Result: 1 12 to 3 13
Minor B team just falls short…An t-Iománaí ar an gClaí reports
Na Fianna 3 13 BBSE 1 12
Collinstown was the location for this highly anticipated clash of the two minor B teams and no more than the planes landing across the road we had to buckle up for the expected turbulence ahead.
Boden played into a tricky wind in the first half after losing the toss. The pitch itself was particularly narrow – apparently at the request of Sky Sports which unfortunately curtailed our normally silky style of hurling.
Na Fianna started particularly well and threatened to break through several times and only interventions from Daragh O’Neill and Darragh Murphy prevented the sliotar hitting the back of the net. Na Fianna pointed several times before John McGuire broke through their defence to score a point from the left hand side. James Kinsella, Ruaidhrí Nolan and Evan Rossiter worked hard in the forward line but Rob Lambert was the next to find himself on the score sheet, with a nice point from close range. This was followed by several more scores and frees
Thomas O’Neill, Darragh Murphy, Alan Mc Govern marshalled the full back line with authority but could do little to prevent Na Fianna picking points off with a decent wind at their backs. The lads were five points down at half time but were confident that with the wind advantage in the second half they could do a bit of damage.
Na Fianna changed their style to a running game in the second half to attempt to counteract the loss of the wind advantage. The first Na Fianna goal came against the run of play and then as Boden pushed on looking for scores the inevitable happened and more space opened up at the back. Mathew Nolan had no choice but to take the man down and was given no chance as the ball was driven into the roof of the net from the resulting penalty.
Seán Lambert and Benjamin Hurley worked tirelessly at midfield and were supported by Cillian Brandon, David Barret and Darragh O’Neill in the half back line.
There is no goal like a Turbo Goal – what they may lack in finesse they certainly make up for in regularity and definitely gave the team the lift they required. We pushed on and introduced several players, Liam Mac Pháidín, Michéal Manning, Kevin Kirwan and Peter Byrne who worked hard but were chasing the game by this point. Unfortunately we just ran out of runway! Roll on the Commercial’s game!
Laoch na hImeartha: Daragh O’ Neill. An excellent performance from start to finish!
Benjamin Hurley, Cillian Brandon, Darragh Murphy, Darragh O’Neill, David Barrett, Evan Rossiter, Jacques Dalton, James Hanrahan, James Kinsella, John McGuire (0-8 4f), Liam Mac Pháidín (0-1), Matthew Nolan (0-2), Peter Byrne, Robert Lambert (0-1), Ruaidhrí Nolan, Seán Lambert, Thomas O’Neill