Ballygawley and Carrick in action
WHAT a great crisp spring day greeted the teams as they converged on the Astro in Cleveragh for this Under 14 clash.
Carrick travelled with a pretty full squad which included the very impressive Sam Barnes who has starred for Sligo Leitrim. Ballygawley were briefed by the ever present Michael O’Connor who has dedicated so much time and effort into Underage football in his area.
The beautiful hint of spring made conditions almost perfect when the kick off happened and almost immediately Carrick went on the attack with Cormac White, Oliver Barnes and the impressive Evan Corcoran bringing a 3 pronged attack to hit the back of the net with less than 2 minutes on the clock.
The handful of supporters that had travelled appreciated the smoothness of the attack and how well drilled the team were and applauded accordingly.
But the team from out the road – Ballygawley - showed absolutely zero signs of panic or fear and set themselves up immediately from kick off into an attacking formation.
Andrew Sproule was the lone striker – they were playing a 4- 2- 3- 1 but after they conceded they went to a 4- 3- 3 which almost immediately paid dividends – Brian O’Connor and captain fantastic Ciaran McKeon assisted by Simon Mckeon moved forward and Sproule struck a sweet ball low and hard past the helpless Carrick Town keeper Cillian Gafffey.
Unfortunately this appeared to give Carrick the urge to crank up a gear and this they did by also adjusting their formation to 4- 3- 3 as well to exert as much pressure as possible on Ballygawley. Sam Barnes definitely showed his class by both creating chances for Carrick’s top three and they gladly accepted all dona- tions and before long found themselves in a 3 - 1 lead.
This was in no part due to the excellent midfield commanding by Callum McGirl and Evan Corcoran. Barnes though was at the centre of everything and it took some good solid work by Diarmuid Gilmartin and Aaron Davey of Ballygawley to keep him at bay. Ciaran McKeon was instrumental in keeping Ballygawley in touch and battled hard going back to support Gary Healy and Christopher McGowan but Dan Curran and Niall Crow seemed to be able to anticipate every thought that Ballygawley had. Carrick pressed on in the second half and added a few more goals to their tally but this in no way reflected the serious effort of Celtic’s keeper Kyle Davey who played well despite their eventual loss. Carrick March on and they must feel confident while Ballygawley go back and regroup but no doubt they will line out again next week full of enthusiasm for their next fixture