Minors Battle their way to League Final

Post date: Aug 14, 2011 9:51:16 PM

The St. Fiachra’s minors battled their way to a League final showdown with Mooncoin last night through blustery conditions in Bennettsbridge. Playing against a stiff breeze in the first half and having to cope with adverse conditions underfoot, Fiachra’s found themselves 07-03 down at the break, only recording a set of Emmet Foley frees to add to the scoreboard in the first 30 minutes.

Spirits were still high at half time with the majority of supporters at the game agreeing that the deficit could easily be reversed in the second half with a helping wind in their back and with the team not having reached their top gear yet. The team seemed to switch into reverse coming out from the dressing room however and that 4 point gap turned into 7 with an early, well-taken Conahy goal.

Ten minutes passed with no real improvement from Fiachra’s, when the turning point seemed to be more by luck than judgement as the Conahy keeper gifted us a lifeline by dropping a high ball into his own goal. A quick point from Emmet Foley soon followed and the lead was cut down to a manageable two points.

Another well worked move from our brave opponents finished up with another ball in the back of the net and panic started to set in. While James Doyle in midfield, took the game by the scruff of the neck, fielding some great balls out of the sky and delivering them to the forwards, scores were proving hard to come by, the gap remained 5 points with just over 6 minutes to go. Ryan O Halloran switched to resident free-taker and slotted over three in a row to steady the ship. Then it was the run of O Halloran who created what looked like a game winning goal from the opportunistic Lee Kinsella who put Fiachra’s a point ahead. Conahy then converted a difficult free into the wind to tie it up and game headed for extra time, no less than they deserved.

Fiachra’s then finally found that extra gear, and really stepped things up in the extra time period, they finished the first period one point up. Jamie Byrne found the net early in the second half to give the lads a good 4 point cushion moving towards the end of this encounter. A couple of great saves from Kavanagh in the goal ensured that this lead was kept intact. Both teams traded points near the end of the game and Fiachra’s ran out 4 point winners 3-12 to 2-11, and onwards into a league final, by the skin of their teeth.

Scorers: E. Foley 0-5, L. Kinsella 1-1, R. O Halloran 0-3, B. Barcoe 1-0, J. Byrne 1-0, ,J. Doyle 0-2, B. Hennessy

Team: Seamus Kavanagh, Ciaran O'Brien, James Meaney, Thomas Joyce, Thomas O'Donnell, Bermard Hennessy, Joe Kelly, Adam Kennedy, Brian Barcoe, Lee kinsella, Jim Ryan, Edward Murphy, Ryan O Halloran, Emmet Foley,James Doyle Subs: Jamie Murphy, Eoin Bolger, Peter Kavanagh, Patrick Dowling, Stephen Browne, James McCabe, Martin Kelly.