Michael Conway

In the Under 14 B hurling finals played last weekend, the young hurlers of Bredagh and Warrenpoint added to their growing reputations by annexing the Cup and Shield competitions respectively.

Played in poor conditions, the Cup final pitted Bredagh against Liatroim. In the end it was the skills and score taking ability of the Belfast side that made the difference and helped them overcome a physically strong Fontenoy side. The first half was a close fought affair with Bredagh having the best possible start with an Emmett Dougan goal quickly followed by a Donal Hughes point. Liatroim were reeling at this stage but to their credit, good defensive play from Aidan Owens and Robert Dickson helped stem the Bredagh attack. The Fontenoys then set about recovering the deficit and points from Sean Brown and an excellent long range effort from Neil Lynch brought them back into contention. Disaster however struck for the Liatroim boys when a speculative shot from Michael Guerin dropped over the keeper’s head for Bredagh second goal. The Fontenoys however remained unruffled and pegged back a further two points from Sean Brown and Eddie ward to leave the halftime score 2-1 to 0-4 in Bredagh’s favour.

The second half seemed destined to again be a close contest but whatever Bredagh manager Danny Hughes and his mentors said during the interval obviously had the desired effect. After an early Liatroim score from Mark Cunningham, the Belfast side took control. In a devastating 20 minute spell, they displayed their accuracy in front of goals hitting 1-5 without reply with Emmett Dougan, Emmett Costello, Niall Wright, Michael Magee and Conor Mc Cluskey (1-0) all getting on the score sheet. This effectively put paid to Fontenoy’s chances and despite a Mark Cunningham goal late in the game for Liatroim, it was the Bredagh side that took the title on a 3-7 to 1-5 scoreline.

In the Shield final that followed, Warrenpoint proved much to strong for a young Carryduff side. It was Carryduff who opened the scoring with a Darragh Goodwin point but thereafter, hot favourites, Warrenpoint moved up a gear and it was one-way traffic for most of the game. The Point had stars in Jason Havern, Matthew and Chris Teague, and man of the match Michael Cunningham. Carryduff for their part never stopped battling against a much bigger side with Gary Morris, Darragh Goodwin, Conor Mc Cullagh, Peter Mc Goran, Conor Turner being the pick of a hard working team.