Under 12s Hurling Underway

Tuesday 31st May 2016

Following an initial Regional series, the All County Under 12 hurling league is now underway with eight teams from across the County competing every Thursday night. While the league table shows the Ards sides at the top, this competition is as much about skills development as it about victories – and there were was no shortage of skills on show in the most recent round of fixtures.

Portaferry’s goalkeeper Drew Mageean produced a defiant display as along with Callum Fowler and Deaglan Mallon, he helped keep the Castlewellan attack in check at St Patrick’s Park.  Upfront, Noah Rogers and Danny Mc Veigh played well for the Ports while Castlewellan’s Tiarnan Connolly, Nathan Garland and Tiarnan Gallagher were outstanding throughout but could not prevent a Portaferry victory.

Cumann Pheadair Naofa meanwhile made the long trek to South Belfast where they faced a strong Bredagh side. Again, it was a goalkeeper – Warrenpoint’s Oran Murney- who caught the eye while Matthew Duffy also defended well for the visitors. For Bredagh, Ben Christie in attack and Michael McVeigh in midfield always threatened as the home side secured victory.

Elsewhere, Ballygalget played Liatroim at home and had a good victory with excellent performances from Dara Coulter, Nathan Branniff, Alex Jamsheedy and Odhran Birt. Ballygalget’s strong first half performance left the Liatroim lads with too big a deficit to recover from. To their credit, all the Liatroim players lifted their game in the second half and with DJ O Toole and Conor Lenaghan particularly prominent, they battled hard but the Galget boys held on for a home win.  

In the last match of the round, Ballycran travelled to Carryduff in a match that also proved to be ‘a game of two halves’. The first period was marked by a top class display from the visiting Captain Rory Corcoran who commanded at half back and dropped into full back as and when the Carryduff forwards - led by Ronan Kelly and Jacob Dixon- pressed towards goal.  Corcoran capped his performance with the stand-out goal of the match when he lobbed a high ball from the half way line.

Conor Corcoran was also impressive for Ballycran while Adam Rogan covered a significant area of the pitch with his fast pace; goals alluded him however as the Carryduff defence marshalled by Oisin Mc Ateer and Patrick Mc Farlane, pulled off some marvellous mid air blocks.

The Carryduff team certainly upped their game in the second half with David Morrissey and Oran Sherry fighting for every ball. The team generally moved the ball a lot quicker closing the margin as the match neared its closing stages. However despite the best efforts of Carryduff’s Patrick Rooney and Eoin O Donnell, it was Ballycran who pulled away. Demonstrating impressive soloing skills, Jamie Young’s persistence paid off for the visitors with a blistering goal while young Darragh Rodgers hit his second major for the Ardsmen. Carryduff’s efforts to claw back the deficit were unsuccessful as the Crans held on to the whistle.