Ballyvarley Notes - 8th May 2006
Under
14 Hurling League
Bredagh
Vs Ballyvarley
Ballyvarley’s Under 14 hurlers went
close to upsetting a strong
Bredagh
side last week.
Bredagh recently took the
Under 14 Down and Ulster
Feile
titles and the Reds knew they were
in for a tough encounter and they
rose to the occasion. The game was
in the balance with only a goal
between the sides going into the
final five minutes, yet chances for
the Reds went a begging, and
Bredagh
scored a late goal to win by six
points.
The game began as
expected with
Bredagh doing the early
pressing, Ballyvarley needing some
vital last second clearances from
Christopher Martin and Michael
McDermott at the back. The home side
eventually added a goal, but this
seemed to wake Ballyvarley up and
set them on the attack. Good
persistent harrying from Thomas
McKernan
in midfield saw balls fall to Kieran
Maguire and James Kennedy who
started to run at the
Bredagh
rear guard. Some glorious goal
chances fell to Martin Connolly and
Owen Carlisle, going within a width
of a goalpost from opening the Reds
account.
Bredagh harshly punished
Ballyvarley with a goal from a melee
in the box. The locals rallied and
thought they had got a goal back
when Owen Carlisle batted the
sliothar
to the net, only for the referee to
disallow it for a square ball. Thus
the half ended with
Bredagh
having a six point advantage but
having it far from
their own
way.
HALF-TIME:
Bredagh 2-0
Ballyvarley 0-0
Throughout the course of
the first half Ballyvarley had grown
and got better and better. They knew
they were still in this game and get
something from it if they wanted it
badly enough.
From the start the Reds
were competitive, fiercely
contesting every ball.
Bredagh
were denied time and space around
the middle of the field with Kieran
Maguire and the tireless running of
Thomas McKernan
never gave them time to settle.
Ballyvarley’s half back trio of
Christopher Martin, Paul Cairns and
Conor
Strain were out
infront every time, attacking
the ball and setting up a wave of
Ballyvarley attacks.
These attacks saw Kieran
Maguire winning large amounts of
possession at half-forward. His
forward colleague James Kennedy ran
at the Bredagh
defence, eating away at the
distance, getting into shooting
range but unfortunately just placing
the sliothar
the wrong side of the upright. James
never gave up the cause making the
defenders work extremely hard for
their clearances, chasing back and
winning back balls he should never
have been allowed to. Good work by
James set through Kieran Maguire to
solo through from the thirty yard
line to the fourteen. The ball then
fell loose before Martin Connolly
whacked it to the net from close in.
This left a goal between the sides
with fifteen minutes gone of the
second period and Ballyvarley went
in search of the equaliser.
The game swung from end
to end, Bredagh
going close with some fierce ground
drives, while for the visitors
Martin Connolly and Kieran Maguire
nearly goaled before Tony
Hegarty
turned on the 21 and sent a rasping
first time pull skimming past the
outside post. Close but not close
enough.
Going
into the final five minutes there
remained the solitary goal between
the two sides with both teams
hurling well. Defences were on top
with Paul Cairns and Christopher
Martin dominating for the Reds, but
the failure to take their chances
was to cost Ballyvarley. A late goal
followed by an injury time point saw
Ballyvarley faced with a six point
defeat with the score-sheet failing
to show just how close this tie was.
FULL-TIME:
Bredagh 3-1
Ballyvarley 1-0
Despite the loss this
was a strong display from
Ballyvarley pushing a very good
Bredagh
side all the way. The whole
Half-back line, Christopher Martin,
Paul Cairns and
Conor Strain were impressive
attacking the ball from the start;
there was good goalkeeping from
Michael McAllister, while Michael
McDermott and Kieran Maguire put in
energetic displays. Man of the match
for the Reds was James Kennedy for
sheer running, persistence and
ability to take on and beat players.
Ballyvarley’s next game
is at home against Newry Shamrocks
on Wednesday 10th May.
The Reds follow this with a home
game against
Liatroim. For both these
games players are asked to be at the
field for 6.30pm with
throw in at 7.15pm.
Ballyvarley
Under 14 team:
Michael McAllister, Paul
Colgan,
Michael McDermott,
Cathal
McGrath, Christopher Martin, Paul
Cairns, Conor
Strain, Thomas
McKernan, Patrick
Macken,
James Kennedy, Kieran Maguire, Shane
McAreavey,
Tony Hegarty,
Owen Carlisle, Martin Connolly
(1-0). Subs: Michael McKay,
Conor
McShane,
Ciaran
Heaney, Aidan
McKernan, Neil Monaghan,
Thomas Carlisle.
Ballyvarley Hurling Notes
Ballyvarley’s
under 14 hurlers lost a tough
league encounter against
Bredagh
in Belfast last week,
despite an impressive overall team
performance. A goal between the
sides going into the final five
minutes, chances for the Reds went a
begging, and
Bredagh scored a late goal to
win by six points. The Under 14
hurlers
next game is at home against Newry
Shamrocks on Wednesday 10th
May. The Reds follow this with a
home game against
Liatroim.
For both these games players are
asked to be at the field for 6.30pm
with throw in at 7.15pm.
The
under 16 hurler’s game at home to
Ballela due to the poor condition of
the pitch. Their next game is on
Friday 12/05/06 away
to Clonduff
with throw in at 7.15pm. The
following Friday they entertain
Warrenpoint.
Congratulations to Paul O’Neill and
James McDermott who made the Down
Under 16 Hurling Panel.
Ballyvarley’s under 12 hurlers
entertained Ballela in the first Go
Games blitz of the year last
Saturday. Ballyvarley won on a
score-line of 1-4 to 1-0 with Gerard
Lennon’s side playing very well. The
under 12
hurlers next game in the Go Games is
at home to
Clonduff on Saturday 13th
May at 2pm. They play
away to
Kilclief on 20th
May, followed by a home game against
Mourne
on Saturday 27th May.
Coaching for the under 10 and 12
hurlers is now on Friday nights.
Ballyvarley seniors lost at home to
Ballycran,
0-13 to 5-13. The score line does
not tell the whole story as the Reds
were in this contest for a lot of
the game. The
seniors next game is
Clonduff
at home on Tuesday 16th
May. Throw in is at
7.15pm so players are asked to be at
the field at 6.30pm.
There
is a Nite
at the Races event in Ballyvarley
Hall on Friday 12th May
to raise funds for the Players
Injury Fund. All are welcome with
the evening beginning at
8.30pm sharp.
Sent
in by Colm
O’Neill (Ballyvarley HC Hurling PRO)
