With temperatures hitting 3 degrees in the LIT Gaelic Grounds, Ahane and Ballybrown took to the field to play Round 3 of the Mint Catering U21 County Championship.
Ahane were quickest off the mark with points coming from Adam Murrihy from placed balls and Ronan Reale who got four great points on the bounce. 9 minutes in and Ballybrown centre forward Aidan O’Connor got Ballybrown’s first point from a free. However Ahane kept the gap of 6 points as Adam scored his third point of the game again from a free.
Daniel Minehan got his name on the score sheet after he got on the end of a great piece of play in the Ahane forward line. Ballybrown did keep their scores ticking over as in the 19th minute they got their 3rd point. Ballybrown put the Ahane defence line under pressure throughout the game but the six Ahane backs made up of Adam Myers, Andy Rowsome, Evan O’Leary, Aidan Carroll, Padraig Harnett, and Andrew Shanahan dealt with the pressure well and with some good saves coming from William O’Leary in goal, Ahane managed to keep Ballybrown goalless. Ahane’s next three points came from William Brennan, Adam Murrihy, and Ronan Reale and at half time the teams went in on the score line of Ahane 0-11 Ballybrown 0-04.
With the second half underway Ballybrown came out the stronger and got four unanswered points. Ahane held strong and didn’t panic and when a ball in from midfield landed in the Ahane full forward line Kevin Morrissey capitalised on it and scored a great goal! That’s two goals in two matches for Kevin and both of which have come at vital times in both matches. Ballybrown scored two points in answer to the Ahane goal but Adam Murrihy and William Brennan settled the Ahane team as they scored three points, two Adam frees and a point from play from William. Substitute Peter O’Donohoe got his first point and Ahane’s 16th point in the 21st minute. Ballybrown never gave up and got the last three points of the game which saw the game end on a score line of Ahane 1-16 Ballybrown 0-13.
Ahane are now into the quarter final with date, venue and opponent to be confirmed. Keep an eye out on our social media for the details.
Ahane Team:
W. O’Leary; E. O’Leary, A. Rowsome, A. Myers, A. Carroll, P. Harnett, A. Shanahan; C. Barry, A. Murrihy; R. Fox, D. Minehan, W. Brennan, M. Donnellan, D. Cullimore, R. Reale.
Substitute’s
K. Morrissey for D. Cullimore (1/2 time), P. O’Donohoe for Ronan Reale (Inj. 2nd half), P. O’Grady for Ronan Fox (2nd half) L. O’Sullivan for P. Harnett (Inj. 2nd half)
