Cumann Pheadaír Naofa travelled to Carryduff on Saturday and some superb hurling saw them reach the quarterfinal stages of the cup tournament. The first group game saw the blues impressively beating Gort na Mona with Cumann Pheadaír Naofas Oisín McGivern scoring two important goals for the blues as Ruairí McIntyre and Oran Murney seemed to be able to score at will.
In the second group game Cumann Pheadaír Naofa came up against eventual group winners St John’s, a tight first half saw the teams level at half time and two goals within a minute saw the Belfast side over the line by two points. The last group game saw Carryduff 1 match the blues tight direct style of play, but a vital Tiernan Trainor goal was enough to see Warrenpoint finish in second place in the group.
In the quarterfinal the blues were drawn against Brid Og, a talented side who had swept through their group with ease, beating St Galls, St Pats & Bredagh 2. The opening two minutes saw Warrenpoint take the lead through a Ruairí McIntyre strike followed by another from Darragh Austin. Brid Og struck back with a point as the half drew to a close with the blues up 0-3 to 0-1.
The second half was a real thriller of a game as the sliotar travelled from end to end with both teams unlucky to score. Jarlath Donnelly pulled off a diving save to keep the blues lead intact, whilst both Austin and McIntyre were unfortunate to see their efforts drift just wide of the post. Disaster struck when Brid Og, with the next possession broke free of the close attentions of Connaire McMahon and Sean Crawford to plunder a goal and see them take a one-point lead. In the dying seconds of the game Mark Campbell, under extreme pressure gathered possession and struck the sliotar, high and true toward the Brid Og goal, but as the sliotar was still travelling the final whistle sounded, much to the horror of the blues players as they saw that the sliotar had indeed landed over the bar to level the game. But it was not to be as the ref had decided that it was Brid Og who would reach the semifinals.
A fantastic day for the young hurlers as they represented the blue jersey with pride and passion!
