Ballyvarley win U14 hurling Semi Final against Clonduff
Under
14 Hurling
Championship Semi-final
Ballyvarley Vs Clonduff
Ballyvarley’s under14
hurlers came through an amazing
contest against Clonduff to reach
the Under 14 Hurling Championship
final. This was a pulsating game
that was in the balance until the
last few moments of the game when a
Patrick Macken goal gave the Reds
that extra bit of breathing space,
and spurred them on to win by four
points.
A good crowd turned up
to watch this tight contest with the
visitors having already beaten
Ballyvarley by a goal in Hilltown in
the league. Whereas the Reds were
out-battled in that encounter
Ballyvarley showed in the first few
moments their desire that this was
not about to be repeated. Early on
Patrick Macken won the ball on the
edge of the large rectangle, turned
and sent a rasping shot past the
flailing keeper. It was the perfect
start for the Reds and they went on
to press forward at every
opportunity, with the Clonduff
defence having to work very hard to
clear the ball.
Thomas McKernan,
Christopher Martin and Conor Strain
led by example as they formed a
strong half-back unit that the
visitors found difficult to find a
way past. But as the game wore on so
Clonduff came more into it, with
Shay Murnaghan prominent at midfield
for the lads from Hilltown. His
industry saw Clonduff get their
first point of the game and soon
after Clonduff sent a looping shot
in that dropped into the net.
For all their possession and chances
Ballyvarley found themselves a point
down and immediately they stormed up
the field to rectify this. Only the
crossbar prevented the Reds Patrick
Macken from goaling after his
thunderous shot looked to have
beaten the keeper.
Finally Ballyvarley got
the reward their hard work deserved
when a long through ball found Shane
McAreavey who goaled on the second
attempt to great cheers. Clonduff
added another point before the break
leaving just a solitary point
between the teams and all still to
play for.
HALF-TIME: Ballyvarley 2-0
Clonduff 1-2
On the restart the game
ebbed and flowed from one end to the
other as the two hurling teams gave
their all. Ballyvarley’s defence
began to get on top, with Kieran
Maguire turning in a
man-of-the-match display with some
excellent clearances as he dominated
at full-back. A lot of the play
revolved around midfield and as Paul
Cairns became more prominent in this
area, the game shifted in
Ballyvarley’s favour. Paul went on a
run from the fifty to run at the
opposing defence and sent a drive in
that left the keeper no chance and
lifted the net. Points-a-piece were
traded between the sides, Patrick
Macken getting the locals score when
he went on a mazy run and sent ina
shot that saw the sliothar go just
over.
Clonduff were not
finished yet and reduce the deficit
to a point with a 20 yard shot
hitting the top corner of the net to
leave the keeper no chance. The
response from the Reds was emphatic
with Thomas McKernan making a rare
foray forward from half-back to
flick the sliothar over the bar
before livewire Patrick Macken
rounded his man to grab a three
pointer with a powerful finish.
Going into the last
seven minutes, the Reds Tony Hegarty
had to retire injured, but despite
this loss the Ballyvarley lads
fought all the harder. To the final
whistle Clonduff fought as the Reds
threw everything into their tackles
to keep the visitors at bay. When
the whistle sounded at the end their
was jubilant scenes of celebration
from Ballyvarley as they realised
they had made the Championship
final.
FULL-TIME: Ballyvarley 4-2
Clonduff 2-3
This was a tremendous
contest with both teams excelling
with fierce tackling and some good
hurling skills on view as well. The
Ballyvarley lads displayed that
extra desire to reach the final with
some excellent displays from the
locals. Goalkeeper Michael McAlister
was excellent between the sticks;
Christopher Martin spurred the team
on from half-back, with Tony Hegarty
and Shane McAreavey putting in some
good displays. However standing out
was an outstanding display from
Kieran Maguire at full-back, a
display of leadership from Captain
Paul Cairns at midfield, and the
killer finishing of Patrick Macken
at full-forward. But it was the old
cliché of it being an overall team
performance that saw the Reds though
as they displayed good energy levels
right to the final whistle.
Ballyvarley now prepare
for the final in a few weeks time
against Carryduff.
Ballyvarley Under 14 team:
Michael McAllister, Paul Colgan,
Kieran Maguire, Cathal McGrath,
Conor Strain, Christopher Martin,
Thomas McKernan (0-1), Paul Cairns
(1-0), Tony Hegarty, Ciaran Heaney,
James Kennedy, Martin Connolly,
Shane McAreavey (1-0), Michael
McDermott, Patrick Macken (2-1).
Subs: Jonathan Lennon, Michael
McKay, Patrick McNally, Peter Lavery.
Sent
in by Gerard
O’Neill
