By Jack Hennessy
7th August 2013
U16 Co. League Div 7 Semi-Final
Asdee/Bally 3-12 St Pats, Blennerville 3-15
Asdee/Bally U16s competed in the semi-final of the Div 7 county league on Wednesday last ( August,7th) against St. Pats in Blennerville. The game was certainly not a spectacle for the football purist and will be remembered for the cynical play that ran like a rampant virus through the home side. The opening score of the game came from of St. Pat’s in the 2nd minute. The visitors got two scoreable frees in the 3rd and 5th minutes that were not pointed which came as a result of Darragh Keane being deliberately fouled while taking on the St. Pats defence. These were to be among the first of approximately 30 such fouls committed by the home side within the first half! With the visitors struggling with this negative play the home side began to dominate and in the 6th and 8th minute they rattled the goalkeeper Cian Barrett’s net. St. Pats continued to tag on scores and by the 14th minute they were leading 2-3 to no score. It took until the 15th minute before Asdee/Bally got to grips with the negative play they were being subjected to and began to battle their way back into the game. On the 15th minute Kieran O’Connor put over a well taken free. He also scored three more points from play after this. Three of these points were exchanged with points from the home side; however Asdee/Bally pointed three more points before the half time whistle which had the half-time score reading St. Pats 2 6, Asdee/Bally 7pts. Upon resumption, Asdee/Bally had all the work to do. They got off to the much needed start they required however when Darren Murphy blasted the ball into the roof of the St. Pats net within the opening minute of the second half. This brought the game back to a 2 point margin. St. Pats however rallied once more and went back up the field and put 3 points between the teams again. This was quickly followed by another in the 4th minute. The negativity continued with key players such as Darragh Keane being constantly targeted, yet Asdee/Bally continued in their attempts to outplay their opponents using football rather than cynicism. Another goal from Darren Murphy brought the visitors within three points of the home side again. Some sloppy play from Asdee/Bally led to St. Pats turning over the ball and tagging on a couple more scores, putting them 6 points ahead in the dying minutes of the game. There was to be one more piece of drama however, as Kieran O’Connor rattled the St. Pats net once more. This brought the margin back to three and with a point from Darragh Keane in the 30th minute it was down to two. However, it was the home-side who got the final score in the 31st minute that resulted in the game finishing on a scoreline of St. Pats 3 15 Asdee/Bally 3 12. By the time the game had finished 13 yellow cards had been given out by the Referee. 12 to St.Pats 1 to Asdee/Bally. 2 or 3 of which deserved a second yellow for consistent fouling. A total of approximately 80 fouls were committed throughout the game by the home side, the majority of which designed to stop certain key players from getting into any sort of scoring position. All that can be said is that Joe Brolly makes a good point, in that, if this game is anything to go by then the Tyrone type cynical play is fast ‘becoming a template for [certain] clubs around the country’. Team and Scorers:
Cian Barrett Niall Dowd Jack Keane. James O’Connor. Tadgh McEllistrim. Kieran Dowd (1pt) . Darren Murphy (2g 1pt). Jack Mulvihill. Sean Carmody. Darragh Keane (2pts). Michael Holly. Kieran O’Connor (1g 6pts). Paul Murphy (1pt)
Subs: Ronan Carmody Jessie Collins Seán Jackman Eoin O’Connor