Juniors complete first half of weekend double.
Last Saturday and Sunday were great days for the Shelmalier GAA Club when we succeeded in winning two adult football county titles. It was the turn of the Junior footballers on Saturday in Wexford Park, when they took on a very experienced St. Anne’s side. The team was show to get to grips with the run of play in the first ten minutes which allowed the Rathangan men took full advantage and they rocketed in two goals in the fifth and tenth minutes. As the game wore on the younger Shelmalier side began to dominate and the defensive play of Captain Denis Kelly, Seamie Harding, Ciaran O Shaughnessy, Niall Kelly and Paddy Doyle began to pay dividends. Three well taken frees from Stephen Cash and Eoin Doyle brought the Shels back into the game, but St. Anne’s soon replied with two points of their own. James Murphy got the Shels back on track with a point following a good delivery from Niall Kelly and Eoin Doyle. The large local support jumped to their foot when Joe Kelly was brought down in the square in the 30th minute, with Stephen Cash coolly slotting home the resulting penalty, to leave two points between the sides at half time 1-4 to 2-2. The Shels wasted many good scoring chances in the first ten minutes of the restart, but once Adrian Veale expertly scored his teams second goal on twelve minutes, the Shels took total control of the match. Points from Stephen Cash, Joe Kelly, Adrian Veale and Eoin Doyle extended the Shels lead, allowing Captain Denis Kelly to receive the cup from county chairman Ger Doyle. The man of the match award stayed in the Kelly family with Joe receiving this award for his outstanding contribution to his team’s victory.