Division 3 Féile Final: Whitehall Colmcille 2-7 v Round Tower 0-10, O’Toole Park, Sunday 5th May 2019
A gallant effort from our Under 14’s just fell short in their Division 3 Féile Football Final against Whitehall Colmcille’s, writes Mick McGlynn. Tower’s arrived to the O’Toole Park final on Sunday having comprehensively defeated St Brigid’s, Naomh Barróg and Fingallians in the group stages. The boys from the northside registered the first score of the game but Towers levelled three minutes later when Ben Casey and Mark Donnan exchanged passes to release Tadg Higgins to clip over. Whitehall responded by enjoying the better of the exchanges for a ten minute period. Keeper Aaron Leahy pulled off a point blank save from close range but he’d a subsequent clearance blocked and finished to the net by the Whitehall number 12. Towers were trailing 1-2 v 0-1 but responded brilliantly to the goal. Rory Broderick fielded and carried 40 yards before striking over with his left. A cleverly worked 45 led to Craig Moore narrowing the gap to two. And from the resulting kick-out he fielded well and drove forward to cut the deficit to the minimum. And before the break excellent pressure on the Whitehall keeper by Bailey Lawler led to a free inside that Lawler kicked to draw the sides level for the break.
And Towers continued with the momentum into the second period. Ben Casey came forward from midfield to kick an outstanding score from the right within a minute of the restart. He was then on the end of a good inside pass from Higgins and the foul on him was converted by Lawler. The Whitehall keeper was then forced into a decent save when Craig Doherty struck for goal on the turn. Whitehall responded and brought the deficit back to one before they struck with their second sucker punch. A good move up the left led to a strike to the net that left Leahy with no chance. Towers picked themselves up and Higgins was unfortunate when his poked effort for a goal went straight at the keeper. Broderick, Moore and Lawler then combined and the high strike from the latter was parried by the keeper and resulted in a Towers penalty. Lawler stepped up but his strike to the keepers left was brilliantly saved. Whitehall punished with a point from the resulting break to leave them three clear with ten remaining. An excellent win by Moore led to Doherty striking over from the 40. But crucially Whitehall were capable of responding and struck two points in quick succession. Towers continued to push for parity. Casey poked forward to release Doherty up the left and he kicked an outstanding score not far removed from the touchline. Whitehall’s seventh point left the deficit at four – 2-7 v -0-9. Towers lads continued to push. Lawler’s strike for goal was parried away, Higgins had a strike blocked and Doherty’s high ball into the box failed to break to a Towers forward. Donnann tapped over a free into injury time to leave the margin a goal. There was one last push. Moore released Lawler up the right. He jinked inside and lobbed towards the Whitehall box. Fists went up but it fell to Whitehall to clear and it signalled the end of the lads push for Féile glory. They can hold their heads high after a fantastic effort and losing to a strong Whitehall side.
Round Tower: Aaron Leahy, Daire Flavin, Calum Hodgins, Lee Tomney, Euan Boyle, Daithí Billings, David Walsh, Ben Casey, Rory Broderick, Ben Norman, Craig Moore, Craig Doherty, Donnacha Desmond, Bailey Lawler, Seanan Kavanagh, Eoin Martin, Charlie Kennedy, Matthew Broderick, Mark Donnan, Padraig Downey, Tadg Higgins.
