East Down U-16 Football League Section B: Ballykinlar 4-06  Kilclief 3-09

For the second week in a row Ballykinlar came from behind to secure a draw in another pulsating clash at Tadgh Barry Memorial Park.

Much like last week's stalemate against Teconnaught, the Kinlar boys left it late to grab themselves a share of the spoils. It took a superb point from Barry Melville right on the hour mark to level the game and send Kilclief home wondering about what could have been.

The game was only seconds old when Kilclief fired to the Ballykinlar net. However, the homeside responded spectacularly with three goals in quick succession. Two of these came from the boot of Declan Kavanagh whilst the other was a peach from Barry Melville.

Kilclief then regained the upperhand and an excellent point from Chris Curran was followed by a second goal which left the Lecale side trailing by two points. Then with twelve minutes of the half remaining Declan Kavanagh split the posts to put a goal between the factions.

With the game going back and forward it was Kilclief's turn to take the initiative and after some good play they added two further points to their tally. One point was all that separated the teams at this stage.

With the half coming to a close Declan Kavanagh sent over a free for the Kinlar only for Kilclief to hit back. Then just when it looked like Kilclief were getting a stranglehold on the game Kavanagh popped up with a double after some excellent work from Blaine Warnock and Gavin Robb. The half finished with Kilclief converting which left the Kinlar leading by two points.

Despite Shaun Cunningham bringing the second half to life with a well taken score it was Kilclief who looked the more capable in the first twenty minutes. A goal and four points in this period give them a well deserved four point lead.

After being second best for most of the half the Kinlar dug deep in the last eight minutes although at this stage it looked like the points would be heading to the away side.Then Declan Kavanagh moved out of full forward and switched with Sean O'Rourke who was playing very well in the number eleven shirt. This proved to be the master switch with Kavanagh grabbing himself a well deserved individual goal with a minute to go.

From the resulting kickout Barry Melville took possession of the ball for the Kinlar in the middle third. Melville then drove forward with only one thing on his mind: to put the ball over the bar. That he did and Ballykinlar spectacularly grabbed a draw at the death.

Two draws in two games has boosted the Kinlar's confidence after some poor results in previous games. The goalkeeper rotation tactic continues to work a treat with Eamon King doing well in the first half and Lee Grant shining in the second. The backline was under pressure in the first half but after a few alterations improved after the break. Anthony Mageean, Richard Fitzsimons, Conall McKee and Laurence Smith played tremendously throughout.

The midfield pairing had their work cut out with a very strong running Kilclief duo but Michael Mageean and Barry Melville can be extremely pleased with their efforts during the night. The forwards had to work hard for any possession that was won. Despite this Blaine Warnock, Paidi Curry, Sean O'Rourke and Declan Kavanagh showed continued signs of improvement.

Kilclief had some stars on show. Ryan McDowell was solid in goals pulling off some tremendous saves in the second half. Nathan McMullan had an excellent tussle with Kavanagh at full back while Dean Fitzsimons was a rock at centre half. Aidan McCann was the workhorse of the team at midfield while all six forwards showed up well.

Ballykinlar: E.King, L.Grant, A.Mageean, C.Evans, L.Smith, R.Fitzsimons, C.McKee, M.Mageean, B.Melville (1-01), B.Warnock, S.O'Rourke, P.Curry, G.Robb, D.Kavanagh (3-04, 1 Free), S.Cunningham (0-01).