A Fistful of goals

The final game of Boden’s league campaign took place on a fresh evening in Ballycullen on the eve of what could be a historic All Ireland football final. Unfortunately a large number of our dedicated squad opted to go camping in Laois. Nevertheless we managed to assemble a squad of regulars, irregulars and seasonal debutants.

Both teams opened brightly with Boden securing the upper hand but only marginally. Davy Hayes and Ronan Cleary were prominent in the early exchanges with their clever probing runs. Boden were lively and threatening but largely unconvincing in the approach on goal. At halftime the score was 1-4 to the home team and 0-6 to the Larriers. Boden’s scores had been secured from the boots of Ciarán who netted in the 12th minute and from Barra (0-2) along with singles from John Mc and Ronan. The Northsiders hit some impressive points from open play but their forays towards the goal were hindered by the tigerish displays from Fergal, Fionn and Karl in the full back line. Up front our penchant for goals was distracting us from converting more simple chances. Goal chances went a begging but so did a number of points.

In the second half Boden upped the performance and managed to create more realistic goal scoring chances. Ronan converted a goal chance in the second minute and this was quickly followed by a point from Barra. O’Toole’s continued to tick over the scoreboard with a string of points. They remained threatening and were duly rewarded with a goal in the 23rd minute. In the meantime Boden had secured goals from Cian (2) and Barra. The game remained physical and challenging and Boden weathered a number of mini-storms at different stages. The returning John Murphy fresh off a Canadian jet was prominent  in the half back back line alongside Archie and Scott.Davy and Neil were comfortable in the middle of the park. The half forward line of Ciaran, BK and Ronan maintained a high work rate causing O’Toole’s many problems. The “emptying of the bench” saw the early introduction of Nasher who was quickly followed by  Jamesie. Sam, Evan and Ste entered the fray later with no loss of balance to the team. Boden finished strongly to complete the victory.

All in all it was a credible performance in the league finishing on 19 points in fifth position in the table. Credit for this goes to all who committed to the team early in the year and those who assisted at various times throughout the season. A special word to my fellow mentors Wally Durkin, Daire Walsh and Mick Maher who played a pivotal role in preparing and shaping the team. The players responded with a dedication and enthusiasm that resulted in the final league standing.

A special mention is owed to the senior football  players and management who included us in their deliberations throughout the year. Finally, we thank the football committee for their tireless support of the intermediate football team.

Team: Mark McNamee, Fionn Maguire (0-1), Fergal Haran, Karl Reddy, John Murphy (James O’Hara 40’), Ciaran Archbold, Scott Cullen, Davy Hayes, Neil Hester, Brian Kirwan, Ciaran O’Reilly (1-0) (Evan Cullen 45’), Ronan Cleary (2-4), Cian Bates (2-0), Barra McGarry (1-3) (Ste McGrath), John McGinn (0-1). Sam Lally for JO’H 50’.

Fógra: the team expresses condolences to two players, Liam Flaherty and Seamus Keane, who both experienced family bereavements in recent days.