Great display by young footballers in semi final.
SHELMALIERS VERSUS ST MARTINS
UNDER 12 PREMIER FOOTBALL SEMI – FINAL
DATE – SEPTEMBER 1ST.
VENUE – OILGATE
POWERFUL SECOND HALF SURGE SECURES
COUNTY FINAL PLACE FOR YOUNG SHELS
A superb second half performance in which the Shels outscored their opponents St Martins by 3-6 to 1-0 secured a county final place for the under 12 footballers, the final score line being 3-14 to 1-4.
St Martins were very strong early on and pressed hard for scores and in fact scored the first point of the game.
However Stephen McGuire settled the Shels' early nerves with a fine long range point, powerful centre forward Kevin O’Connor added another, John Forde then got in on the act and O’Connor put the Shels a useful 4 points to 1 up.
St Martins did get back into the game and added 3 further points before the interval. During the bouts of St Martins' pressure Evan Devereux was a rock of strength in the Shels goal and with the superb Shels midfield of Eoghan Nolan and Graham Staples starting to motor and James Cash in commanding form at centre back Shels managed a further 4 points before the interval, O’Connor on the mark again, Eoghan Nolan and 2 superb points from Gavin Potter in the corner.
While the finishing was of the highest order, in the back line Glen Malone and Ryan Donnelly were particularly prominent and in attack Conor Davidson was in sparkling form. The half time score was Shels 0-8 St Martins 0-4.
Early in the second half Shels effectively put the game beyond the reach of St Martins with an unanswered 1-3 in the first 7 minutes. Conor Forde and Aaron Murphy were launching attacks from the half back line and at the other end of the field Gavin Potter, John Forde and Graham Staples raised the white flags with master opportunist Kevin O’Connor flicking a “45” to the back of the net. Simon Donohoe was leading by example from the full back line and the Shels forward line continued to rack up the scores with the speedy Conor Davidson adding a quick goal and a point and with Colin Cleary putting in a trojan effort at full forward. Before the end, Kevin O’Connor added a free, Eoghan Nolan scored his second point and Stephen Maguire closed out the scoring for the Shels with an outstanding goal.
Team
Evan Devereux, Glen Malone, Simon Donohoe, Ryan Donnelly, Conor Forde, James Cash, Aaron Murphy, Graham Staples (0-1), Eoghan Nolan (0-2), Stephen Maguire (1-1), Kevin O’Connor (1-4), Conor Davidson (1-1), John Forde (0-2), Colin Cleary, Gavin Potter (0-3).
Substitutes
Aaron Hearne, Larry Stoute, Aodan Foley, Michael Feeney, Stephen Carr, Daniel Murphy, Jodi Donohoe, Brian Kehoe, Kevin Kehoe, Luke Jackson.