MINOR HURLING
Minors Vs Kilclief, 21/04/08
7pm throw in, Moygannon; Referee B.Cousins.
Team: 1) Conleth Conway; 2) Matthew Teague; 3)Colin O’Hare: 4) Declan O’Neill; 5) Mark Rafferty; 6) Chris Teague; 7) Mark Murtagh; 8) Jason Gray; 9) Ian Todd; 10) Blaine Murphy; 11) Miceal Cunningham; 12) Thomas O’Hare.
In a well contested match Warrenpoint emerged victorious but the final scoreline was harsh on the North Down visitors whose player’s commitment and attitude deserved more.
Due to player numbers both team started the match with 11 and Kilclief had the early run of the game, scoring 2 points in the first 10 minutes but which also saw them miss 3 good chances. However it was 4 goals in the first 15 minutes, including 3 from Ian Todd that gave the home team a lead they did not lose. By the end of the first half both teams had added to the tallies leaving it 5-5 to 0-4 in favour of the home side.
The second half saw both teams use their last players going up to 12-a-side; this meant the introduction of Thomas O’Hare for Warrenpoint. It was the visitors who started the stronger showing a determination and fortitude that surely earned the respect of all who where there to watch the match. Unfortunately Kilclief failed to convert this into scores and Warrenpoint rallied thanks to scores from Matthew Teague, Jason Gray and Miceal Cunningham to run out winners.
While the scorers input to the outcome is easier to recogonise the work of the mid field and half back line was vital in obtaining the ‘Point’s first win of this campaign. The work rate and dogged determination of Mark Murtagh was an example for all and the performance of Declan O’Neill in containing Kilclief’s most dangerous player was what allowed the front men the freedom to score.
This first win and second good outing of the year for the small Warrenpoint Minor panel is the positive start to the season that the Management had hoped for and combined with new sponsorship from Moffett Engineering, Dundalk is a good omen for the upcoming season.
Scores: Miceal Cunningham 2-4, Ian Todd 3-1, Matthew Teague 2-3, Chris Teague 1-0, Jason Gray 0-1.
Man of the Match: Ian Todd snuck this honour from Mark Murtagh only on the strength of his scores as both worked hard for their team.
Bredagh teach the Point a lesson
On Easter Monday Warrenpoint Minor Hurlers travelled to play their 1st league outing of the 2008 season away to Bredagh in wind swept Cherryvale, Belfast. Warrenpoint were in the precarious position for this match of having only 7 registered minor hurlers available but with a sprinkling of talented U16’s the management were hopeful that our impressive run of results against Bredagh at minor level would continue. This hope would prove to be just wide of the mark as Bredagh are a side of talented hurlers and truth be told they were the stronger team all over the field.
Warrenpoint will not thank the contribution the conditions played in what was a shaky start to say the least, as a combination of defensive and goal keeping errors and some fine interchanging play by Bredagh’s half forward and full forward lead to Bredagh racing into a 2.3 to 0.1 lead. Miceal Cunningham registering Warrenpoint’s sole score in the opening quarter. After a dreadful start Warrenpoint finally began to get into some rhythm with Matthew Teague and Mark Murtagh coming more into the game, this inspired a spirited rally by Warrenpoint as we landed the next 3 points through the lively Jason Grey and M Teague. The revival was short lived however as Bredagh’s McAfee struck with a well worked goal just before half time.
Warrenpoint started the second half with an 8 point deficit to claw back but this wouldn’t stop the team from giving it 100%. A switch of M Fegan into his more usual goal keeping position with C Teague into unfamiliar territory as full forward brought a more balanced look to the team.
The 2nd half proved to be a much better performance from Warrenpoint with improved performances from every single player, in particular M. Cunningham and M Teague who linked up time and time again to cause the Bredagh defence continuous headaches during the remaining 30 minutes.
With the bulk of the damage already done it was always going to be an uphill battle for us but to their credit the payers never gave up.
This half it was our turn to make the better start and M Teague and M Cunningham shared the 1st 3 points to give us a glimmer of hope but Bredagh to their credit never allowed us any closer than 5 points and tagged on 4 points of their own cut in the middle by another soft goal. Next followed the highlight of the 2nd half from a Warrenpoint point of view when C Teague attempted to make amends for his 1st half goal keeping performance. He closed the margin to 7 points when he got on the end of a flowing move that started with our goalkeeper and ended with Chris rounding his marker to stick away a well taken goal. Just then we thought we could get back into the game with Chris nailed on to score his 2nd goal but he forgot to strike the slithor after rounding his marker and left with only the keeper to beat! This left brother Matthew crying at Chris to leave the scoring to him! An incident Chris’s team mates will not let him forget in a hurry. After this Matthew decided to take over as he struck 2 points to end the game with a personal tally of 0.6. Bredagh scored 1.2 during the same time to leave the final score 5.9 to 1.9 in the hosts favour.
Surprisingly for a team beaten by 12 points our defence, led by Mark Rafferty and Ian Todd, had a solid performance against strong opponents and will be happy with their performance, minus of course the soft goals which we conceded. But goals win games and that is the reason Bredagh ran out comfortable winners on a score line 5.9 to 1.9
Thanks must go to our U16 players that assisted in this spirited performance, their help was greatly appreciated and will not only benefit the minors all season but surely benefit the U16’s as they play at a more competitive level.
Team: Miceal Cunningham (0.2), Michael Fegan, Chris Teague, Daniel Taylor, Colin O Hare, Matthew Teague (0.6), Mark Rafferty, Ian Todd, Mark Murtagh, Blain Murphy, Declan O Neill, Jason Grey (0.1).
FINAL SCORE: Warrenpoint 1.9 Bredagh 5.9
To see any minor match reports from 2007 click here
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