THE WEST’S AWAKE
St Nicholas get the better of Rathnew in U-13 ‘A’ final
ALLOW me to be brutally honest: when I was asked to do this match while sitting in a cold train station waiting for a delayed Dart, the thought of going to an under-13 match in October was the least appealing thing in the world.
Well, the young footballers from St Nicholas and Rathnew produced a wonderful spectacle and a highly entertaining match that put even the grumpiest reporter into a good mood.
In front of a packed stand in Roundwood, there were more there than at many adult matches this year, both sets of players demonstrated the basic skills of the game executed very well that will put them in good stead as they get older.
St Nicholas had some brilliant performers throughout the field, from their full back line who tackled with discipline and gave their goalkeeper relatively little to do to their full forward line who will cause opposition defences all sorts of problems in the coming years.
Player of the match Oisin O’Friel is a ball player, able to defend with a aplomb, his two blocks in quick succession in the first half really caught the eye, while also exuding calmness on the ball, never in a rush.
There were a few more St Nicholas players in the running for player of the match but Toby Curran from Rathnew was very close to getting the award. His physical size and frightening speed along with his skill levels make him a joy to watch. It took St Nicholas a while to get to grips with him and even then they found it difficult to stop him.
Their task was made easier by a dream start when Conor Manifold hit the back of the net in the first minute. Conor Sheridan’s shot dropped short and Matt Miley directed it into Manifold’s path who made no mistake.
Rathnew responded with a couple of frees courtesy of Curran. First he chased down Cian Deering from one 45 to the other, regained possession and took off again, getting fouled inside the St Nicholas 45. He slotted over that free and then the second when Sean O’Sullivan was judged to over carry the ball.
The teams traded points up to the twentieth minute when Sam Healy levelled the match for Rathnew at 1-02 to 5. St Nicholas looked the more dangerous team without making an impact on the scoreboard, some of their passing into the full forward line made life easy for the defenders. Rathnew were reliant on Curran and midfield partner William Moorehouse to rampage through the St Nicholas defence and score points.
However St Nicholas got to grips with them and their cause was helped by Sean Doyle’s goal in the 22nd minute.
Seconds earlier some of the St Nicholas Mammies had shouted for a perceived free in the middle of the field but Pat Hickey was having none of it and Rathnew were caught out defensively. Doyle and Matt Miley made the most of a two-on-one situation and it was 2-02 to 5 points. Both teams scored a couple of points each before half time and St Nicholas led 2-04 to 7 points.
They had a dream start to the second half too, Doyle kicking over two points before Oisin O’Friel scored a goal. Miley may claim it was his goal, as O’Friel took a shot for a point that looped over Rathnew goalkeeper Josh O’Connor the corner forward followed in and may have got the final touch. We’ll give O’Friel the goal and let the two players argue about the finer points.
That goal spurred Toby Curran into action, and the midfielder won the kick out and galloped from his own 45 through the St Nicholas team to the 21 where he unleashed a shot that went over the goalkeeper’s head into the goal. It could very well have been a shot for a point but given Curran’s talents he may have meant it.
St Nicholas responded really well though and fired in another 1-01, Doyle doing the honours, before Rathnew had time to gain any momentum. 35 minutes had elapsed and St Nicholas led 4-07 to 1-07. It was a big ask for Rathnew to come back from that and they never really had a chance with St Nicholas dominating proceedings, Doyle and Cian Deering keeping the scoreboard ticking over.
Curran’s goal from the penalty spot was nothing more than a late consolation and when they pushed up in injury time they left huge swathes of space for Ben Lawless to score the fifth goal and put the icing on the St Nicholas cake.
Scorers – St Nicholas: Sean Doyle (1f) 2-05; Conor Manifold 1-01; Cian Deering (3f) 0-04; Oisin O’Friel, Ben Lawless 1-00 each; Jack Keogh, Eoin Sheridan 0-01 each.
Rathnew: Toby Curran (1-00 pen, 4f) 2-05; William Moorehouse 0-02; Mikey Merrigan (1f), Sam Healy 0-01 each.
St Nicholas: James Walsh; James Flood, Michael Germaine, Josh Thompson; Oisin O’Friel, Ciaran Geoghegan, Liam Metcalfe; Sean O’Sullivan, Jack Keogh; Conor Manifold, Cian Deering, Eoin Sheridan; Matt Miley, Sean Doyle, Dylan Prendergast. Subs: Adam Byrne for Eoin Sheridan (36 mins); Riain Waters for James Flood, Ross Sheridan for Josh Thompson (both 58 mins); Ben Lawless for Sean Doyle (60 mins, BC); David Wright for Liam Metcalfe, Robert Murtagh for Dylan Prendergast (both 62 mins).
Rathnew: Josh O’Connor; Ryan O’Neill, Thang Tran Quoc, James Brady; Michael Cash, Calum Clarke, Ryan O’Toole; Toby Curran, William Moorehouse; Ethan Power, Scott Devlin, Michael Og O’Neill; Mikey Merrigan, Sam Healy, Bill Moorehouse. Subs: Adam Doyle, Jack Hayden, Jack Haughton, Ethan Snell.
Referee: Pat Hickey