Round Towers 1-13 (16) v Ballyboden St Enda’s 2-8 (14)
Division 3. Report by Barry Gavin
On Saturday the 5th of March, Round Towers under 16 footballers travelled to Ballycullen to play Ballyboden/St.Endas in their third league game of the year. This was a big game for the Towers boys as they had not beaten Ballyboden in three years. Towers lost the toss and played with the wind in the first half. They started very well with the midfield pairing of Sean McKeon and Joey Murphy winning a lot of ball and supplying it to the full forward line. Towers went into an early lead with a good move down the left hand side with Davy McCarthy and Adam Clarke supplying the first point of the game for Gary Quinlivan. Towers built on this early score and points from Alan Gavin and Joey Murphy giving them an early four point lead. The game was not all one way and Ballyboden started to get a grip on the game hit back with goal and two points to put them ahead for the first time. The Towers defence stayed focused on their task and Sean Flynn and Dylan McCarthy combined well to keep the opposition at bay. With Craig Carroll working tirelessly down the right wing and full forward Micheal Walsh creating inside space it was only a matter of time before Towers increased their lead, and Joey Murphy and Alan Gavin slotted the ball over the bar on a number of occasions to send the teams into the break on level score on a score line of 1-4 to 0-7.
Towers had it all to do in the second half playing against the wind but they got the ideal start, as straight from the throw in, Michael Cleary and Micheal Walsh linked up well together to set up Gary Quinlivan who finished well to the back of the Boden net. Towers quickly added another point from Joey Murphy to go into a four point lead. The Towers players worked tirelessly in the second half, working hard to move the ball up the field and were unlucky on a number of occasions not to increase their early lead. The half back line of Daniel Glanville, Michael Cleary and Aaron Soady swept up a lot of the breaking ball and gave a good supply of ball to the inside line. Boden did not lie down under the Towers pressure and they adopted the long ball tactic in an effort to open up the Towers defence. The full back line led by Andrew Pollard were rock solid in keeping the Boden attack at bay and when the opposition forwards did penetrate the Towers defence, goalkeeper Garrett Looney pulled off a number of great saves. Time and again the back line put their bodies on the line with great blocks from Andrew Pollard, Aaron Wynne, Ciaran Brennan and Michael Cleary to the fore. In spite of the lad’s best efforts, Boden did manage to claw their way back into the game with some long range points and a fortuitous goal brought them back to level scores. It looked like the tide had turned in Ballyboden’s favour but the Towers boys rolled up their sleeves, increased their work rate and dragged themselves back into the game. Micheal Walsh continued to prove a thorn in the side of the Boden defence winning a number of close in frees that were converted by Alan Gavin on the right boot and Joey Murphy on the left . Wing back Shane Boland combined well with Luke Redmond to score on the left and Micheal Walsh was finally rewarded for his hard work with a good point from a difficult angle on the right to put Towers into a four point lead. With five minutes to go it was backs to the wall time for the Towers defence as Boden threw everything at Towers in an effort to win the game. Towers managed to limit them to long range points and held out for a well deserved two point victory. The boys can take great encouragement from this performance in what everyone (there) agreed was a great team effort. This win was just reward for 60 minutes of hard work and the strength and depth of the towers bench as Towers used 20 players in the game.
Team: Gareth Looney , Aaron Wynne , Andrew Pollard , Sean Flynn , Dylan McCarthy , Michael Cleary (Cpt), Daniel Glanville , Sean McKeon , Joey Murphy (0-5) , Craig Carroll , Gary Quinlivan(1-1) , Davy McCarthy , Adam Clarke , Micheal Walsh(0-1) , Alan Gavin(0-5). Shane Boland (0-1), Aaron Soady , Ciaran Brennan , Luke Redmond , Cian Clarke , Justin O’Hanlon , Declan Lyons.
