Under 12 League Update

From the throw in Oisin Hyland and Michael John Prendergast hit two great goals early on to put Kildangan in control but Nurney replied with two of their own. Nurney piled on the pressure mid way through the half and were it not for some heroic defending by Lara Gilbert, Daniel Cawley and Robert McGrath, the visitors would have run away with the game. Both teams exchanged points before Michael John Prendergast stuck for his second goal which was again quickly cancelled out by a similar score for Nurney. Stephen Keogh had the final say with a well taken point to leave Kildangan ahead at the final whistle on a score line of 6:03 to 4:06. The final score is a good reflection of the game as Kildangan just about shaded it, but once again, a tremendous effort from two teams who are very evenly matched.

The remaining Under 12 fixtures are as follows: Wed 25th May - home to Moorefield at 7pm, Wed 1st June - away to Robertstown at 7pm, Wed 8th June - home to Nurney at 7pm

Under 12 All County Blitz 21st May 2011

Kildangan Under 12’s travelled to Ballykelly on Saturday morning 21st May to take part in the Under 12 All-County Blitz. With eight teams from throughout the county due to compete, Kildangan were looking forward to facing some new opposition. Unfortunately, five Clubs withdrew at the eleventh hour leaving just Ballykelly, Robertstown and ourselves still standing. A quick gathering of the mentors from each Club followed to sort out the fixtures and shortly afterwards we were off to take on the home side.

Kildangan were missing a number of players who were unavailable on the day and also had a couple of ’no shows’ which left us with just three twelve year olds in our squad. Ballykelly were fielding a full team of twelve year olds which was a daunting task for our lads. The home team took an early lead despite the best efforts of Eoin O’Fearghail and Aoibheann Scully in the Kildangan defence. Midfielders Robert McGrath and Lara Gilbert put in a tremendous second half as did full forward Niamh Doran who fought for everything. Grace Dooley and Joey O’Sullivan were also to the fore in this period during which a Daniel Gilbert goal brought Kildangan back into the game. However, it was the home teams good start that did the damage and they held out for a deserved win.

Next up was old rivals Robertstown. Kildangan faced into this game confidently having beaten Robertstown convincingly earlier in the league. A tight opening period saw some excellent defending from Jack Kenna, Hannah White and Jack Foxe who was in flying form. A long ball into the square ended up in the Kildangan net but Robert McGrath replied with two points before the break to leave the minimum between the teams. Joey O’Sullivan and Rickie Burke did their best to force a Kildangan win as did Daniel Cawley who had switched to full forward in the final minutes. However, Robertstown held out for a narrow victory and went on to meet Ballykelly in the final which the home team won.

Overall it was a very courageous performance by the Kildangan players who gave their all on the day. To field a team made up mainly of under 10’s and 11’s and compete as well as they did was a huge achievement. The players who took part deserve great credit as they did the Club proud and their mentors could not have asked for more from them.