Mungret St. Pauls 0-7 Fr. Casey's 2-6
On a cold night under lights in Mick Neville Park on Wednesday 24 October when the U-16 footballers stepped onto the pitch to play Fr. Casey’s where there was more scores earned in the dying minutes of the first half to the earlier 25 minutes played. The second half was a better game but the U-16 hurling final started to show in the tired feet of the Mungret St. Pauls players.
The one thing Mungret St. Pauls won in the game was the cross bar challenge which is the way they started the match followed by a wided free. There was a lot of missed opportunities and bouncing the ball off the posts, this could have been a different game for Mungret St. Pauls. It took 5 minutes to get the first score and another 10 minutes before Mungret St. Pauls was to mark up another point. There was a lot of pressure on both backs but Mungret St. Pauls made more attacks, one of the shots came back off the cross bar with another close encounter straight into the hands of a Father Casey’s perfectly positioned back, it was after this ball was sent out the field that it was returned for Mungret St. Pauls second point. The ball then spent a few minutes around the Mungret St. Pauls backs with Fr. Casey’s being stopped by a great save by our goalie. The ball was sent 4 times into the field behind the goals with Fr. Casey’s wides. What looked like a great slow start for Mungret St. Pauls when on the 27th minute they pointed a free to give them 3 points to nothing. Fr. Casey’s suddenly started to play a stronger game and came back into the game in the last 2 minutes scoring 2 points, they also then hit the cross bar during the injury time. Fr. Casey’s kept hammering our backs but they were on point with their blocking and denying any more score in the first half.
The second half was a more on target half, Mungret St. Pauls pointing their first free of the half. There was danger when a Fr. Casey’s player headed straight for the goals but a bad tackle in the square gave them a penalty, our goalie got his had to the ball but the rebound was kicked in by the Fr. Casey’s goalie who took the penalty, Mungret St. Pauls were left on the back foot. A point for Mungret St. Pauls boosted the boys a bit before Fr. Casey’s replied with a pointed free. The Mungret St. Pauls feet were getting tired and mistakes were being made. Fr. Casey’s were winning most of the kickouts with Mungret St. Pauls left contesting the ball. Fr. Casey’s put up another 3 points before Mungret St. Pauls struck back again with what was their final point of the game. Fr. Casey’s were awarded 4 frees in the final minutes of normal time but only secured one point. With our goalie down Fr. Casey’s took their opportunity to go for goal, Mungret St. Pauls backs stopped the first attempt but a second shot confirmed Fr. Casey’s win. This team just were unable to keep the momentum going as they ran out of energy, a lot to ask from them but they gave it what they could.
Team on the day; Casey Tanyi, Darragh O’Connor, Ciarán Uwatse, David Hassett, James Killian, Frank Corcoran, Colin Rochford, Fintan O’Sullivan, Billy Molyneaux, Brian O’Meara, Odhran O’Dwyer, Daragh Bridgeman, Liam Lynch (0-4, 0-1 from free), Darragh O’Hagan (0-1, 0-1 from free), Conor Galvin (0-2), Dermot Moloney, Conor O’Halloran, Ciarán Kenny, Mark Moroney, Oisin Moss, Tom Morrison, Dylan Scanlon, Conor O’Malley, Harry Page, Cathal Joy, Jack McCarthy, Kieran Bolger.
Management; Frank O’Sullivan, Maurice Walsh, Liam O’Connell, Ken O’Connor, John Rochford.
Photos available on our website by clicking HERE
