Result: 1-08 to 0-16
Bhí an ghrian ag taitneamh go láidir sa spéir agus an dhá fhoireann ag dul chun páirce. Faraor, níorbh fhada go raibh an ghrian ag dul faoi ar an scórchlár Bhuadáin.
Boden took to the field against an experienced looking Ballymun outfit on Sunday. After climbing lampposts and looking in ditches we managed to put together what looked on paper to be a solid team. In fact it transpired to be so. From the off Ballymun seized the upper hand and started to put some scores on the board. In the middle Leechy and Mono were feeling the heat. At the back Rory, Michael and Ryan were putting up more resistance than King Canute holding back the tide. Boden’s many forays up the pitch were not bearing fruit and a good number of shots for points unfortunately ended up in the keeper’s hands. Despite these mini set backs we managed to notch 4 points before the break compared to 8 for our opponents. By this stage Mono had been called ashore and Fionnan had entered the fray to shore up a ragged middle. Our full forward line of Cian, Donal McCarthy and Shane had battled manfully to convert the crumbs into scores . Of note in the first half were points by Cian off the left and Sam carving through the centre.
The second half saw the introduction of James McTiernan and the versatile Allen Kennedy along with some reorganisation around the middle. After an exchange of points we managed to get a run on them and get it back to a margin of 2. At this stage the half back line of Sean, Kev and Keith were not letting anything past them. Some great running and support play from Lar, Sam and Karl engineered our mini revival. Inside James was proving to be a handful. Unfortunately a couple of counterattacks up the pitch by Kickhams resulted in scores that eventually established a 7 point margin. The reintroduction of Mono for Cian who had run his socks off began to cause difficulties for our opponent’s defence. Almost immediately after a fine point by Mono he hit a shot off the crossbar that was turned home by James. Alas, it was too little too late.
All in all an encouraging performance where we managed to regroup and play some good football. Rory and Sean certainly turned back the years with inspirational displays. Stee was solid in goal and varied his kick-outs well. It was great to see Fionnan out of hibernation and his work-rate contributed to our revival. A special word for the 8 lads in the central area of the pitch. There was incessant running, heavy physical contests and a lot of football played in this part of the pitch. Kev and Leechie were warriors. Karl, Sam and Keith kept supporting each other and trying to make runs forward, while Lar picked up a lot of dirty ball to initiate our attacks. Despite being among the elder statesmen Sean Mulligan covered a lot of ground and remained composed under pressure. (One doesn’t have to be old to qualify as an elder statesman on this team).
Fógra: many thanks to club stalwart Martin O’Donnell for coming up trumps at the last minute with some players. Go raibh míle maith agat . Also to Shane Kennedy who answered a late request- maith thú.
Fógra eile: with championship coming up we need to see more lads at training. I would appeal to the executive to impose a ban on foreign travel!!!
Squad: Stephen McGrath, Ryan Bradshaw, Michael Dunne, Rory Jordan, Keith Sweeney. Kevin Cronin (captain), Sean Mulligan, Eoghan Monahan, David Leech, Sam Lally, Karl Weldon, Laurence Murphy, Cian Lynch, Donal McCarthy, Shane Kennedy, Allen Kennedy, Fionnán Keogh, James McTiernan