Pearses 4-6 Ballinderreen 2-2: Report by Martina Donnellan. Behold Pearses U12’s – County Champions! The young black and white army defeated Ballinderreen by 10 points in a well contested game played in Carnmore yesterday, in what was their second time to beat Ballinderreen this year. Plenty of hard work has been put into the underage structure in the club by a large number of volunteers over the last few years and now, Pearses are reaping the rewards of it by adding the U12 title to the U13 title won earlier in the year.
These lads are a united bunch and have been racking up decent scores during the championship. ?Jason Rabbitte was the star of the day, scoring a whopping 4-2 from midfield and covered every blade of grass on the park. There was ample support all around him, as everyone chipped in and played their part. Ballinderreen had a bumper crowd behind them and played with great confidence for most of the game led by their No. 7 but had to surrender to Pearses’ absolute superiority early into the 2nd half as the assassin Rabbitte was on fire.
Pearses got off to a lively start with points from Diarmuid Ryan andamp;amp; David Walsh within 2 mins. David Walsh set up Ryan for the first while Anthony Feeney won a throw in which spilled to Jonah Donnellan who sent in a lovely cross for Walsh to score the second, taken on the run. Jason Rabbitte who was a real talisman scored the first of his 4 goals following a goalmouth scramble which Cillian Fahey picked up and fired across to Rabbitte who finished aplomb on 8mins. Dara Scarry worked hard to earn a 65’ which was taken by Rabbitte and as the ball spilled in the danger area, Cilly Fahey wily sneaked in in to throw it over from close range. Ballinderreen’s No. 7 then had a good run through the middle of the field winning a 65’ which went wide on the 2nd re-take.
Ballinderreen then had a long range free which was turned around the post by full back Harry Mitchell while Pearses’ backs hesitated in defending the resultant 65’ which was whipped to the net to bring them right back into the game. Ballindereen cut the deficit to 2 points moments later with a good point from play. Just on the stroke of half time Cilly Fahey andamp;amp; Jayo Rabbitte linked up superbly, while Jayo spotted a gap through the middle and struck a superb goal to put Pearses in the driving seat at half time. Pearses 2-3; Ballinderreen 1-1.
Right at the start of the 2nd half Rabbitte drew a smashing save from Ballinderreen’s goalie while the resultant 65’ was driven wide by Jonah Donnellan. Rabbitte tapped over a close- in free to bring Pearses tally to 2-4. Ballinderreen performed a minor resurrection 6mins into the second half with another goal as Pearses defence failed to clear to claw it back to three points. A quickly taken free from Cillian Fahey spotted the run of Rabbitte into space and as he turned he fired over a beauty to widen the margin to 4 points. Ballinderreen converted a free while Rabbitte scored what looked like a legitimate point only for the ref to flag it wide after consulting with his umpires.
Fahey and Rabbitte linked up well again for Jayo’s 3rd goal and as he got out in front of his man, his first attempt ricocheted off the woodwork but he made no mistake on the 2nd attempt. With minutes remaining Harry Mitchell’s long range free bounced nicely for Jason who gave a true lesson in economy as he deftly finished an unbelievable 4th goal to the roof of the net. Right on the stroke of half time Dara Scarry tapped over Pearses final score with a great point after good work from Diarmuid Ryan andamp;amp; Ross Lally and as he ran back into position that mighty sense of satisfaction was conspicuously visible through the faceguard.
The ref blew the final whistle to great applause as PEarses were victorious on a 4-6 to 2-2 scoreline. This was a sweet victory in many respects for the management duo of Larry Hillary and Kevin Ryan in their first year in a managerial capacity. Each player was drowned in adoration afterwards such was the effort put in by every lad that graced the pitch during this U12 campaign and even for challenge matches. Afterwards, Pauric Lohan Chairman Coiste Iomana na nGaillimhe presented the cup to captain Dara Scarry who thanked the management duo, Bobby Hynes andamp;amp; Sons as sponsors and thanked Ballinderreen for a sporting game while the Man of the Match award was presented to Jonah Donnellan.
Scorers: Jason Rabbitte 4-2 (0-1F); Diarmuid Ryan 0-1; David Walsh 0-1; Cillian Fahy 0-1; Dara Scarry 0-1.
Panel: Cathal Hynes, Dillon Roche, Harry Mitchell, Jonah Donnellan, Conor Hillary, Anthony Feeney, Jason Rabbitte, Cillian Fahy, David Walsh, Diarmuid Ryan, Dara Scarry, Cian Burke, Ross Lally, Jamie Nutley, Patrick O’Neill, Padraig Kelly, James Queeney, Darren Moran, Conor Walsh, Ciárán Hogan, Brian Thompson, Keith Kitt while Tommy Nutley andamp;amp; Eoghan Ryan were team mascots.