Boden edged out by Raheny in Under 21 C Hurling Final
Raheny 2 06 Ballyboden 0 11
This was a game played in ideal conditions at Alfie Byrne Park on Saturday last.
Ideal for January, that is….. a cold and tricky wind from the North East coupled with a low Wintersun. The result came down to a shooting contest in the second half, Boden with the strong wind and clawing at a lead of 7 points.
The bulkier Raheny side opened the better and proceeded to press for scores early on. Frees were the dominant contribution from both sides, Eamonn Gorman the Boden contributor. Morgan Ryan was also prominent with a fine point. Goal chances came, Ruther for Raheny, hooked as he batted the ball, only to be given a second chance. Joe Mernagh got on the end of a fine move through the lines, only to be thwarted illegally. Gorman followed the “new rule of thumb” and pointed. Score of the half came from Kavanagh for the Northsiders, all of 80 yards and drawn in by the wind.
Half Time had it 1 05 to 0 04 in favour of Raheny.
The second half opened with another goal for Raheny, out of a ruck of players on the edge of the square, Ruther the taker. The remainder of the game was dominated by Boden, trying to use the wind to point their way to victory. Goals were almost impossible due to the consistent “stopping” of attacks at the 20 metre line. Fergal Murray stood out as top man on show, a fine contribution of diagonal clearances to the feet of the forwards. Gorman was called to the free line several times and reduced the margin. Mernagh was getting about and causing problems for the Raheny rearguard. At the other end Conor McHugh was assured and cleared all that came at him. Another to show was Fionn Maguire with a fine point. Lorcan Mullaney came into the action and upped the pace for Boden. With ten minutes left, Raheny got what turned out to be the winner after fine work by Smith. Boden kept clipping away at the lead, but incurred a series of wides. The final whistle came, with a point as the margin, to cheers from the sizeable Raheny support.
Hard luck on the squad and the mentors after a fine campaign.
Boden: Sean Brennan, Fergal Murray, Rian Cannon, Ronan Dooley, Cian Mellett, Fionn Maguire, Joe Mernagh, Morgan Ryan, Ciaran O’Brien, Eamonn Gorman, Ross Cullen, Conor McHugh, Alan McGrath, Timmy O.Connor, Lorcan Mullally, Conor Deane, Eoin McKenna,