Duleek boys live up to tag of champions
PLAYERS from both the Under-13 League champions Duleek Dynamoes and runners-up Albion Green received their medals after playing out an entertaining final game of the season in Monasterboice.
With the Meath club having already clinched the title, both teams could have been forgiven for taking it easy on a cold and damp night under the floodlights. However, this was in fact a hotlyfull-blooded affair, with fantastic commitment from both sets of players right up to the final whistle and lots of good football on show.
Duleek settled first and enjoyed good possession with some neat passing, while their front pair of
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Under-13
ALBION GREEN DULEEK DYNAMOES 0 1
Sean O’Halloran and Altay Guneyer looked dangerous and caused Albion problems at the back.
The Monasterboice side’s centre-back pairing of Gideon Kabi and Andrew Reilly were working hard to keep their opponents at bay, but Duleek opened the scoring mid-way through the first half with a well-taken goal from the excellent Keith Tighe.
Sensing the chance to put the game to bed, Duleek pushed on after the goal and Albion’s keeper Eric Winters had to be alert, making two fine saves.
As the half wore Albion started to assert an element of control in midfield, with Keefer Carolan, Darragh Russell and Jake Neilon impressive, but with the interval approaching Duleek’s Dylan O’Boyle gave them a reminder of the potential dangers as he made a great run from midfield, evading several tackles, only to be denied by Winters.
Albion came out for the second half in determined mood and picked up where they left off, seeing a lot more of the ball and pushing Duleek’s defence back, with the hard-working Lorcan Lynch causing lots of problems with his trickery on the ball.
Evan Haddock and Joseph Colmey, playing at the back for Duleek, were seeing a lot more action than the first half, but they kept their cool and had the reliable Mathew Kealy in goal behind them when called upon to keep Albion out.
The hosts, undeterred, continued to press for the equaliser that their good play and hard work merited and both teams had chances, but there were to be no more goals as Duleek held on to win the game thanks to Tighe’s first-half strike.
After the match Duleek were presented with the league trophy and winners medals, completing a remarkable third double in the last three years by this team. They also won the North Leinster SFAI Cup recently and are through to the round of 32 in the All-Ireland competition.
And Albion could be happy with their runners-up medals - just reward for a fantastic season in which they also won the League Plate.
ALBION GREEN: Eric Winters, Shane Campbell, Andrew Reilly, Gideon Kabi, Layne Coulter, Cian Hodgins, Darragh Russell, Jake Neilon, Sam Wynne, Keefer Carolan, Lorcan Lynch, Adam Russell, Shane Curtis, Niall McCarthy, Thomas Hughes, James Devine.
DULEEK DYNAMOES: Mathew Kealy, Joseph Colmey, Tadhg Dixon, Callum Paisley, Evan Haddock, Cian Towey, Sean O’Halloran, Maithiu Brien, Dylan O’Boyle, Altay Guneyer, Keith Tighe, Karl Miland, Adam Craven.
•Duleek AFC are seeking new players for the Under-14 Elite team for 2019 and interested parties are asked to contact Rob or Lev by email at duleek14@gmail.com.
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