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20 October 2008
Clooney/Quin and O'Callaghan's Mills U-12 hurlers belied the very soft underfoot conditions at Roslevan on Sunday to serve up a fine game of hurling. The prize on offer was the U-12B Shield and both sides certainly wanted to win it.....
The old proverb that tells us about a good start being half the work certainly held up for our boys. Right from the throw-in they put The Mills' defence under intense pressure. After just 2 minutes of play, wing forward Conor Grogan flashed the ball to the net for the perfect start. Paul Leamy added a point from a free 2 minutes later. Luke Keane showed great goal poaching instincts to rattle The Mills' net from close range after 5 minutes. Clooney/Quin were now rampant and as the C/Q forwards laid siege on The Mills' goal, a combination of Paul Leamy and Luke Keane forced the ball over the line for goal No.3.
At this stage it looked like it was going to be a rout, but credit to O'Callaghan's Mills as they regrouped and played themselves into the game. Unfortunately for them, our backs were showing a very mean streak and allowed The Mills few scoring opportunities.
Paul Leamy fired in our 4th goal after 19 minutes following great work by Rory Corbett. That was canceled out 2 minutes later when Jacob Loughnane marked his introduction with a goal for The Mills to leave the half-time score: C/Q 4.1 O'C Mills 1.0.
The 2nd half was a far more even affair. Indeed it was the losers who shaded it in this period and got the only scores of the half. These came from a Jacob Loughnane free in the 9th minute and a Jamie Keane point from play 2 minutes from full-time. They also forced two 20M frees that were well saved in the Clooney/Quin goalmouth.
Clooney/Quin had 25 players 'on duty' and all played in this game. It showed tremendous strength in depth that, despite the numerous changes made, The Mills were not allowed to eat into our lead in the 2nd half. When referee, Pat Gavin, sounded the final whistle there were great scenes of jubilation from C/Q players and supporters.
Thanks to the dedication shown by the players and coaches, the future looks bright for this squad. Well done to the management team of Dave Barry, Derek Ryan, Eddie Keane, John Culligan and Noel Kelly.
After the match, Sean Sheehan, vice chairman of Bord na nOg Iomaint, presented the Shield to the Clooney/Quin captain, Ruadhan Dunne.
Final Score: Clooney/Quin 4.1 O'Callaghan's Mills 1.2
