All County U21 Football Championship - Kickhams Vs Glenavy
All County U21 Football Championship - Round 1
24 May 2008
Kickhams Creggan 1-12
Glenavy 1-09
After despatching Lamh Dearg in the preliminary round, it was the turn of Glenavy to enter Pairc i Ciceam to take on Creggan U21s in the 1st Round proper. Glenavy hotly fancied themselves after their opening round win over Portglenone so this was a highly anticipated clash.
Creggan flew out of the traps from the throw in with a well taken Leigh Martin point, but Glenavy slowly edged their way back in to the game with a couple of near misses before they found the net to give them the lift they were looking for.
A point each from Odhran McLarnon and Tommy McCann drew the sides level after 12 minutes but Glenavy kept their noses in front by firing over another brace of points themselves. Tommy again replied for the home side, but this was cancelled out by the ever dangerous Glenavy forward line who split the poits once more.
The breakthrough that the men in Green & Gold were looking for came with 5 minutes of the first half remaining when a great burst through the middle from mid-fielder Dermot McCann resulted in him slipping a pass to namesake Tommy who did the required and bursted the onion bag. This put the home side in front by a point, but it was the visitors who finished the half stronger by notching the last two scores to go in at the break a point to the good. Half Time, Kickhams Creggan 1-04, Gleanvy 1-05.
So, in to the second half with it still all to play for and with the home side shooting down towards Paddy’s Shop, it was them that upped their game and straight away drew level with a fine Leigh Martin point.
As the game went on Creggan started to dominate midfield with some fine fielding from Dermot, Seamus and Paddy which served up the forwards with some quality ball to feed off. This resulted in them claiming the next 4 points on the bounce to extend their lead. Seamie Allen, Thomas McCann, Leigh Martin and Cathal Small doing the damage with Cathal’s score being particularly eye catching.
Glenavy finally registered their first point of the second period to shorten the gap to a goal, but Creggan raced up the field and were awarded a free kick which that man T. McCann duly converted.
Fair play to the visitors though as they refused to lie down and they continued to keep coming at the Creggan defence and were rewarded with two points to keep themselves in the match. Leigh Martin and Glenavy traded points apiece before big Hugh McNulty leapt like a salmon to pluck a high ball out of the air, swivelled on a sixpence and split the timbers for a great point. This transpired to be the last action of the night and it sent Creggan through to the Quarter Final of the competition where they will meet Belfast side St. Pauls.
This was a great all round display from our lads, who showed grit and determination to see the job done and you could tell that they really wanted this game. There were a number of injuries on the night and we hope both Paul and Ferghal are ok and can make a speedy recovery. The subs that came on as their replacements will take some shifting though as the side was in no way weakened by the enforced changes.
All in all, it was a good evenings entertainment and I’m sure everyone will be looking forward to the Quarter Final which is scheduled for 30th May.
Kickhams Team - Peter Graham, Paul Russell, Sean McLarnon, Paul Nelson (Cathal Shannon), Aidan Maguire, Caolan McCann, Declan Smith (Ferghal McGrenaghan (Hugh McNulty (0-01))), Dermot McCann, Seamus Allen (0-01), Paddy McAuley, Thomas McCann (1-04), Sam Maguire, Cathal Small (0-01), Leigh Martin (0-04), Odhran McLarnon (0-01)View Gallery