Home comforts for Davidstown
DAVIDSTOWN-COURTNACUDDY ST. MARY’S (ROSSLARE) 2-9 0-5 WINNING A county title is special at any time, and doing it on your own patch makes it even sweeter.
That was the happy fate savoured by the Davidstown-Courtnacuddy Under-14 footballers on Saturday when they collected the New Ross Standard Division 4 shield at the expense of St. Mary’s (Rosslare) in Boolabawn.
The teams tossed for home venue after Taghmon was deemed unavailable, with the Enniscorthy District side earning the hosting rights before, more importantly, collecting the title.
And they did so with a certain degree of comfort despite shooting the grand total of 19 wides, including eleven in the first-half when the swirling crossfield wind made it difficult to score at the roadside end.
Davidstown-Courtnacuddy largely owed their victory to the excellent triumverate of Eddie Kelly, Barry Hassey and Seán Maher around the middle third of the field.
All three were superb, Maher in particular, although the real key to their win was the fact that their colleagues also stepped up to offer plenty of assistance instead of expecting the ‘big three’ to do it all on their own.
Indeed, Davidstown-Courtnacuddy’s first-half tally as they established a 1-4 to 0-3 interval lead was shared by two more dangerous performers up front, David Tracey (1-1) and Conal Kervick (0-3, 1 free).
St. Mary’s more than held their own early on despite not having the services of regular midfielder Jack Meyler until the 20th minute.
Reece De La Cour gave them the lead from a free and, although Kervick finally levelled after five Davidstown-Courtnacuddy wides, the seasiders’ advantage was restored by captain Cian Byrne in the 13th minute.
However, once Tracey finished a move featuring Eddie Kelly and Seán Maher for the home side’s first goal just 30 seconds later, the eventual winners always looked the more likely to succeed.
Oliver Gould did pull back a point from a goal chance, but the last three points of the half went to Davidstown-Courtnacuddy’s David Tracey and Conal Kervick (two, one free).
St. Mary’s lost a key player to the sin-bin for ten minutes on the re-start after conceding another point to Eddie Kelly, and they were outpointed by three to one before being restored to 15 players.
Substitute Tadhg Brohan kicked one of their four wides with a goal on the cards, with Cian Byrne converting a free while the leaders responded through Conal Kervick, Oisín Hayes and Seán Fitzpatrick.
Reece De La Cour grabbed the last Rosslare point with just over eight minutes left, with Fitzpatrick replying before some goal drama at either end.
Davidstown-Courtnacuddy defender Darragh Furlong did superbly to keep out a daisy-cutter from Will Twomey before Seán Maher got the reward he deserved for an outstanding performance by knocking in his side’s second goal after a long Eddie Kelly free in the 49th minute.
Davidstown-Courtnacuddy: Fionn Doyle; Aaron Nicholson (joint capt.), James Doyle, Evan Power; Oisín Cooney, Eddie Kelly (0-1), Darragh Furlong; Barry Hassey, Cillian Doyle; Seán Fitzpatrick (0-2), Seán Maher (1-0), Conal Kervick (0-4, 1 free); Oisín Hayes (0-1), Cian Jordan (joint capt.), David Tracey (1-1). Subs. - T.J. Kelly for Hayes (43), Jack O’Regan for Tracey (50+2), Dylan Sharkey for Power (50+2), Joe Doyle for Cooney (50+2), also Seán Nicholson, Daniel Murphy, Tom Quigley, Conor Hassey.
St. Mary’s (Rosslare): Daniel Nolan; Nathan Whitehead, Jack Duggan, Jack O’Hagan; Ryan Culleton, Will Twomey, Alex Looney; Reece De La Cour (0-2, 1 free), Rian Doyle; Danny Holden, Adam Mackey, Rian Stafford; Morgan Lawrence, Cian Byrne (capt., 0-2, 1 free), Oliver Gould (0-1). Subs. - Jack Meyler for Lawrence (20), Tadhg Brohan for Gould (25), Danny Howlin for Culleton (40), Alex Mulvihill for Whitehead (43), Finn Donohoe for Holden (48), Milan Hovais for Mackey (50+1), William Lyng for Looney (50+2), also Conor Parle, Tadgh Hayes.
Referee: Lar Doyle (Taghmon-Camross).