BBNÉ 3-14 CLG Cluain Tarbh 0-20
Bhí bua deas ag an bhfoireann idirmhéanach tráthnóna Dé Céadaoin i bPáirc Uí Mhurchú, le farasbarr trí chúilín, rud a chiallaíonn go bhfuil Boden slán sábháilte in AHL 3 don bhliain seo chugainn. Although a mixed year in terms of results, it is no more than this team deserve as they more than held their own against first teams from other clubs throughout the campaign.
Two notable features of this win against Clontarf was the huge workrate of the team, particularly in the first half, epitomised by Cian Kelly who had numerous hooks, blocks and turnovers, and the final tally of 3-7 (3-4 ón imirt) from Oisín Byrne, a bhí ar lasadh sa chúinne.
Bhí cúl faighte ag Oisín taobh istigh de nóiméad and fuair sé an dara ceann deich nóiméad ina dhiaidh sin, from a rebound following good work by Jason Devery. Bhuaigh Kevin Byrne a lán liathróid ón bpoc amach and this gave the forwards a good platform to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Points from Cian Kelly, Chris Lambert and a point before halftime from Oisín, following an excellent pass from Ciarán Cashman, left the game finely balanced at half-time. An scór ag leathama ná Boden 2-4; Cluain Tarbh 0-10.
Ag tús an dara leath, scóráil Boden 1-3 gan freagra to give a good platform for the three-point winning margin. Oisín had his hat trick wrapped up within a minute of the restart, tar éis pas iontach a fháil ó Ruairi Hestor. A feature of the second half was the number of forwards scoring from play, le cúilíní maithe ó Jason Devery, Cian Kelly, Jim Kennedy, Chris Lambert, agus Kevin Byrne.
Ross McCormack was solid in goals, with one great save mid-way through the first half. Ruairí Kirwan and Joe Maguire were the pick of the backs, although Alan McGrath made a name for himself with a superb ‘Conor Fogarty’ style block cúpla nóiméad ón deireadh. Ciarán Cashman was full of running i lár na páirce and is looking more comfortable there with each outing.
Apart from the aforementioned Oisín Byrne, Cian Kelly was back to his industrious best, with a savage workrate and a brace on points into the bargain.
This was a night when the young guns Jim Kennedy, Ryan Culleton, Kevin Byrne, Leon Murphy and Alex Young all got valuable game time and none of them looked out place. Bhí sé go hiontach Des O Sullivan a fheiscint ar ais ar an bpáirc arís tar éis bheith gortaithe ar feadh cúpla mí.
Ár mbuíochas le Cliona Mellett as na griangraif agus ár mbuíochas chomh maith leis na maoirchúil Niall Desmond agus Declan Maguire agus leis an maor line, Dave Conway. A huge question on everyone lips after the game was the rumour whether Susan Creed has absconded to the Juniors or not… this surely couldn’t be true. Instead of Susan’s cuisine, Noel Hehir had to settle for a Heineken Zero and a Keith O ‘Donnell Pizza to celebrate the win.
Laoch na hImeartha: Oisín Byrne
Painéal: Ross McCormack, Alan McGrath, Karl Weldon, Ruairí Kirwan, Ruairí Hestor, Joe Maguire, Andy Hand, Ciarán Cashman, Ryan Culleton, Kevin Byrne (0-1), Chris Lambert (0-2), Jason Devery (0-1), Cian Kelly (0-2), Daniel O’Riordan, Oisín Byrne (3-7; 3F), Ronan Sharkey, Owen Wigglesworth, Jim Kennedy (0-1), Alex Young, Des O’Sullivan.
Thanks to Clíona for the photos. Click here