Sam shines in vital win for Newcastle’s future
RARELY has an under-13 football final attracted such a crowd and generated such an atmosphere as was witnessed and enjoyed in a cold but dry Ballinakill last Friday night when Newcastle and Avoca collided in the under-13 ‘D’ final.
If all clubs in the county could support their young teams like Newcastle and Avoca did for this clash it would potentially transform the underage competitions and inspire scores of young footballers to great things.
Newcastle GAA Club brought a 52-seater bus to this game, carrying many of their under-7 and under-9 footballers who brought great noise and enthusiasm to the sideline. Avoca, too, brought great support and it made for a thrilling final and a win that appeared to mean absolutely everything to the village of Newcastle.
Avoca’s Lee Kenny for the scoring up and running with a fine point after two minutes and this was followed by a wide from Paddy Harper when referee Darragh Byrne overruled the umpire.
Newcastle gained control around the middle third for a long period after that bright opening for Avoca and they might have had an early goal from Joe Collins but for a fine reflex save from Adam Earley.
Points from Callum Merriman, the excellent Sam Johnson, and a sweet effort from Jamie Shannon after great work from Lean Reynolds and Marin Reinhardt further out the field.
The impressive Lee Kenny added his second point after 10 minutes to make it 0-3 to 0-2 in favour of Newcastle but a goal from Joe Collins put Newcastle very much on the front foot after 12.
A free from Ryan Harrison was answered by Kian Fluskey and the same man drilled over a beauty off the right to bring it back to a onepoint game bringing an end to a promising phase for Avoca where they also collected three wides.
A strong Newcastle finish saw points from Harrison (f) and Joe Collins putting their side firmly in the driving seat at 1-6 to 0-4 at the break.
Avoca needed a strong start to the second half, but the Newcastle tails were up, and they added on four points, three from Harrison and one from Joe Collins to more or less put this game to bed.
Avoca never once gave up and Lee Kenny grabbed one back and then Paddy Harper drove over from distance to offer a sliver of hope at the end of the third quarter but a class point from Sam Johnson let some of the air out of the Avoca challenge at a key juncture.
Another Paddy Harper point made it 1-12 to 0-7 with 17 on the clock and from here Newcastle put the foot down and raced out to a 1-14 to 0-7 lead from which Avoca could never recover.
A thoroughly entertaining game of football. The Avoca supporters were not happy with some of the refereeing decisions on the night but overall the stronger side won the day prompting major celebrations from the large number of supporters who made the trip to get behind a very talented young football team.
Newcastle: Ryan Harrison 0-7 (7f), Joe Collins 1-2, Sam Johnson 0-2, Callum Merriman 0-1, Jamie Shannon 0-1, Daire O’Reilly 0-1.
Avoca: Lee Kenny 0-3, Kian Fluskey 0-2 (1f), Paddy Harper 0-2.
NEWCASTLE: Eoin Khan, Cillian Coffey, Tamas Boros, Kyle Sheeran, Lean Reynolds, Martin Reinhardt, Sean McLeavey, Ryan Harrison, Sam Johnson, Joe Collins, Jamie Shannon, Callum Merriman, Daire O’Reilly, Ryan Doherty, Jamie Fitzgerald Lucey, Gavin Minto.
AVOCA: Adam Earley, Donnacha Murphy, Paddy Harpur, Kian Fluskey, Cormac Moore, Josh Browne, Jake McDonald, Jack Power, Jack Murphy, Glen Power, Lee Kenny, Lucas Reid, Ryan Doyle, Sean O’Neill, Dylan Fitzpatrick, Naoise O’Rilly, Joshua Byrne.
REFEREE: Darragh Byrne (Ballymanus)