Result: 2-11 to 2-07

Ballyboden St Enda’s Minor B team had a tough enough start in their first Championship match. Weather conditions were quite blustery, but it was a fine and bright morning over in Rolestown. Ballyboden had a good start as Ross McGrath scored a point within the first minute. Fingal Ravens tried to even the score straight away but shot wide.  Ballyboden got 3 great points in quick succession, first by Ruairí Kirwan from a free, followed swiftly by 2 from Philip McCormack.  Fingal Ravens keeper had trouble making sure of his kick outs and Ballyboden had a couple of chances on goal, one being saved and the second knocked wide.  Next kick out was won by Luke and he brought it straight back down  passing it to Philip, who got his second point which was followed a few minutes later with a point by Liam. Fingal had a dangerous attack which ended with a threatening ball dropping on top of Josh.  Fingal Ravens called for a penalty with a crowd of bodies in the box.  The ref decided on a hop ball.  Ravens managed to get it back and took their first point of the match.  Luke O’Donoghue won the kick out and linked up with Philip McCormack, with Philip playing the ball back into Luke for his goal.  This was swiftly followed by a point by Liam O’Flaherty.  Fingal Ravens came back with a goal, that originated from a free outside the penalty area, which hit off the post, back into play and they nicely chipped it over Josh. Boden went straight back down and scored a point, only to have Fingal Ravens come back and score another goal.  Boden kept their composure and scored another four points before the half time whistle.  Two by Ruairí Kirwan, and one from Liam Flaherty and Cian Kelly.  Cian Kelly was substituted for Rob Leddy just before half time.

Half time score 1-10 to 2-2

Fingal Ravens did their best to continue their momentum from the first half.  Wind also picked up a bit and Josh Kane was having a tough time picking out a blue and white striped shirt.  Boden had some nice play but Fingal’s defence proved too strong for Boden’s attack.  Ravens got the first point of the second half, followed quickly by Mark getting a point for us.Ballyboden kept chipping away and eventually we were awarded a penalty, as Rob Leddy was taken down in front of goal.  Ruairí Kirwan took the penalty shot and scored a goal. Ruadhán Fanning and Seán McDonnell were replaced by Kevin Lynch and Conor Kennedy. For the next 15 mins it was a very tight match, with both teams robbing the ball from one another.  Josh made a great save in goal and managed to get the ball back up the pitch, only to have Ravens on the counter-attack again.  Wind played havoc with Josh’s kick outs and many of them landed in Raven’s favour.  Boden tried to get a few more points on the board, with tactical substitutions of James O’ Connor and Evan McDonnell coming on for Luke O’ Donoghue and Ruairí Kirwan.   Raven’s had the majority of the play, but thankfully Boden held out and kept Fingal’s score tally for the second half to five points. The men of the match were Ruairí Kirwan for his accuracy in front of goal, Luke O’Donoghue for his high work rate, Cian Murray for his strong defending throughout the match at centre-back and Oisín Carolan for keeping the full back line safe, as they were bombarded with ball throughout the match.

Team – Josh Kane, James McDonnell, Oisín Carolan, Robbie O’ Connell, Seán McDonnell, Cian Murray, Liam Mullen, Ruadhán Fanning, Ross McGrath (0-01), Mark Mcgee (0-01), Liam Flaherty (0-03), Luke O’ Donoghue (1-01), Cian Kelly (0-01), Ruairí Kirwan (1-03), Philip McCormack (0-02), Conor Kennedy, Kevin Lynch, Evan McDonnell, Robert Leddy, James O’ Connor.