Castlegar 4-18 Pearses 1-13: After conceding an early goal in this U16A1 final played Friday evening in Loughrea, Pearses had to chase the game for the first quarter. However, with the wind, they battled gamely and by the 28th minute the game was level. A Cathal Kitt goal in first half injury time seen Pearses lead by two at the break. The second half followed a very different pattern, with Castlegar in control throughout as they ran out comfortable winners.
In a lively opening to the game the teams traded points before Cashel struck for the game’s first goal, Ethan Connolly finding the net at the town end, 1-3 to 0-3. After the goal the game followed the previous point-for-point routine. Dean Reilly and Oisin Flannery the Pearses’ scorers, with Mark Hennelly and Austin Delaney also grafting hard. Man of the Match Sean Neary was uneering from the placed ball for Castlegar.
After 23 minutes it was 1-9 to 0-9. From here until half-time was Pearses’ best spell of the game as they first pulled the game level, before the injury time goal sent them in leading by two at the break. Reilly from midfield finished with five points from play in the first half, while Oisin Flannery hit seven, two from play. Kitt’s goal was a well taken effort as he gained possession 30 yards from goal ran at the defence and finished low past the keeper from the right hand side. Half-time 1-12 to 1-10.
Drizzle arrived during half-time and fell throughout the second half, Castlegar also now with the wind advantage. Reilly landed his sixth point of the game just two minutes into the second period, but Pearses would not score again as Castlegar assumed control. They had drawn level after seven minutes, 1-13 apiece and lead by two at the end of the third quarter when Cashel struck for their second goal. This further reduced Pearses hopes of a revival and Castlegar went on to add 2-4 in the final quarter to take the title.
Pearses: D McCabe; B Kelly, E McCabe, N Moran; A Lally, S Hynes, C Kitt (1-0); J Barrett, D Reilly (0-6); M Hennelly, A Delaney, O Flannery (0-7, 5f); C Murphy, G Kenny, D Connolly. Subs: Ethan Lally, J Mitchell, R Hynes, E Lally, D Moran, L Mitchell, D Hillary.
Castlegar: L O’Reilly; J Keane, S Murphy, D O’Connell; K O’Boyle, P Coyne, L Fahy (1-0); H Kilgannon (0-1), D McNulty (0-1); E Connolly (2-0), A Walsh (1-3), J Kilgannon; S Neary (0-13, 8f, 2 65’), D Neary, C O’Callaghan. Subs: M Feeney, J Sweeney, C Gillespie, J Gorham, D Hynes, MJ Fahey, P Ryan, PJ Feeney, R Cullinane, F Conway, R Hickey, L Smith, K Grennan, P Fahy, J O’Dea.
Man of the Match: S Neary. Referee: N Quinn