U-16s end on high
AFTER A full season of games and blitzes, Wexford were placed in the shield section of the Leinster Under-16 football tournamentover the Bank holiday weekend. Ironically, the winners of the Cup tournament were Kildare, who only lost once this season when the Slaneysiders beat them earlier this year.
On the Saturday they travelled to Carlow I.T. to take on Carlow in the semi-final. After a bright start, Wexford dominated proceedings throughout, and never looked in danger.
A superb opening saw them kick four goals, with Tony Smith, Aaron Kehoe, Dylan Sweeney and Garrett Browne all on target. Excellent points from Dillon Redmond from half-back and Tom Byrne from midfield added to the all-round team performance and work ethic that these lads have shown all year.
Glenn Malone at full-back was dominating, and was ably supported by Brian O’Connor and Cormac Byrne on either side of him. Going in at half-time 4-7 to 12 up, the result was never in doubt, but Wexford wanted to ensure the victory and proceded to assert their dominance over Carlow.
Another two goals from Tony Smith to complete his hat-trick, and more points from Ben Cowman and Craig Murphy, saw Wexford take a big lead. Carlow scored a second goal after a penalty was brilliantly saved by Dylan Cloke, but the rebound fell kindly to the kicker to tap in. Substitute ‘ keeper Richard Cleary then made three excellent saves to ensure the victory margin remained intact, as Wexford ran out 6-13 to 2-5 winners to qualify for the final on the following Monday.
Taking on Louth in Bray, they started slowly but two goals in quick succession from Tony Smith and Tom Byrne put Wexford ahead. And as the full-back line started to get to grips with the pacy Louth forwards, with Eoin O’Connor in particular stadying the ship, Wexford went in ahead at half-time on a scoreline of 2-5 to 1-5.
Louth came back strong in the secondhalf and went a couple of points up, but a fine reaction goal from Tony Smith put Wexford back ahead. The midfield pairing of Tom Byrne and Niall Hughes dominated kick-outs towards the latter stages of the second-half, and this created a lot of problems for the Louth defenders who were finding the pace of the attacks too much. The half-back line of Mick Boland, Jake Firman and Dillon Redmond also got on top in the central area and stopped the Louth counter-attacking ploys.
With Ben Cowman at centre-forward being a vital link from defence to attack, we powered on to finish strong against a Louth side reduced to 14 men after the full-back was sent-off for a second yellow when he dragged down Shane Doyle as he bore down on goal. Some fine points from Aaron Kehoe, Shane Doyle and Tony Smith rounded off what was a superb squad performance, with every player available taking to the field and getting a chance to play in a Leinster final.
A late goal with the last kick gave Louth a more respectable look on the scoreline. It was a huge performance from the team, and it was very much a team effort, with everyone over the year contributing in all games.
The dedication and work ethic of the players is to be highly commended, and they truly showed the worth of having a strong, united squad who will all fight for each other and understand that no single player is more important than the team.
Squad: Dylan Cloke, Eoin O’Connor, Glenn Malone, Brian O’Connor, Dillon Redmond, Michael Boland, Jake Firman, Tom Byrne, Niall Hughes, Garrett Browne, Ben Cowman, Craig Murphy, Aaron Kehoe, Tony Smith, Dylan Sweeney, Richard Cleary, Cormac Byrne, Shaun Donohue, James Kinsella, Seán Foley, Ross Bealin, Ian Moran, Conor Neville, Noel Roche, Rhys Owley, Gearóid Finn, Shane Wilde, Daniel Carroll, Robert Byrne, Shane Doyle. Mentors: Luke O’Hanlon, Liam Kehoe, Michael Hughes, Mark Hanton, Finny White.