Moyne Templetuohy     2-03

Ballylooby Castlegrace 3-09

By Mark Dunne PRO

A strong first half display was enough to see Ballylooby Castlegrace crowned County U12B Football Champions. However the Moyne Templetuohy players can be extremely proud of their efforts, not many players in the parish can say the played in a County Final, I most certainly cannot.

Aided by whatever breeze was present Ballylooby Castlegrace launched the first attack. Midfielder Chris O’Donnell who later proved to be quite handful soloed through the Moyne Templetuohy defence only to be halted by the hard working Liam Ryan assisted by Danny Moore. The first counter attack saw Diarmuid Campion go straight through on goal only to shoot narrowly wide. The resultant kick out saw Jake Bowe set up Diarmuid Campion who again shot for a point only for the umpire to controversially wave it wide. Diarmuid however was presented with a second chance moment later and made no mistake assuring the umpire of the validity of the score. The aforementioned Chris O’Donnell was then fouled with Ballylooby getting their first score of the encounter. David Doyle, Aaron McLoughlin and Helen Cleere worked hard around the middle of the park to move the ball forwards but the size and strength of the Ballylooby Castlegrace players caused difficulty and as a result they got the next two scores to leave the score board reading after six minutes Moyne Templetuohy 0-01 Ballylooby Castlegrace 0-03. Moyne Templetuohy were made to work hard for their scores but Bill Brolan was causing them issues. A short free that could have been pointed went astray but Cathal Guilfoyle then skilfully passed the ball across the field to the waiting arms of Campion who pointed to narrow the gap to one with nine minutes left in the half. Similar to his performance in the semi-final goalkeeper Cormac Kiely made a terrific save to deny Ballylooby Castlegrace a certain goal. Moyne Templetuohy from the save moved the ball quickly goal ward and Bill Brolan for the second time this evening was hauled to the ground. The resultant free saw Diarmuid Campion narrowly shoot wide, a score that would have drawn the teams level. Ballylooby Castlegrace got the next two scores in a dominant spell. Joint Captains Helen Cleere and Ava Ryan though worked tirelessly all evening and Helen Cleere redeemed herself following an early miss to bring two points between the teams with the half almost upon us. Ballylooby managed another score to send the teams in at the break three points adrift, 0-06 to 0-03. The game still very much in the melting pot.

Ballylooby Castlegrace once again started the strongest. Attack after attack the Moyne Templetuohy defence held strong with Liam Ryan, substitute Mark Fox, and Helen Cleere clearing the ball on numerous occasions. In the eight minute the game was blown wide open, a long ball from the Moyne Templetuohy defence made its way to Bill Brolan who as cool as you like netted to draw the teams level. Moyne Templetuohy now had their tails up; a terrific ball in over the top of the Ballylooby Castlegrace defence by Diarmuid Campion nearly found its way to the arms of Bill Brolan only for it to go just out of reach. Substitute Martin Cleere was making life difficult for the Ballylooby defence but in a break against the run of play Ballylooby netted to extend their lead to three points once again. Moyne responded well in the next attack and were rewarded with a free, which once again went short. Ballylooby now were in control and netted once again in the 35th minute to put six between the teams. However Moyne Templetuohy never gave up Martin Cleere, Cathal Guilfoyle and Diarmuid Campion trying their hardest to score and in the 37th minute were rewarded when once again Bill Brolan netted to reduce the gap to four, 2-07 to 2-03 with about 3 minutes to play. However this was as close as they were to come, Ballylooby tagged on two more points and a goal to leave the final score reading Moyne Templetuohy 3-09 Ballylooby Castlegrace 2-03.

Disappointment was evident on the player’s faces; however they have nothing to be disappointed about. Similar to the semi final, this was a team effort, where everyone from number one to number fifteen contributed to the game. Cormac Kiely made some terrific saves that would not be seen in Croke Park. A strong defence led by Liam Ryan and Helen Cleere assisted a well abled attack led by Diarmuid Campion and Bill Brolan that were just not able to overcome the more physical and bigger Ballylooby Castlegrace side. Huge thanks to their mentors Martin Ryan, Tom Guilfoyle, PJ Sweeney, Pakie Bowe and Rosie Cleere who gave up their time to train this fantastic team. County honours are not far away for this team and hopefully this form continues into the hurling championship which begins shortly.

Team: Cormac Kiely, Danny Moore, Liam Ryan, Aaron McLoughlin, David Doyle, Helen Cleere, Jake Bowe, Cathal Guilfoyle, Ava Ryan, Bill Brolan, Diarmuid Campion. Subs used: Mark Fox for Aaron McLoughlin (HT), Martin Cleere for Ava Ryan (HT).