Eglish Under-14s make history

Eglish 3-11Galbally 0-5

EGLISH made history at Coney Park in Ardboe on Saturday afternoon when they became the first Under-14 side from the club to win a Grade One title when they proved too strong for a gallant Galbally side in the Championship decider.

The final scoreline doesn’t do justice to a Galbally side who only trailed by three points by the 40^th minute. Gradually though the bigger St.Patricks side took a grip on proceedings to dominate the final quarter to deservedly take the silverware.

The winners had strong performances from Cian Byrne, Brian Og McGuckin, Michael McElvaney, Joe Mackin and team Captain Matthew Daly at centre half back while Patrick Hackett, Ronan Ferguson, Patrick Jordan, Neil McElroy and Marcus McLoughlin were among Galbally’s best performers on the day.

It was Joe Mackin who opened the scoring for the winners when he got on the end of a long pass from Eoghan Devlin to fist over before Tiernan Corrigan levelled matters from a free. That score in the 6^th minute proved to be Galbally’s only of the first half as they missed a number of chances with six wides and three efforts dropping short into the arms of Eglish keeper Conan McGuckin.

A strong run from Brian Og McGuckin saw him give Eglish a lead that they were never to lose and straight from the kick out midfielder Matthew Daly put two between the sides. Eglish were unlucky to hit the woodwork twice in the first half while at the other end of the field keeper McGuckin saved from Corrigan. S the interval approached Mackin and Daly both registered to leave it 0-5 to 0-1 at the short whistle.

Eglish almost enjoyed a dream start to the second half when team Captain Matthew Daly won possession from the throw in and exchanged passes with McGuckin before cracking a shot off the crossbar which was an early warning sign for Galbally.

A quick free from Finbarr Quinn found Corrigan who returned the ball to Quinn for a well worked score as the Pearses opened the second half scoring but in the next attack McGuckin cancelled that out at the other end of the field following a strong run.

In the 35^th minute a well worked move involving Odhran McGeary, Patrick Jordan and Neil McElroy resulted in a point for Corrigan and with the scoreboard reading 0-6 to 0-3 it was all to play for. Eglish then almost got in for a goal but for a superb block by Galbally full back Patrick Hackett.

In the 42^nd minute Eglish struck for a brilliant goal and they never looked back. Michael McElvaney took a superb catch in his own square and he started a move that he was twice more involved in before taking a pass from Ryan Gildernew to smash an unstoppable shot to the roof of the net. It really was an outstanding goal and while Galbally replied with a Joseph Moylan point you could see that the young St.Patricks now had their tails up.

A strong run from centre half back Daly saw him fist a point and by the end of the third quarter the gap was seven after a fine long range effort from McGuckin. Galbally badly needed a goal but the major came from Eglish in the 50^th minute to effectively win the game with McGuckin trading passes with Mackin to finish low to the bottom left hand corner of the net. Sixty seconds later Mackin added a third goal as Eglish really began to turn the screw.

To their credit Galbally kept battling away with Corrigan converting a free but it was Eglish’s day and they closed the game out with points from Gildernew and centre half back Daly.

The Scorers

Eglish

Brian Og McGuckin 1-4, Joe Mackin 1-2, Michael McElvaney 1-0, Matthew Daly (no 8) 0-2, Matthew Daly (no 6) 0-2, Ryan Gildernew 0-1

Galbally

Tiernan Corrigan 0-3 (2F), Finbarr Quinn 0-1, Joseph Moylan 0-1

The Teams

Eglish

Conan McGuckin, Ben McElvaney, Cian Byrne, Charlie McKenna, Tom Hegarty, Matthew Daly, Eoghan Devlin, Matthew Daly, Ethan Gildernew, Senan Donnelly, Brian Og McGuckin, Daithi Corrigan, Michael McElvaney, Ryan Gildernew, Joe Mackin. Subs: Olcan Daly for Donnelly, Conan Daly for Corrigan, Jayden Flatley for Mackin, Joel Marrion for Ryan Gildernew, James McCormack for Hegarty

Galbally

Paidi Hetherington, Ciaran Mullin, Patrick Hackett, Ronan Ferguson, Niall O’Donnell, Marcus McLoughlin, Conor Hamill, Odhran McGeary, Patrick Jordan, Jaiden Dorman, Tiernan Corrigan, Neil McElroy, Fintan McVeigh, Joseph Moylan, Finbarr Quinn. Subs: Dara McVeigh for Fintan McVeigh, Ciaran McCloskey for O’Donnell, Caolan Vincent for Hamill, Finn Cassidy for Dorman, Ciaran McDonald for McElroy

Referee: Justin McKenna, Dungannon