Round Tower 6-9
Scoil Ui Chonaill B 2-11
Pictures can be viewed here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roundtowers/sets/72157629940617384/
Three goals in the space of two minutes turned this Under 16D Shield semi-final in favour of the home side and they will now compete for silverware.
With Towers trailing by a goal with eight minutes remaining, Towers half-forward Richie McGeever won a David Delaney free inside the box and after being hauled to the ground, it was Delaney who stepped forward to finish the penalty to the roof of the net and give the visiting keeper no chance and bring the sides level. From the resulting kick out, Cian Ryan won possession and his high ball into the box deceived the keeper to edge the home side ahead by three points. The momentum was now with the home side and it was another long range effort from Luke Byrne that put the icing on the cake when his strike found the roof of the net. This was the final score of the game and saw Towers win out 6-9 to 2-11.
It was Towers midfielder Conor Fleming who opened the scoring for both sides when he turned sharply to point from 30 metres and McGeever cancelled out a Scoil equaliser to move Towers two points to one ahead. Padraic Fitzpatrick then made two important blocks to prevent the visitors from finding the back of the net. An excellent point from half back Cian Ryan was one of the scores of the half and it preceded the first goal of the game from Thomas Galvin, when a ball across the box found its way to him and he finished soccer-style, by stroking the ball into the back of the net. Towers next score was another goal and this time Galvin was the provider, when his high back into the box found its way to Adam Clarke who finished to the roof of the net from the edge of the square. This left Towers 2-2 v 0-4 to the good and McGeever and Ryan again left their mark on this semi-final when they pointed before half-time. Scoil reduced the deficit before half-time when they found the back of the net and then scored two quick points to leave just a point in it at the break 2-4 v 1-6.
Within five minutes of the restart the visitors were three points ahead, following an early point and a goal when Towers full-back Jordan Walsh did well but could not prevent the breaking ball being finished to the back of the net. Aaron Whelan scored a superb point from out near the sideline, after excellent work by Stephen Bracken and David Delaney scored the first of his goals when a free he won and took from the half-forward line was only palmed to the roof of the net by the visiting keeper. Byrne and Delaney pointed again before Towers went on their late goal scoring spree to secure a comprehensive victory.
Round Tower: Dara Delaney, Darren Hanlon, Jordan Walsh, Ciaran Ryan, Adam Clarke, Tomas Ankers, Richard McGeever, Padraic Fitzpatrick, Conor Fleming, David Delaney, Aaron Whelan, Thomas Galvin, Luke Byrne, Stephen Gray, Stephen Bracken
