Éire Óg send out a warning

Greystones U-17s on fire

ÉIRE ÓG ST NICHOLAS 6-12 4-11

ÉIRE ÓG GREYSTONES sent out a statement of intent by blitzing St. Nicholas in the closing quarter of a highly entertaining Under-17 football championship game in Donard last week.

It was nip and tuck throughout the early exchanges between both sides, with a bucketful of goals thrown in. A fine display by substitute Joe Prendergast swung the momentum back to the N11 side in a breathtaking game of football.

Mikey O’Rourke opened the scoring in the first minute with a goal after trojan work by Tomas Lawlor to get the west side of to a dream start.

Éire Óg hit back immediately after a great drive by Conor Fulham was finished to the net by Eoghain O Lonaigh in the next attack.

Shane Daly slotted over a point after good work by David Lawlor before Conor Fulham rose his first white flag of the night to level the game.

Sharpshooter Shane Daly landed a point from a free before Mikey O’Rourke cannoned a shot of Éire Óg’s crossbar.

The Greystones men grew into the game, but could not convert their chances into scores, landing four bad wides in a row.

Sean O’Rourke won possession and floated over a pass to the on running Darragh Dillon who dispatched to the Éire Óg net to close out the first quarter with the score reading 2-2 to 1-1.

Fionn O’Carroll and Luke Doran were combining well for the east coast side and were rewarded with a brace of points from Shaun Cranley and Conor Fulham.

It was tit for tat at this stage, with each side trading points as both Daire Wright (free) and David Lawlor both pointed.

Back came Éire Óg - Cian Hynes and Shaun Cranley both pointed before two late points by Shane Daly and Tomas Lalor brought closure to an exciting first half with the score reading 2-7 to 1-5 in favour of the hosts.

Sean Mason beautifully flicked down a pass to Roy Byrne who pointed on the restart for Éire Óg.

Eoin O’Neill fielded the resultant kick out and pumped a high ball back into the danger zone where Conor Fulham finished to the net to leave two between the sides at 2-8 to 2-6.

It was all-out attacking football by both sides up and down the field. Joe Mills pointed before a great pass in from Jack Reid, put Joe Mills in for another major for St. Nics as the tempo increased again.

Mikey O’Rourke bombed over a super point from distance before Daire Wright shook the Éire Óg net with a piledriver to leave the home side cruising at this stage, 4-10 to to 3-6 after a three-minute blitz with 36 on the clock.

Éire Óg introduced Joe Prendergast into the game in what turned out to be a huge move. Éire Óg finally got up a head of steam at this stage and drove at the heart of the Nic’s rearguard.

Roy Byrne and Eoghain O Lon- aigh both goaled as the east coast side found momentum at this crucial stage.

It was from here that Éire Óg pulverised the Nics outfit, hitting another 2-4 without reply to stun the home side, with playmaker Joe Prendergast highly influential, and with Conor Fulham registering two of the goals in rapid succession.

St Nicholas were worried at this stage as they had gone 16 minutes without scoring. Finally, David Lawlor pointed for the home side before Conor Fulham tapped over the two final points of the game as Damien Byrne’s whistle sounded to end a magnificent game of pure football.

Scorers - St Nicholas: Daire Wright 1-2, Joe Mills 1-1, Mikey O’Rourke 1-1, Shane Daly 0-4, Darragh Dillon 1-0, Tomas Lalor 0-2, David Lawlor 0-1.

Éire Óg: Conor Fulham 3-4, Eoghain O Lonaigh 2-0, Roy Byrne 1-2, Eoin O’Neill 0-2, Shaun Cranley 0-2, Cillian Keane 0-1, Cian Hynes 0-1.

Oisin O’Rourke; Mark Murtagh, Jack Grace, Daniel Furlong; Willie Eager, Tom Moran, Darragh Dillon; David Lawlor, Tomas Lawlor; Shane Daly, Sean O’Rourke, Jack Reid; Oisin Sinnott, Daire Wright, Mikey O’Rourke. Subs: Joe Mills, Tadgh McCarthy, Ronan Kelly, Mickey Byrne, Rory Hankin.

Sean O’Neill; Ben Hogan, Thade Shanahan, Daniel Healy; Cillian Keane, Neil Browne, Eoin O’Neill; Fionn O’Carroll, Cian Hynes; Sean Mason, Shaun Cranley, Roy Byrne; Conor Fulham, Eoighain O’Lonaigh, Luke Dorgan. Subs: David Prendergast, Joe Prendergast, Daire Divine.

Damien Byrne (Kiltegan)