Under 14 Hurling Feile: Ballyvarley/Ballela
Under
14 Hurling Feile
The Ballyvarley/Ballela
under 14 hurlers competed well in
the Under 14 Hurling Feile on
Saturday. They played under the name
St Patrick’s winning two of their
three matches, each game played with
seven minutes each half. Played on
the Bann Road playing fields in
Castlewellan the Ballyvarley/Ballela
hurlers opened the tournament with a
game against Newry Shamrocks.
Newry did the early
pressing and went into the lead
thanks to a well taken point on the
run. Slowly the Reds started to get
more into the game, points starting
to flow for Rory McShane, Ciaron
Davis and Owen Magee. But the killer
score of the half came from Ciaron
Davis who soloed in to lift the net.
Leading by five minutes
at the break, the locals continued
to score freely with Patrick Macken
dominating at half-forward sending
over two excellent long range
points, before Owen Magee killed the
game off with a pick, turn and
strike that hi5t the bottom corner.
This left the final score 2-6 to 0-1
in favour of St Patrick’s.
Next up for the locals
was the host club, Castlewellan. It
was a tight contest early on with
the first score coming from the
Reds’ Christopher Martin with a fine
point from half-back. Owen Magee put
some distance between the sides as
he left the full-back for dead and
slotted the sliothar in for a major
score. Either side of half-time
Patrick Mackin kept the Reds going
with two expertly taken points from
the left and right. Castlewellan
managed just one solitary score in
reply leaving St Patrick’s with a
1-3 to 0-1 win.
Carryduff, the other
team in the group, got wins over
Newry and Castlewellan too. This
left the last match between St
Patrick’s and Carryduff as a
straight shoot out with the winners
being in the Feile final the
following day. The Reds started
extremely slowly as Carryduff raced
into a quick two point lead. At
half-back and midfield St Patrick’s
struggled to contain a much sharper
Carryduff team. Two points in it at
the break it was still all to play
for, and suddenly the St Patrick’s
side woke up. Christopher Martin and
Tony Hegarty came more into it at
half-back and midfield as the Reds
pressed for the scores that would
get them back into the game.
The score they were looking for came
fourth minutes into the half when a
searching sideline from Christopher
Martin on the right was flicked into
the net by Patrick Mackin. The teams
traded points-a-piece and with the
allotted seven minutes of time
played the Reds lead by a single
point. Two minutes into injury time
Carryduff won a free 21 yards from
goal. A scorching shot from the free
found the top corner of the net and
seconds later the game was over. It
was a heartbreaking two point loss
for St Patrick’s. Perhaps if they
had started quicker in the first
half they may have reached the
final, yet Carryduff, in a hard
fought tight encounter, were worthy
winners.
Overall there were some good
performances on the day with Ciaron
Davis, Owen Magee and Patrick Mackin
in good scoring form. Michael
McAlister was strong in goals; and
at the back Michael McKay, Michael
Downey and Lisa McCusker very
strong. The players that came on
performed well with James O’Meara,
Aidan McKernan and Jack Kearns all
showing well. The St Patrick’s team
has an early chance of revenge as
they play Carryduff this Wednesday
in Ballyvarley. The game starts at
7pm with the players asked to be
there at 6.30pm.
Ballyvarley/Ballela Team
Michael McAllister, Paul Colgan,
Michael Downey, Lisa McCusker,
Michael McKay, Christopher Martin
(0-1), Cathal McGrath, Conor Strain,
Tony Hegarty, Ciaran Heaney, Patrick
Mackin (1-5), Jonathan Lennon,
Ciaron Davis (1-1), Owen Magee
(2-2), Rory McShane (0-1). Subs:
Aidan McKernan, Liam Stewart, Jack
Kearns, Stephen Caruthers, James
O’Meara.
Sent in by Colm O’Neill
