U-16’s book place in the U-16 Summer FL Final
Oldcastle 1-15 Ballivor 1-5
The under 16 secured a final spot with a fine performance over Ballivor in the U-16 Summer FL Div 3 Semi Final played (Tuesday 12th August) in Millbrook.
Josh Halpin opened the scoring with a well taken point which was followed by scores from Robert Smith and Lee Healy. Oldcastle’s defence were working well with Mossy Flood charging forward at every opportunity and Louis Colleran and Conor Hetherton cutting out a number of chances. A loose ball around midfield was gathered by Ballivor, who counter attacked and finished to the net. Kyle Kavanagh added his second free to leave the half time score Oldcastle 0-6 Ballivor 1-2.
With only the minimum between the sides at half time the second half was all set to be a tight affair however this was not the case as Oldcastle started to take control and also started to convert their chances. Ronan Taggart grabbed his first point to open the second half scoring. Kyle Kavanagh added a further 2 points before Ref Joey Curley awarded a free to Oldcastle on the left wing about 35 yards from goal. Keith Connell made the trip from full back and placed the ball on the ground. The angle and distance were not in his favour but Keith coolly slotted the ball over the bar. Lee Healy was having an excellent second half, always available to take a pass he set up a number of scoring chances as well as grabbing a brace of this own. Ballivor pushed hard to get back into the game but attack and after attack was stopped much of which was as a result of great defending from Louis Colleran. Louis won a lot of ball and never wasted it once as he released to Dylan Garrigan and Robbie Smith who were also available to relief the pressure. Midway through the second half Robbie Smith fired to the net which was a real killer punch to Ballivor who only managed 3 points in the second half. The second half finished as it had started with a Ronan Taggart point.
Oldcastle will now face the winners Clann na nGael (who defeated Wolfe Tomes in the other semi-final) in the final.
Oldcastle: Karl Gibney, Conor Hetherton, Keith Connell (0-2), Louis Colleran, Dylan Garrigan, Mossy Flood, Cillian Eager, Ronan Taggart(0-2), Robbie Smith (1-2), Kyle Kavanagh (0-4), Colin Hawdon, Lee Healy(0-4), Josh Halpin (0-1), Ryan Maguire, Cillian Connell.
Subs: Eoin McCluskey, Oran Mulvany, Ciaran Smith