Under
14 Hurling Championship Semi-final:
Bredagh Vs Ballyvarley/Ballela
The St Patrick’s under
14 hurlers caused a major upset by
knocking favourites Bredagh out of
the Under 14 Hurling Championship,
with the Reds booking themselves a
place in the final. In an excellent
game of hurling both sides gave
plenty of commitment with the
Ballyvarley/Ballela and Bredagh
hurlers showing some wonderful
hurling skills.
The game in Bredagh’s Cherryvale
playing fields started with the
Belfast boys well on top. Bredagh’s
Niall Irwin operating at centre
full-forward was the danger man, a
quick skilful hurler who time and
again opened up the St Patrick’s
defence. Irwin was to get the first
score of the game, a goal, after the
sliothar went over the heads of the
Reds’ defence and found him with
time and space to pick his spot. The
home side added two more points as
St Patrick’s struggled to win
possession at half-forward to
relieve the pressure on their over
worked defence.
Credit to the St Patrick’s defence
despite the numerous chances the
Bredagh forward line had, they
reduced them to just those five
points as they went through a
tremendous amount of work with some
excellent last ditch defending.
Thomas McKernan was the stand out
player for St Patrick’s as he kept
Bredagh’s Irwin quiet and time and
again provided the long clearances
that provided the Reds’ backline
with some breathing space.
Bredagh added another point to
extend their lead to seven, before
Patrick Mackin got in to the game
and sent a long strike that bounce
into the home goal. Suddenly the
game changed as the Reds found a
renewed belief. Tony Hegarty soon
after added a pointed free 40 yards
out before Mackin powered through
again to drive over another point
from deep.
Despite a bad start St Patrick’s
found they faced just a two point
deficit and still with a chance of
reaching the Down final.
HALF-TIME: Bredagh 1-4
Ballyvarley/Ballela 1-2
On the restart the
Ballyvarley/Ballela lads came out
with intent dominating around
half-back and midfield with
Christopher Martin coming to
prominence and Michael Downey and
Tony Hegarty winning a lot of ball.
It was to be a tense thirty minutes
with little space available and both
sides running themselves into the
ground to try and win the contest.
Patrick Mackin reduced
the deficit to a solitary point and
there after the Bredagh goal was the
scene for some last ditch scrambles
that denied the Reds a couple of
goals. It was a very competitive
game played in the right spirit by
both sides and despite all the St
Patrick’s pressure Bredagh broke to
notch over two further points from
Irwin. Half way through the second
period the visitors realised they
needed a goal to get back in this
game, so when they were awarded a
free 21 yards out Christopher Martin
stepped up with only one thing on
his mind. A scorching shot flew just
below the cross bar to lift the net
and put the sides level.
From this moment onward
Owen Magee and Patrick Mackin
tormented the Bredagh rear guard
with Mackin striking over three
unanswered points to win the game.
FULL-TIME: Bredagh 1-6
Ballyvarley/Ballela 2-6
This was an
excellent all round performance from
the St Patrick’s side with all. The
tackling and commitment from the
team was exceptional. Thomas
McKernan and Conor Strain were
outstanding at full-back, with the
whole half-back line of Cathal
McGrath, Paul Colgan and Christopher
Martin playing well. Tony Hegarty
and Michael Downey won the midfield
battle in the second half, with
Patrick Mackin and Owen Magee the
danger men upfront and Aidan
McKernan contributing well when he
came on.
The Reds now look
forward to the Down Under 14 Hurling
Championship final with all players
asked to keep up the high attendance
at training over the coming days in
preparation for this match. They
play Clonduff in the final as they
beat Carryduff in the other
semi-final. Date and venue for the
final still to be confirmed.
Ballyvarley/Ballela Team
Michael McAllister, Conor Strain,
Thomas McKernan, Darragh Brady,
Cathal McGrath, Christopher Martin
(1-0), Paul Colgan, Michael Downey,
Tony Hegarty (0-1), Michael McKay,
Patrick Mackin (1-5), Jonathan
Lennon, Ciaran Heaney, Peter
Verhoven, Owen Magee. Subs:
Aidan McKernan, Peter Lavery, Rory
McShane, James O’Meara, Ciaron
Davis, Liam Stewart, Ryan McCusker,
Jack Kearns, Stephen Caruthers.
Sent in by Colm O’Neill
