U-17’s put on a great display in the Gilson Park
Oldcastle 5-10, St. Mary’s/Slane 3-09
The Oldcastle Minor team put on a super performance to outclass St. Mary’s/Slane this evening (9 July 2019) in front of a home crowd in a sunlit Gilson Park. Pearse Sheridan scored first for Oldcastle with a lovely point, but the opposition retaliated with a point and a goal within the minute.
Another point that curled in beautifully followed from Sheridan, before Darren Connell tipped a nice ball into J.P Purcell who was running on goal, but cynically fouled. The resultant penalty was slammed to the back of the net by Pearse, to put Oldcastle back in front.
The St. Mary’s/Slane missed two frees, before a nice Conor Boylan catch was fed on to Ciaran Connell, to James McCluskey, on to Darren Connell, to Pearse and back to Darren who found Eoin Muldoon just in front of the posts for another lovely goal. Just a minute later another great catch by Darren from the opposition kick-out was fed to Pearse who tipped it in nicely to the waiting J.P. Purcell in front of goal, he turned and kicked a perfect left-footed goal to extend the lead to seven points.
A little nap by the Oldcastle lads followed however, they allowed St. Mary’s/Slane take a goal and four points within minutes to level it again. A point from Lloyd Colleran left it Oldcastle 3-03, St. Mary’s/Slane 2-05 at the break.
The half-time talk must have been impressive, as Oldcastle came out all guns blazing in the second half, a fine point from Ryan Kevin to start, followed by points from Pearse Sheridan and a blasted goal from James McCluskey whose run on goal was unstoppable. Two points was the reply from the opposition, before Darren Connell took another goal for Oldcastle.
Ross McCann was impressive in goals, with good saves, great defence work and accurate kick-outs, while Brian Hetherton had a great match in the backs and Colin Halpin covered every inch of the pitch, always moving the ball in the right direction, and cutting through the opposition.
A super catch from Conor Boylan got the ball upfield and resulted in another point from Pearse. St. Mary’s/Slane added a late penalty but it wasn’t enough, more points from Oldcastle, including a fine score from Mary Coyle, saw the final score Oldcastle 5-10, St. Mary’s/Slane 3-09, making it a nice early birthday present for Ciaran Connell who turns 14 on Thursday.
The next fixture is away to Na Fianna in Enfield next Tuesday evening at 7.30pm.
Oldcastle: Ross McCann, Brian Hetherton, Colin Halpin, Mark Coyle (0-01), Darren Connell (1-01), Conor Boylan, Pearse Sheridan (1-06), James McCluskey (1-00), Ciaran Connell, Lloyd Colleran (0-01), Ryan Kevin (0-01), J.P. Purcell (1-00), Eoin Muldoon (1-00).