UNDER 14's Win COUNTY TITLE
All County Under-14 Hurling League Final by Matt Page
Division 2:
Kildimo 3-12 Blackrock 1-6
Kildimo recorded their first Under-14 County title when they decisively beat a determined Blackrock in Cappamore on Saturday last. Having got out of jail on the previous Wednesday when it took a last puck from Eoin O Brien to keep them in the game and earn an extra time slot, they more than made up for it this time in second half that swept the south challenge away.
While it was Blackrock that opened the scoring with a point from Aidan Murphy in the first minute of the game, it didn’t take the city side much longer to reply through Eoin O Brien. We then had three points for the Kildimo when Gary O Neill ,Eoin O Brien and John Mc Carthy found the range.
Then in the second quarter Blackrock had their purple passage when they hit four unanswered points through David O Donnell and Aidan Murphy to put them ahead. When it seemed as if the game was swinging in the way of the south men ,Eoin O Brien redressed the balance to leave Kildimo in a 0-6 to 0-5 lead at the interval.
In the second half and playing with the wind, Kildimo were first to register a score when their main marksman and play maker Eoin O Brien pointed to give them confidence. This it certainly did and when Cian Hayes pointed in similar fashion , he followed it soon after with a fine goal.
In a game that swung from side to side without any capitulation from Blackrock both sides traded points before Blackrock rattled the net following a long range free through Aidan Murphy and this cut the margin to 3 points and everything to play for with half of the half gone.
Kildimo were not fazed and got on another scoring spree with points from Shane Griffin and Eoin O Brien. With Blackrocks goalie Michael Curtin making two brilliant saves to thwart the Kildimo onslaught ,it was only time when the city side would seal the game.
This came when Eoin O Brien soloed from the half way line to crash the ball to the back of the Blackrock net in brilliant individual effort. Now Kildimo were coasting but more so when Aidan Lunn ground stroke found the net to make the margin too much for the south men. Eoin O Brien rounded off a truly remarkable display with the last point of the game.
Kildimo had outstanding displays from goalie Darren Walsh, Stephen Mc Keogh ,Christopher Mc Kenna, Keel Moloney,Rory Maher and Eoin O Brien.
Blackrock who tried hard but came up against an on-song Kildimo side had fine performances from goalie Michael Curtin,Brian Moloney, Patrick Makessy, David O Donnell and Aidan Murphy.
Jack Mackey ,Treasurer of County Bord na nOg ,presented the Cup to the captain Darren Walsh amidst scenes of jubilation from the large Kildimo following.
Teams:
Kildimo: Darren Walsh; Seamus Mc Keogh,Stephen Mc Keogh,James Carey; Christopher Mc Kenna,Keel Moloney,Rory Maher; Bryan O Shea,John Mc Carthy;Eoin O Brien ,Shane Griffin,Barry Walsh; Trevor Guinnane,Garry O Neill,Cian Hayes. Subs : James Horan,Timmy Carroll,Aidan Lunn,Shane Curtin, Michael Hanrahan, David Fitzgerald.
Blackrock: Michael Curtin; Garry Fitzgerald,Garry Molononey,Patrick Cleary; David Healy,Brian Moloney,Michael Roach; Patrick Makessy,David Noonan; Ruairi O Shaughnessy,David O Donnell,Frank Mulqueen ; Donnacha Sheehy,Aidan Murphy,Robert Crowley.