U-15’s book final date with Carnaross

Oldcastle 2-11 St Cuthbert’s 2-6
The sides had met 7 days previous in the league section where St Cuthbert’s ran out winners by 5 points (in Millbrook).  But this time Oldcastle were not going to miss out on a final spot when they met in Sean Newman Park on Sunday afternoon in the U-15 FL Div 6 Semi-Final (1 Nov.2015).

Both sides found it hard to get going in the first few minutes which was mostly down to the dew on the pitch which lead to slippery under foot conditions.  St Cuthbert’s opened the scoring on the 4th minute with a free and this was followed up in the 6th minute with a goal.  Colin Hawdon converted a free to open Oldcastle’s account.   Oldcastle were then awarded a penalty.   Dylan Garrigan, who 24 hours earlier had played a huge part in the Minor Championship winning team, stepped up to take the spot kick.  Dylan made no mistake converting to the goalies right hand side.   Conor Hetherton was working hard in midfield as was Eimantas Zelepugas and Joe Lynch in defence.  Oran Mulvany followed up with a goal on the 23rd minute.   Colin Hawdon was outstanding in the Oldcastle attack however have suffered 2 hard knocks in the space of a couple of minute he was replaced by James McCluskey.   Jack McDonnell Fox made a great save to deny what looked like a certain goal.   Josh Halpin worked hard on the left hand side to gain possession and he centred the ball to Oran Mulvany who pointed off the left boot to leave the half time score St Cuthbert’s  1-2 Oldcastle 2-4.

Dylan Garrigan grabbed the first 2 scores of the half as Oldcastle tried to gain the upper hand.   Cillian Connell was working hard and was rewarded with a point. St Cuthbert’s had to wait for 12 minutes of the second half before adding a point.   The home side were trying hard to get back into the game and were awarded a penalty.  This resulted in a black card for Ciaran Healy however due to retaliation referee Tom Lorton decides to change his decision on the penalty and hopped the ball.   As the game flowed from end to end it allowed a bit more space in the Oldcastle half forwards.   Oran Mulvany grabbed a point.  Pearse Sheridan was using his quick turn of pace to his advantage and was involved in a number of attacks and was rewarded a point of his own.  A low hard shot headed towards the Oldcastle goal through a crowded penalty area.  Jack McDonnell Fox was blinded by those in front of him and was unable to prevent the goal.  Oldcastle battled to withstand the home side’s onslaught.  Dylan Garrigan converted a long range free to settle the nerves.  With time ticking down Colin Hawdon returned to the field and following some good play fired over the game’s last score.

The second half was played at a real high tempo with both sides giving it their all however Oldcastle prevailed to set up a final against Carnaross.

Oldcastle: Jack McDonnel Fox, Ciaran Healy, Louis Colleran, Eimantis Zelepugas, Darragh Reilly, Ciaran Smith, Joseph Lynch, Conor Hetherton, Dylan Garrigan (1-4), Colin Hawdon (0-2), Cillian Connell (0-1), Cillian Hanlon, Oran Mulvany (1-3), Ryan Maguire, Josh Halpin.

Subs: Pearse Sheridan (0-1) for Cillian Hanlon, James McCluskey for Colin Hawdon, Charlie Lynch for Ryan Maguire, Darren Connell for Eimantas Zelepugus, Eimantas Zelepugus for Ciaran Healy (Black Card), Colin Hawdon for Josh Halpin

 

 

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Previous Game Report

Oldcastle 4-14 Slane 3-7

The under 15’s finished off the group stages of the league with a win away to Slane (28th October 2015).  Both sides had already qualified for the semi-finals with the winners taking 3rd place and losers finishing 4th.

The home side won the toss and selected to play with the aid of the strong breeze and opened the scoring with a goal.   Colin Hawdon opened the Oldcastle scoring with taken score.  Slane then grabbed another goal.  The Oldcastle forwards were working well with Cillian Hanlon, Cillian Connell and Colin Hawdon linking up well and causing a lot of trouble for the Slane defence.  A long ball into the full forward broke to Ryan Maguire who made no mistake and finished to the net.  This lifted Oldcastle however Slane looked dangerous but failed to take a number of goal chances.  Colin Hawdon finished off the first half scoring with a well taken goal.

The half time score was Slane 3-2 Oldcastle 2-9.

Oldcastle made a number of changes at half time and the first two scores came from subs Charlie Lynch and Dylan Garrigan.  The Oldcastle defence were still under pressure with the lively Slane corner forward winning a lot of ball.  Josh Halpin grabbed Oldcastle’s 3rd goal which was quickly followed by another goal from Charlie Lynch.   It was a well deserved victory for Oldcastle who will now be full of confidence heading into the semi finals.

The other teams in the semi finals will be Carnaross, St Cuthbert’s and Slane with the fixtures still to be announced.

Oldcastle: Jack McDonnell Fox, Ciaran Healy, Ciaran Smith, Darragh Reilly, Louis Colleran, Eimantas Zelepugas, Conor Hetherton, Oran Mulvany, Cillian Hanlon, Cillian Connell (0-4), Colin Hawdon (1-5),  Josh Halpin (1-0), Ryan Maguire (1-1)

Subs: Charlie Lynch (1-1) for Ryan Maguire, Dylan Garrigan (0-2) for Josh Halpin, Joe Lynch for Eimantas Zelepugas, Pearse Sheridan (0-1) for Cillian Hanlon