ALLEY BOYS EXCEL
Direct football too much for Fethard
BUFFERS ALLEY FETHARD 3-7 0-7
GOALS PROVED the difference as Buffers Alley got the better of Fethard in the New Ross Standard Under-14 football Division 2 championship final in St. Patrick’s Park.
The Monamolin boys don’t make a habit of claiming big ball titlse but they certainly have a strong side on their hands here. They played some excellent, direct football, and they were happy to get the ball into the forwards early and work from there.
They were probably a bigger side than their opponents too. Fethard had a range of ages making up a talented squad and their relative inexperience was arguably a big deciding factor in this game.
The Alley played with the breeze in the first-half but couldn’t initially take advantage. They did take a 0-2 to nil lead after a couple of Michael Butler points, but Morgan Ellis hit back from Adam O’Grady’s pass to halve the deficit.
Then, with 16 minutes on the clock, the Gorey District side hit their stride, scoring 2-3 in just four minutes. It needed something special to kick-start their run and it came when Butler floated a perfectly placed effort just under the crossbar.
Dylan McEvoy’s quick point was followed by Pádraig Kinsella’s dipping effort that rattled the net from distance. Confidence up, the goalscorer immediately added a point before team-mate Cormac Walsh then floated a free, and the Alley led by 2-5 to 0-1 at the break.
A yellow for McEvoy just before the interval seemed to hamper the leaders’ hopes a little but they still started the second-half in the ascendancy.
After Walsh pointed, Jack Twomey drove through the heart of the Fethard defence to net a stunning individual goal.
Fethard began to show their form as the half settled down and they kicked some lovely scores. O’Grady, Jake Molloy, Seán Nunan, Cillian Byrne and Moran Ellis all registered to cut the deficit to three goals, despite a sin-binning in that scoring run for Eoin Whelan.
Buffers Alley stemmed the flow as the half drew to a close. Walsh and Adam O’Grady traded points but Fethard couldn’t find the goals they needed to set up a grandstand finish as the Monamolin lads held on for a deserved success.
Buffers Alley: Tristan WhelanByrne; Dylan McEvoy (0-1), Jack Redmond, Shane Meleady; Pádraig Kinsella (1-1), Seán Kirwan, Edward Harney; Jack Twomey (capt., 1-0), Eoin O’Meara; Shamey O’Hagan, Michael Butler (1-2), Adam Doyle; Stephen Furlong, Cormac Walsh (0-3, 1 free), Thomas Whelan. Subs. - Colin Kinsella for Harney, black card (22), Fiacra Fortune for Kinsella (34), also Kevin Doyle, John Burke, Adam Back, Darragh Prendergast, Bobby Brady, Brian Kirwan, Harvey Warren.
Fethard: Aaron Doyle; Bill Nunan, Conor McLoughlin, Richard Liu; Ciarán Dunne, Cian Byrne, Kean Molloy; Eoin Whelan, Jake Molloy (0-1); Cillian Byrne (0-1), Adam O’Grady (0-2), Seán Nunan (0-1); Robbie Molloy, Morgan Ellis (0-2), Kyle Baker. Subs. - Cian Swan for R. Molloy (35), also Conor Folan, Shane Finn-Butler, Darren Roche, Finn Pilkington, Pádraic Gleeson.
Referee: Brendan Martin (Ballyhogue).