U16 Hurling Championship V Oulart Sun 20 April 08. Venue: Oulart
This one will have to be put down as an opportunity lost, as a game in which we were on top slipped away from us in a somewhat lacklustre second-half performance.
First Half: This was a well-contested half, in which our boys generally had the better of the exchanges without ever hurling to their full potential. We contained the Oulart forwards, with the exception of one goal, about which Páraic O’ Leary could do nothing. Conor Tobin was solid at full-back, and the dynamic Shane Griffith made several darting runs from defence, distributing the ball well to the forwards. Feargal Hynes scored some beautiful frees and 65s in this half, while Johnny Campbell and James Gordon contributed nice points.
Half-time score: Shels 1-8: Oulart 1-2.
Second half: Unfortunately the Shels challenge faded in the second half, as Oulart proved themselves to be the more determined team. Oulart combined well, challenged ferociously and were quicker onto the breaks. The half saw hard work from Aidan Cash, Shane Birney, Dean Corrigan and Glen Murphy amongst others, and we had chances for scores that just didn’t come off. In the end Oulart came away with the spoils by the narrowest of margins.
Full-time score: Shels 1-12; Oulart 2-10.
Team: Paraic O’ Leary, Cian Lambe, Conor Tobin, Dean Corrigan, Niall Murphy, Aidan Cash, Shane Griffith(1-0) Feargal Hynes(0-5), Johnny Campbell(0-1), Craig McCabe, James Gordon(0-2), Shane Birney(0-1), Niall Tobin, Brian Murphy(0-2), Glen Murphy(0-1).
Subs: A.J. Lehane, Simon Murphy, Stephen Dwyer, Stephen Corrigan, Jack Murphy.