Eoin
McNally, Ciaron
Davis, Thomas Carlisle.
