U14 – Austin Stacks:2-3; Kerins O’Rahilly’s: 3-5
The best of teams have off-days. We had one yesterday – our first defeat of the season. It will not have mattered one bit that we went into the match with a better record than any of the teams competing in the competition. The fact is that we blew it and we have no one to blame but ourselves. OK, Jack Morgan was injured, he played and it didn’t work out. When Jack is fit no one can touch him. However, the team is full of good players without having to rely solely on one player but, O’Rahilly’s were up for it and unfortunately for us, it happened to be in a Feile semi-final. We went into the match as favourites having comprehensively beaten them in the county league. We knew that, when competing with them on their own turf and playing full rules, nothing but a 100% effort was required to win. We felt, beforehand, that we were prepared but, our opponents, looking dangerous up front, got off to a great start and were 1-1 up within 5 minutes. We hit back with goals from Sean Dukes and a penalty from Ferdia O’Brien. O’Rahilly’s responded with a couple of points. Michael O’Donnell pointed shortly afterwards and we went in at half-time a point ahead. The second half was a tense affair with very little between the sides. O’Rahilly’s with a slight breeze in their favour, appeared to be highly motivated and won possession at crucial periods. We lacked our usual concentration and intensity. They had a 2 point lead going into the final stages. Despite putting heavy pressure on their defence in the last 5 minutes we could not find the all important scores when needed, although credit must be given to O’Rahilly’s for some sterling defensive play. A defeat like this is hard to take but we must learn from it. We have qualified for the county league semi-final. There are great players in this team and we must not let an opportunity like this slip. Yes, we have taken a hit and we must ensure it is the last hit we take this season. Team: Daniel Kinsella, Darren Bastible, Cathal O’Reilly, Rory Hill, Dylan Hennebery, Darragh Scanlon, Sean Fitzmaurice(0-1), Calvin Foley, Sean Dukes(1-1), Michael O’Donnell(0-1), Colin Griffin, Louis Ryle, Oisin Fitzgerald, Jack Morgan, Ferdia O’Brien. Subs Fergal Ryan, Philip Quilter, Anthony Lonergan and Conor O’Nuallain.
Note:
Our final county league group game takes place at 7:30pm this Wednesday, April 27, away to Ballydonoghue, who outclassed O’Rahilly’s in the final of Feile.