Sat 4th June
2005 East Down Blitz @
Liatroim
The
under-10s attended the East Down blitz
in Liatroim on Saturday and enjoyed a
great day of football. A lot of credit
must go to the organisers who ensured
that all sixteen teams enjoyed an hour
of football each and that the games were
well refereed and that the whole thing
ran seamlessly. There were four pitches
for four groups with four teams each and
St John’s were placed with Bryansford,
Carryduff and Drumaness in a strong
group.
Drumaness provided tough opponents in
the first game but St John’s managed to
establish a first half lead thanks to
the security provided by Michael Keenan
as goalkeeper and the scoring of Kevin
Keenan and Conor Gilmore. The defence
was further strengthened in the second
period by the introduction of James
Walsh who complimented the good work
being done by Jerome Gordon, Francis
Lynch and Michael McMullan, and this
provided the platform for continuing
success. Patrick Keenan also got himself
on the scoresheet which was just reward
for his powerful presence around the
middle of the park. Patrick Flynn and
Colm Kelly also pointed before the end
to complete the victory.
St
John’s second game was against
Bryansford. Kevin and Michael Keenan
gave the Johnnies the edge in midfield
while Kathleen Milligan, Patrick
O’Neill, William Kelly and Ciaran McKay
were difficult for the ‘ford defence to
contain. However, the first half was a
close as
St John’s passing was sometimes
wayward. There was only one point
between the teams at the break and
Bryansford got an equaliser soon
afterwards. That was the spur for St
John’s to up their game and, with the
introduction of Michael Kelly and Aidan
Morgan, the bossed the remainder of the
game with a goal fisted in by Barry
McAnulty finally making the difference
between the teams.
That
result meant that the final clash with
Carryduff A was between the two unbeaten
teams. St John’s got off to a flying
start when Barry McAnulty got his second
goal of the day when he took his
opportunity after Kevin Keenan’s shot
had been parried. Carryduff were a
strong team, however, and they got the
next three points to bring the teams
level. Conor Gilmore pointed to edge St
John’s ahead again but Carryduff replied
with a goal. Yet St John’s edged ahead
again before the break as Kevin Keenan
added another goal to his personal tally
to give the Johnnies a 2-01 to 1-03
advantage.
Unfortunately St John’s had to defend
the “big goals” after the break. An
early goal saw Carryduff snatch the lead
again and they were to retain it until
the finish. To their credit, this didn’t
dampen the players’ spirits too much and
they are already looking forward to
their next outing. So long as they keep
turning up for training at 6.30pm on Wednesdays and continue to show the same application there they will
go far.
St
John’s squad: Colm Kelly, Kevin Keenan,
Michael Keenan, Patrick Keenan, James
Walsh, Kathleen Milligan, Patrick Flynn,
Conor Gilmore, Patrick O’Neill, Jerome
Gordon, Francis Lynch, Michael Kelly,
Barry McAnulty, William Kelly, Michael
McMullan, Aidan Morgan, Ciaran McKay.
