Class display by Under 16 team sees them record easy victory over Cappatagle in quarter final replay

Kilnadeema/Leitrim 2.17 Cappatagle 1.05

What a difference a week makes in the wonderful world of the GAA as a completely reformed Kilnadeema/Leitrim Under 16 team turned up for the quarter final replay with Cappatagle in Mullagh on Sunday October 5th. Last week the team could consider themselves very lucky to survive as Cappatagle held all the aces against a very under performing Kilnadeema/Leitrim side. This time all the team showed tremendous skill, touch, vision and had the ability to put Cappatagle under severe pressure all during the game, an intensity which was missing the previous week. The team lined out with star forward Dara Herlihy positioned at corner forward and Martin Costello at full forward which gave the team great scoring potential. Shane Lawless who was outstanding all through opened the scoring after a minute with a lovely point from play. Dara Herlihy soon doubled this lead with a point from a free. Darragh Dolan who was brilliant for Cappatagle last week opened his sides account two minutes later with a pointed free after he was upended himself and he repeated it a minute later with a second free. Dara Herlihy added his first point from play a few minutes later to put his side back in front before the first big breakthrough came half way through the first half when centre forward Niall Haverty got on the end of a high ball to crash home a great goal. Dara soon added two more pointed free's with a second point from play from Shane Lawless sandwiched in between to open up a seven point lead. The game would have been as good as over soon after if a goal scored by John Callagy was not disallowed for a square ball. This incident drove the team on even more and they added three more points before the break, first when Dara Herlihy scored his second from play and added another a minute later. This was followed by one of the points of the day when one of the best players on the pitch Alvin Mitchell at midfield caped a great first half performance with a long range point from play to leave the half time score reading 1.09 to 0.02 and a long way back for Cappatagle. The team came out for the second half and continued where they had left off leaving Cappatagle on the back foot straight away. Dara Herlihy started it off with another point from a free before Alvin Mitchell scored a wonderful point after a run up along the sideline. I suppose when things are going well scores seem to come easier and certainly the teams second  goal was just that as a Dara Herlihy free which was miss hit from 35 yrds out flew into the bottom corner of the net and was certainly game over at this stage with only 5 mins played in the second half 2.11 to 0.02. We then had free's swopted by the two Dara's by the tenth minute. Dara Herlihy continued to pile on the agony on Cappatagle with two more points from close in free's by the midway point of the second half. Darragh Dolan, like last week showed how good he really is for a thirteen year old when he got the next two scores, one from play. Kilnadeema/Leitrim with a job well done decided to introduce all five substitutes allowed and all contributed well. Straight away Cillian Dowling pointed from play. Alvin Mitchell pointed his third from a free on 25 mins before Brian Molloy took over the free taking from Dara who had by now taken a break and duely added to the score board. In fairness to Cappatagle they never through in the towel and finished on a high when Larry Dolan got through the Kilnadeema/Leitrim defence for a good goal. The final whistle sounded soon after from Referee Tom Lambert with a final scoreline of 2.17 to 1.05. This was a brilliant and compelling victory for this team and certainly pleased a very large Kilnadeema/Leitrim support. It was not just a day when a few stars shone either as this was a complete team performance from one to fifteen and the substitutes who were used with players like Niall McGinley, Conal Whelan and Colin Moran very sound in the full back line. The half back line dominated all through with Conor Fahy outstanding at centre half back. He was ably assisted by James Conway and Stephen Farrell. Conor O'Brien really upped his performance at midfield which was a big help to the brilliant Alvin Mitchell. The forwards all had their moments with unsung heroes like Stephen Bruton, John Callagy and Niall Haverty really upping their performances to make life much easier for Dara, Shane and new full forward Martin Costello. The team must now re focus for the semi final against Killimordaly with a big final place up for grabs.

Scorers: Dara Herlihy 1.10, Alvin Mitchell 0.03, Niall Haverty 1.00, Shane Lawless 0.02, Cillian Dowling 0.01, Brain Molloy 0.01.

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

Shane Lawless and Niall Haverty dominating their area against Cappatagle