Eoghan Ruadh hurlers land U16 Championship title

Eoghan Ruadh, Dungannon 2-14  Éire Óg, Carrickmore 0-9

A POWERFUL second-half display saw Eoghan Ruadh hurlers clinch the Grade One U16 Championship with something to spare against the Éire Ógs on a bitterly cold evening at Garvaghey last Wednesday.

The Éire Ógs had come up trumps in their league final encounter just a week prior, but Eoghan Ruadh were determined to avenge that defeat and they pulled away in the second-half of a high quality encounter between two spirited sides.

There were a number of exceptional individual performances on the evening, but special mention must go to Eoghan Ruadh corner-forward Sean Og O’Donnell who struck seven points from play, including a number of sensational efforts from unforgiving angles.

But the game’s most memorable moment was a second-half goal from his colleague Cormac McErlean, volleying an unstoppable effort to the net to open up a seven-point cushion that the Dungannon team never looked like relinquishing.

The Éire Ógs can be fiercely proud of their efforts with many of their dual performers taking to the field again in yesterday’s Paul McGirr Ulster U16 Football Championship quarter-final encounter against Cavan side Denn.

They’ve had some season but last Wednesday evening belonged to a tenacious Eoghan Ruadh side that moved into the ascendancy after the interval.

Carmen looked strong in the opening exchanges with scores from Padraig McCrystal and Sean Donnelly, though Eoghan Ruadh responded with a scrappy goal bundled home in the eighth minute.

Éire Óg corner-foward Rory Woods was in top form, scoring two excellent points from play in the first-half, while Sean Donnelly was also proving a handful for the opposition defence.

But Eoghan Ruadh were growing in confidence with Sean Og O’Donnell proving almost impossible to handle and there was nothing to separate the teams at half-time with the scoreboard reading 1-5 to 0-8.

It was anybody’s game but Eoghan Ruadh assumed control of the middle sector after the break and they rattled off score-after-score in the third quarter including a superb goal from Cormac McErlean.

The Éire Ógs didn’t throw in the towel and almost got a badly needed goal of their own when Sean Donnelly’s free cracked off the crossbar, but Eoghan Ruadh finished the game strongly with further points from Odhran Mullin, Padraig Dolan and the game’s outstanding performer Sean Og O’Donnell.

Scorers
Eoghan Ruadh:Sean Og O’Donnell (0-7), Cormac McErlean (1-5, 5f), Daire Fay, Odhran Mullin, Padraig Dolan (0-1 each)
Éire Óg: Rory Woods (0-5, 3f), Sean Donnelly (0-3), Padraig McCrystal (0-1)

Teams
Eoghan Ruadh: Conal Devlin, Brandan Hughes, Matthew Price, Dara McIntosh, Jamie Corr, Daire Fay, Jude Rafferty, Odhran Mullin, Christopher Gildernew, Padraig Dolan, Aydin Taggart, Cormac McErlean, Charlie McKenna, Conor Donaghy, Sean Og O’Donnell

Éire Óg: Conor McPhillips, Ruairi Daly, Oisin Conlan, Rian Martin, Cal McAleer, Caolan Grimes, Tadhg Clarke, Michael McCallan, Padraig McCrystal, Tarlach Tracey, Sean Donnelly, Eoghan Loughran, Phelim McCrory, Caolan Fox, Rory Woods. Subs: Fionnan Magill for Tracey, Ruairi McElduff for McCrystal