Under 16 Hurling Championship
Semi-final
Ballyvarley Vs
Carryduff
Ballyvarley U-16 Hurlers
fell
victim of the late-late show when
two injury time goals from
Carryduff
saw them over take the Reds at the
finishing post to earn a place in
the Down Championship Final. It was
heartbreak for Ballyvarley who had
made most of the running in this
game and looked like booking their
place in another championship final
but their failure to take their
chances left them vulnerable to that
late flurry of decisive scores that
was a fitting finale to an exciting
championship tussle.
Ballyvarley led from the
opening minute and with the two
teams so evenly matched the
referees
decisions were to prove crucial in
this nail-biting encounter. Five
converted frees from Paul O’Neill
were matched by five similar scores
from Carryduff
and we had to wait until two minutes
from the interval for the first
score from play when Paul O’Neill
soloed through to fire the Reds into
a one point lead at half time.
Half Time:
Ballyvarley 0-6
Carryduff
0-5
Two
more points from O’Neill after the
break had the Reds comfortably in
front with most
of the goalmouth action at the
Carryduff
end of the field but that finishing
touch wasn’t there and the Reds
lived to regret their squandered
chances. Midway through the half a
speculative shot from the left wing
dropped under the Ballyvarley
crossbar and for the first time in
the game the Reds were behind. The
goal gave
Carryduff new heart and
another pointed free gave them a two
point cushion. A point on the run
from Conor
McClorey
and a goal from
Colm Madden was the perfect
answer and once more the Reds held a
two point advantage.
Carryduff’s
eight converted free reduced the
deficit to the minimum but with a
minute of normal time remaining
O’Neill soloed up the right wing and
fired over another point to reopen a
two point gap.
All Ballyvarley had to
do was hold their shape at the back
but that decisive break from
Carryduff
produced their first score from play
and that killer goal gave the North
Down men that vital one point lead
in injury time. Ballyvarley went in
search of the equaliser and almost
got it but straight from the puck
out Carryduff
struck again and the Reds misery was
complete. The final whistle saw the
Reds slump to the ground in despair
but what a run they gave us and on
this battling performance they have
nothing to be ashamed. It was a
great team performance right to the
end with James McDermott, Leigh
McConville,
Paul O’Neill,
Conor
McClorey, Michael McDermott
and Jamie Murray leading the way
with particularly outstanding
performances.
Final Score:
Ballyvarley 1-10
Carryduff
3-8
Ballyvarley: Michael McAllister;
Kieran Maguire, Jamie Murray, Sean
Savage; Christopher Martin, James
McDermott, Leigh
McConville;
Conor
McClorey(0-1),
Paul Cairns; Tony
Hegarty,
Paul O’Neill(0-9), Michael
McDermott; Shane
McAreavey,
Colm
Madden(1-0), James Kennedy.
Subs:
Patrick Mackin,
Cathal
McGrath, Martin Connolly
The
season is still not over for many of
these players as next Sunday they
play in the combined Ballela/Ballyvarley
team in Down Minor
Championship semi-final against
Leitrim. The winner of this tie
would be favourites to go the whole
way and lift the title.
The
big celebration night for all the
clubs juvenile hurlers and
footballers is now just one week
away with Juvenile Presentation
Function in the Belmont Hotel on
Wednesday 15th November
at 7-15pm
Sent
in by Colm O’Neill
