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Alvin Mitchell man of the match
Alvin Mitchell receives the man of the match from Tom Monaghan of Ocean
Hygiene supplies
James Conway takes the ball out of defence
John Callagy reacts first to this breaking ball
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Wonderful success for brilliant
Under 16 team in county final
Kilnadeema/Leitrim 2.15 Liam Mellows 1.11
Now and again a team comes along in a club
that will tick all the right boxes and hit all the right cords
and in 2008 Kilnadeema/Leitrim discovered such a team of Under 16
players who wanted to win a county title so badly after over ninety
training sessions and 20 competitive matches, both championship and
challenge, they came up trumps in a wonderful Under 16 B final against
Liam Mellows in Duggan Park, Ballinasloe on Saturday November 29th.With
both teams having remained undefeated all year in the championship, this
was always going to be a close contest and so it turned out to be for
long stages until Kilnadeema/Leitrim pulled away at the finish. Liam
Mellows opened the scoring with a point from play from Luke Williams
after one minute. With the game been played on a ice cold frosty pitch
the play was hectic right from the start. Dara Herlihy settled his team
down soon after with a pointed free. John O'Halloran soon replied for
Liam Mellows with a point, also from a free. Dara Herlihy operating at
corner forward levelled up the game again with a point from play after
five minutes. Dara, the team captain was really leading by example now
and soon shot his team into the lead for the first time with another
brilliant point from play to lead 0.03 to 0.02 after six minutes. The
Kilnadeema/Leitrim defence was coming under a lot of pressure early on
and it was Conor Fahy in particular who helped pulled the team together
time and again. Liam Mellows full forward Declan Forde was catching all
the high balls been delivered into to his area and soon won a penalty
for his team which he took himself and disappointingly for him and Liam
Mellows he struck the ball too high to register only a point as a goal
would have been a hugh lift for his side so early in the game. Alvin
Mitchell, who was to have a wonderful and influential game soon landed a
mighty point from play after he made on of his trade mark runs up the
field immediately after the penalty to put Kilnadeema/Leitrim back in
front. Liam Mellows were to suffer a big blow soon after when they lost
midfielder John O'Halloran through injury. Danny Bruen with a pointed
free levelled up the game again after 15 minutes. One of the scores of
the game followed soon after when Stephen Bruton won a great ball and
gave the perfect pass to Conor O'Brien who pointed from near the corner
flag. Kilnadeema/Leitrim were dominating in many area's now with both
Alvin Mitchell and Martin Costello putting in big performances at
midfield and it was Martin who shot the next point on 17 minutes to put
his side two points up. The game took a dramatic turn on 24 minutes
though when Declan Walsh scrambled home a very fortunate goal to put
Liam Mellows back in front 1.04 to 0.06. This put Kilnadeema/Leitrim
under some pressure again and the response was magic, when after missing
a few good goal scoring chances, Shane Lawless struck for a
brilliant goal which went high into the roof of the net to put
Kilnadeema/Leitrim back in front by two points. Dara Herlihy closed the
scoring for the first half with another point from play a minute later
to leave the scoreboard reading 1.07 to 1.04 at the break and with all
to play for. With a slight breeze to come and playing into the scoring
goals in the second half, Kilnadeema/Leitrim were now in with a great
chance or so we thought until the early stages of the second half came
which didn't go according to the script. Midfielder Dean Bruen quickly
got Liam Mellows rolling with a point from play, before Danny Bruen
closed the gap even further after 3 minutes with another point from
play. Dara Herlihy, who struck the post with an earlier free soon put
over a brilliant point from a free near the sideline. Danny Bruen did
likewise with a pointed free for Liam Mellows after 6 mins to leave just
one point between the sides, and Bruen was now really beginning to make
his mark on the game with two more points, one from play after 9 minutes
to put Liam Mellows back in front 1.09 to 1.08. Kilnadeema/Leitrim has
lost their shape all over the field and looked in real trouble, but we
should have known better, because if their is one thing about this team,
they never give up easily and almost immediately they found a new gear
with much more composure. Shane Lawless, who had his best game since
last years under 14 final struck over a brilliant equalising point. Five
minutes of play followed before Dara Herlihy shot over a 65 to restore
the lead for the east Galway side 1.10 to 1.09. Dara and Danny Bruen
then exchanged pointed free's after 18 minutes. Alvin Mitchell was
dominating the game at this stage and broke through for another
brilliant long range point after 19 minutes. Dara Herlihy with his eight
point soon had a goal between the sides. Any chance Liam Mellows had of
adding this years title to the one they won in 2007 was given a real
blow on 23 minutes when Dara Herlihy, who had just been moved to full
forward turned his man before sliding home the perfect goal past a
disappointed Ricky Elwood. It was now a six point game with the winning
line in sight. Alvin Mitchell crowned a mighty performance with another
point three minutes later to open up a seven point gap. Liam Mellows
best player, centre half back Sean Morrissey was moved forward at this
stage and he shot over a point a minute later. The final score of a
great game fell to Shane Lawless when he shot another brilliant point
right on the call of time to leave the final score reading a wonderful
Kilnadeema/Leitrim 2.15 Liam Mellows 1.11when referee Christy Helebert
blew for the end. What followed were scenes of unbridled joy as hundreds
of Kilnadeema/Leitrim fans made their way onto the pitch to greet their
heroes. This was a performance and result of such high quality which
will do wonders for Kilnadeema/leitrim hurling club, especially with the
talent now coming on stream. Their were many stars on the day. Conor
Cunningham had a easy day with very little to do and could do very
little about the goal conceded, the fullback line was steady all
through, especially when Niall McGinley switched into fullback with
Conal Whelan much happier in the corner where he dominated all through.
Colin Moran was equally solid in the other corner. The half back line
after a rocky start were brilliant all through with James Conway, Conor
Fahy and Stephen Farrell putting great performances. Midfield was the
real bedrock of the team with Alvin Mitchell and Martin Costello putting
mighty displays. The half forward line played really well and in Shane
Lawless had a real match winner. Niall Haverty and Conor O'Brien did
many good things all through with Conor's point a real highlight. Dara
Herlihy with one goal and eight points was super all through in both the
full and half forward lines. John Callagy and Stephen Bruton both set up
many chances for their team mates during the game. Also well done to all
the substitute's who contributed throughout the year. For Manager Joe
Keane and selectors Denis Callagy and Michael Flynn, this was a really
great team to have worked with and due reward all round at the end for
eight long months of hard work. The team and management wish to thank
their main sponsor Gerry Walsh of House n' Homes and also Joe Kenny
plastering and Peter Leahy Builder for their generous sponsorship of
togs and socks. Roll on next year.
Scorers: Dara Herlihy 1.08, Shane Lawless 1.02, Alvin Mitchell 0.03,
Martin Costello 0.01, Conor O'Brien 0.01.
Team Lineout: Conor Cunningham, Niall McGinley,
Conal Whelan, Colin Moran, James Conway, Conor Fahy, Stephen Farrell,
Alvin Mitchell, Martin Costello, Conor O'Brien, Niall Haverty, Shane
Lawless, Steven Bruton, John Callagy, Dara Herlihy.
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