Terrific display by Oldcastle’s U-15’s to lift the Cup

Oldcastle 3-13 Killary Emmets 2-07.
The U15s sailed comfortably through all their League matches, including beating the Castletown/Syddan amalgamation Killary Emmets comprehensively, but any complacency there might have been was wiped out in a very tough first half of the U15 Div 3 Final played in Dunganny this afternoon (7 August 2021).
Nathan Gibney took Oldcastle’s first point, but Killary Emmets levelled with a free soon after, and followed up with a goal. A great Pat Crawley catch from the kick-out was fed forward to Ivan Smyth and Jack Smith, back to Pat and smashed to the back of the net.
Killary Emmets pushed on though, another goal followed by a point to extend their lead to four. A Tom Lynch block was sent on to Paul Hennessy, Rory Crawley and Thomas Sheridan, to Ryan Halpin, back to Thomas, Paul and finally Rory who was closing in on goal, before being swung round like the English lad in the Euro Cup Final. Referee Martin Dawson awarded a penalty, with Paul Hennessy stepping up to coolly bang it to the back of the net.
Another Rory Crawley free was converted by Paul to level the match again. The opposition then added two points to their tally. The kick-out was won by Pat Crawley, getting all the way upfield again to brother Rory: once again he was fouled and Paul converted. Rory Crawley was in the wars, being constantly fouled as a means of stopping him. A great catch by James Gibney was the start of the next score, with Rory fisting it over the bar to leave it all level at half-time: 2-04 apiece.
A good team-talk from coaches Paddy Gilsenan, John Caffrey and Lorcan Fox focussed the lads, with two super points from Ivan Smyth at the restart. A Jamie Pakenham intercept went forward to the ever-ready Shane Boylan who also sailed it over the bar, giving the lads a three point advantage.

Killary Emmets responded with two of their own, before Ryan Halpin got a great ball to the waiting Paul Hennessy for another Oldcastle score. That was followed soon after by a super Shane Boylan point, and finally it felt as if the lads were taking control of the game.
Good defending from Padraig Lynch and Ollie Hjert denied Killary Emmets a score, while a Tom Lynch win of a throw-ball resulted in another score. A couple of good clearances from James Gibney was followed by a super long-range Paul Hennessy.

The addition of fresh legs from Simas Abraitis, Rhys Eager and Riain Burke gave Oldcastle a boost, Cormac Guirke unfortunate not to get playing with his broken arm still healing, but there to cheer on his team-mates to victory. As Martin Dawson looked at his watch, a Thomas Sheridan clearance was sent upfield via Pat Crawley, with a great Jamie Pakenham run getting it right in to the waiting Shane Boylan, a lovely little lob sent it over the goalie’s head and to the back of the net to seal an emphatic but hard-won victory.

A Man of the Match would be hard to pick, but for sheer workrate throughout two players gave their all: Pat Crawley gave it everything while Tom Lynch dominated mid-field, but overall a super team performance, with every one of the lads leaving nothing behind today.

Oldcastle: Cillian Fanning, Padraig Lynch, James Gibney, Ollie Hjert, Jack Smith, Pat Crawley (1-00), Thomas Sheridan, Tom Lynch, Nathan Gibney (0-01), Jamie Pakenhan, Paul Hennessy (Captain) (1-05), Ryan Halpin, Shane Boylan (1-02), Rory Crawley (0-02), Ivan Smyth (0-03). Subs: Riain Burke, Simas Abraitis, Rhys Eager, Cormac Guirke.