50 point defeat for Moycullen in opening Under 16 championship game as Dara Herlihy gives wonderful display

Kilnadeema/Leitrim 14.15 Moycullen 1.04

Kilnadeema/Leitrim Under 16 team started off their 2008 campaign on a wet and windy evening in Ballyloughane on Monday June 30th against Moycullen. This turned out to be one of the greatest miss matches of all time as Kilnadeema/Leitrim cruised to a facial fifty point victory over very poor opposition who were missing a few players. This was the evening when Dara Herlihy really came of age as he gave a super display at full forward scoring a massive 8 goals and 6 points. Kilnadeema/Leitrim elected to play against a very strong breeze in the first half and were soon into the scoring rhythm as Dara Herlihy ghosted past the defence for the opening score, a goal after 3 mins. Dara, who was laying down a marker very early on soon added another goal when he crashed home after a great run. Moycullen responded with a point from play from Luke Bohan on 12 minutes. Three minutes later Dara was at it again as he ran at the Moycullen defence again before scoring his third goal. Conor Cunningham then made a great save when Moycullen looked like they were in for a goal of their own. A minute later a fourth goal for Kilnadeema/leitrim arrived, again from the team captain Dara Herlihy. Stephen Bruton then scored a brilliant point from play before Seamus Conneely shot over a free for Moycullen. Four minutes from half time midfielder Alvin Mitchell treaded through a great ball to Dara and goal number five was soon recorded. Dara then pointed twice, one from play before John Callagy closed the scoring in the first half with a sixth goal for the team to leave the half time position 6.03 to 0.02 with the breeze still to come. While many would have thought that Kilnadeema/leitrim would take it easy in the second half, this was far from the case even with five substitutes introduced. Moycullen were first to score when Luke Bohan scored from play. Dara Herlihy soon replayed with  a point from play and added another soon after. Brian Bohan then shot a pointed free for Moycullen before Dara took off again with two quick fire goals on 5 and 7 mins. Shane Lawless, who had a quiet first half now took off and shot a goal and a point by the tenth minute. Dara then added another point from play . With the substitutes now on, it was obvious they wanted to lay down a marker too as the drove at the Moycullen defence time and time again. Alvin Mitchell with a goal and points from Martin Costello , a 65 and Shane Lawless stretched the lead even further. Moycullen finally got in for a goal when Michael Lawlor scored on 16 mins. A minute later Shane Lawless did likewise and repeated the act a minute later with another goal. Wing back James Conway, who was brilliant all through then shot over a point before substitute Brian Molloy took over with two goals and a point within a minute. Another sub Ryan Murray did equally well with two points from play before fittingly the final score of the evening fell to Dara Herlihy who finished off with another goal to leave a depleted Moycullen beaten on  a final scoreline of 14.15 to 1.04. To say this was embarrassing would be a under statement as the gap between the teams was extreme. The result will do no good to either side.

Scorers: Dara Herlihy 8.06, Shane Lawless 3.03, Brian Molloy 2.01, John Callagy 1.00, Alvin Mitchell 1.00, Ryan Murray 0.02, Stephen Bruton 0.01, Martin Costello 0.01, James Conway 0.01.

Team Lineout: Conor Cunningham, Niall McGinley, Conal Whelan, Stephen Farrell, James Conway, Martin Costello, Colin Moran, Alvin Mitchell, Conor O'Brien, John Callagy, Niall Haverty, Shane Lawless, Stephen Bruton, Dara Herlihy, Cillian Dowling.
Subs used: Ryan Murray, Brian Molloy, Dara O'Donoghue, Tony Molloy, Conor Howard.


Alvin Mitchell in full flow against Moycullen
 

Dara Herlihy attacks Moycullen one  more time