U12 Hurling V Naomh Eanna, Gorey 8/3/09
The U12 As and Bs went on their first road trip of the year with a short spin down the N11 to Naomh Eanna in Gorey at lunchtime on Sunday. In a well contested 'A' match Crokes led by 1-3 to 0-1 at half time. Alex Considine opened the scoring from a free after Johnny Maher was fouled. Cathal Keane popped over a great score from near the sideline before Gorey opened their account with a fine score from play. The important score of the half came as a result of some great work by Chris Kealy, who hooked the Gorey keeper as he tried to clear his lines. The half clearance was grabbed by Johnny Maher who neatly put Alex through for a fine finish. Cathal Keane added another nice score from the opposite side to leave 5 points between the teams at the break.
In the second half Crokes turned to face the wind and thanks to great defending by all 15 players kept Gorey's scoring chances to a minimum. Callum Pearson kept a dangerous looking full forward scoreless throughout, Fiachra Tucker cleared balls up the right wing all day, while Darragh Butler was his usual solid self at centre back. Stevie O'Dwyer and Fergal Whitely were busy for the hour at mid-field and Johnny Maher and Eoin Sheehy did a solid job moving ball into the full forward line. Gorey brought the margin back to a point with a well finished goal with 10 minutes remaining. It had to be a good strike to beat the ever improving Cillian Fleming in goal, and it was. Cathal Keane and Alex Considine, who chipped in with another free and two outstanding late points from play, were dangerous throughout and Adam Tuck and Chris Kealy battled well. Tom Fox was solid at number 2 while Fiachra O'Connor and Killian Lannigan snuffed out most of Gorey's attacks down the right.
Team: Cillian Fleming, Tom Fox, Callum Pearson, Fiachra O'Connor, Fiachra Tucker, Darragh Butler, Killian Lannigan, Feargal Whitely, Stevie O'Dwyer, Johnny Maher, Alex Considine, Eoin Sheehy, Adam Tuck, Cathal Keane, Chris Kealy.
In the B game Crokes had a facile win, putting 10 goals past the hosts. Tom Bruen, Stephen Crossan, Aidan Healy and Joey Dalton were most impressive up front while Martin Connor and Oisin Doherty were rock solid in defence.
Team: Bryan Cooke, Tom Bruen, Martin Connor, Conn O'Cleirigh, Joe Leddy, Oisin Doherty, Mattie Hogan, Aidan Healy, John Maher, Seam Gorman, Oisin Dowling, Jean De Baillencourt, Joey Dalton, Stephen Crossan, Conor Walsh, Khalil Siegrist, Ciaran Hennessy.
A good start to a busy season ahead.