Under 12 Rural Championship Final:

Melvin Gaels 2-7 Carrigallen 2-2

The young footballers of Melvin Gaels were crowned U-12 Rural Champions on Saturday last as they dethroned the holders of the crown, Carrigallen, in Drumkeerin with five points to spare after an excellent final.

Tense and tight throughout it took some brilliant defending from the Gaels rearguard to keep Carrigallen at bay as they sought to hold onto their title in the closing stages.

The first half was very tight with respective defences on top and we had to wait until the tenth minute for the first score, a pointed free from Conor Sheridan for the Gaels.

Play moved up and down the field as both sides for superiority but scores were hard to come by. Eventually, in the seventeenth minute, a ball over the top found Carrigallen’s Eamonn O’Malley and he turned to fire a rasper into the far top corner of the Gaels’ net.

The Gaels were not to be outdone and following a foul in the large square Conor Sheridan excellently slotted home the resultant penalty in the nineteenth minute. Less than a minute later, the Gaels had the ball in the Carrigallen net again as James Bredin fired in along ball from the wing and Natasha McEnroy, who had earlier struck a post, slotted home the breaking ball. This left the interval at 2-1 to 1-0 in favour of Melvin Gaels.

Lorcan Kearns and McEnroy added points to the Gaels’ total early in the second period before O'Malley responded with point. Jessie McGuinness, in the Gaels’ goal, made an excellent stop from a difficult ball sent in by Daniel Lyons and Ronan McManus entered the fray for Carrigallen.

Enter the final quarter Conor Sheridan increased the Melvin Gaels advantage with a point from play to which Damien Masterson responded with a pointed "35".

At this stage Carrigallen had a number of chances to get back on parity but a combination of good defending and close misses preserved the Gaels lead. Patrick Kilkenny and Conor Sheridan extended that lead with excellent points as the game entered injury time.

There was still time for Eamonn O’Malley to grab his second goal of the game with another excellent finish as he lobbed McGuinness. It was a little too late and midfielder Kearns had the last say with a Gaels point as referee Eamonn O’Grady brought proceedings to a halt and Melvin Gaels had won the fourth Under 12 title in their history and second title in three years.

An excellent all round showing from both sides and one of which the hard working mentors of both clubs can be proud as they had their charges prepared excellently.

Melvin Gaels: Jessie McGuinness, Aiden Foy, Paul Gilligan, Matt Branley, Paul Brennan, Stephen Gallagher, Lorcan Kearns (0-2), Conor Sheridan (1-3), Patrick Kilkenny (0-1), James Bredin, Alan McGeever, Donal Clancy, Natasha McEnroy (1-1).

Carrigallen: Ciaran Reilly, Barry Reilly, Killian Gray, David Smith, John Reynolds, Enda Murray, Damien Masterson (0-1), Darren McManus, Eamonn O'Malley (2-1), Daniel Lyons, Brian Hackett, Colin Smith, Eoin Ward. Sub used: Ronan McManus.

Ref: Eamonn O'Grady

(c) 2000 Leitrim Observer

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