Under-11’s Host Edenderry
On a fine early Summer’s morning in Deerpark, Kilmacud Crokes Under-11’s played hosts to two Edenderry teams en route to Parnell Park to support their native county in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship later that afternoon (Sunday 30 May 2010) against Antrim. The Croke’s mentors successfully used the occasion to experiment with players playing in “less accustomed” positions.
On the top pitch, captain for the day – Lorcan O’Connor – won the toss and wisely elected to play with the strong wind. During the warm-up a sliotar accidently hit Eoin Barr in the side of the neck with the result that he missed most of the first ten minutes. Undaunted, however, he resumed his normal mid-field position at the expense of young Ed Gibbons, who had to be drafted in as a late but very able “emergency” goalkeeper.
Once the ball was thrown in, it took David Cullen only two minutes to open the scoring with a well-taken point. Three minutes later, the ever-improving James Dalton had the ball in the net to leave the home team 1-1 to 0-0 ahead. This sequence was repeated by the same players before Edenderry opened their account mid-way through the half with a long range point. Between then and half-time, David added a further goal and two points and Paul Buckley scored a major to leave the Kilmacud boys firmly in the driving seat on a scoreline of 4-4 to 0-1.
A rather interesting aspect of the first half was the manner in which a number of defenders, including Adam Cantwell, Scott Penny and Cathal O’Dwyer, caught high balls and delivered long clearances. In truth, however, the entire defence played magnificently during this period with Michael MacNulty giving nothing away at left corner back and the wing backs of Lorcan O’Connor and Michael Gibbons gaining possession while moving forward at pace. Also, mention must be made of Tom Kehoe, who got back from mid-field on at least three occasions to dispossess Edenderry forwards and also the versatile and fast-improving Sam Lynch.
After the interval, Eoin Barr showed that he was not going to let a stiff neck come between him and the scoreboard when he found the net after four minutes with an excellently struck long range shot. Shortly afterwards, Edenderry’s No.8 scored a lovely point to leave the score 5-4 to 0-2. The question was would wind advantage be sufficient to bridge the gap between the two teams. Within five minutes, the question seemed to be answered with goals from Niall Brady and Paul Buckley. However, for the next ten minutes or so, Crokes took the foot off the pedal and conceded 3-1 without reply to leave the score 7-4 to 3-3 entering the closing stages. Despite this, it was nice to see that the home team had the desire and determination to up their game again with a well engineered point from Daniel Crowley and a third goal from Paul Buckley operating from the unaccustomed full-forward position. Just before the final whistle, Edenderry added a consolation point to leave the final score 8-5 to 3-4.
Despite the fact that only six Crokes players actually got on the score sheet, a number of others – notably Tom Kehoe and Dylan Crossan – were unlucky with a number of shots just off-target. A heartening aspect of the Crokes performance was the amount of times players tackled and harried their opponents and also the manner in which players caught the high ball. It seems as if most players have been listening during recent training!
After the match, the players from both teams were treated to home-made sandwiches and cakes prepared by the home team’s parents ably led by the always good-humoured Joan Bezeci.
Kilmacud Crokes (Top Pitch):- Sam Lynch; Adam Cantwell, Scott Penney, Michael MacNulty; Lorcan O’Connor; Cathal O’Dwyer, Michael Gibbons; Eoin Barr (1-0), Tom Kehoe; Daniel Crowley (0-1), David Cullen (1-4), James Dalton (2-0); Dylan Crossan, Paul Buckley (3-0), Niall Brady (1-0). Subs:- Ed Gibbons for Eoin Barr, injured (3mins), Eoin Barr for Ed Gibbons (15mins).
Mentors:- Alan Kehoe, Ed Gibbons, Tony Buckley, Conor Crowley, Seamus Cantwell and Liam Coughlan.
On the lower pitch, the second team was not to be outdone with a thoroughly satisfying display before running out deserving winners on a scoreline of 5-2 to 2-1. Among the players who particularly caught the eye were Brian Rafter in goals, Peter Smith and James Callanan in defence, Barry MacGabhann and Yassin Siegrest at mid-field and Owen Shearer, Nathan Slattery and Niall Bezeci in attack.
Others who were prominent included Oisin Murray and Stephen Tuite on the full-back line, Aran Murphy and Robert Kent at wing back as well as Mark Scanlon at mid-field. Even though most of the scoring was channelled through Nathan at full-forward, other attackers who showed flair included Hugh Mulligan, Sean Burns, Cian Coleman and Eoin Buggy.
Kilmacud Crokes (Lower Pitch):- Brian Rafter; Oisin Murray, Stephen Tuite, Peter Smith; Aran Murphy, James Callanan (1-0), Robert Kent; Mark Scanlon, Barry MacGabhann, Yassin Siegrest (0-1); Cian Coleman, Hugh Mulligan, Eoin Shearer; Niall Bezeci (1-0), Nathan Slattery (3-1), Sean Burns. Eoin Buggy.
Mentors:- Joe O’Connor, Joan Bezeci and Eamonn Murray