WELL DRILLED EASTERN HARPS TRIUMPHANT IN UNDER 16A BOYS
FINAL
EASTERN HARPS 1 07 ST MOLAISE GAELS 0 07
Creativity in all sectors of the field, some tenacious and
smart defending throughout allied to an in built and perhaps coached desire by
their players to work hard for each other without fuss or over-elaboration
proved to be the main dynamics of this terrific Under 16A championship win for
Eastern Harps over a strong and competent St Molaise Gaels at a dull and rain
lashed Markievicz Park on Monday evening last 21st.
A goal midway through the first half clinically finished by
Harps corner forward and the games top scorer Ciaran Hannon, looked at the time
to become the games defining score and indeed so it turned out and although two
more could have been added from good chances created, that early goal gave the
Keash / Gurteen side a cushion they maintained to the end on an evening when
scores were hard to register due to the heavy rain showers and slippery
conditions.
Victorious at the finish without question, deserved too,
however Harps certainly were not the dominant force in the first ten minutes as
The North Division side took the game to their opponents attacking incessantly
and notching two fine points. Harps defensive unit was at this point under considerable
pressure, pressure that resulted in referee Marty Duffy having a couple of
short conversations with wing back Luke Taheny which almost certainly was not
connected to the upcoming budget ! . A yellow card followed for the Moygara
youngster, sadly carried off with a nasty ankle injury in the final minute,
nevertheless the tenacious wing back continued to defend with skill and
determination aided by a quiet word of common sense from an Eastern Harps
mentor.
Unrelated corner back Thomas Taheny, goalman Alan Davey with
a super second half save,Jake Stephenson, Bryan O Hanlon, Eoin Dwyer and Kaelum
Byrne all contributed handsomely to this early defensive display and indeed
upped their vigilance considerably in the second half when their battle lines were
once again under a lengthy period of intense pressure.
Following early Molaise dominance Harps gradually grew into
the game largely due to the contribution of midfielder Jonathan East and in
particular his midfield partner and captain, the strong running, speedy and
inventive Evan Lavin. This second quarter during which they scored an
impressive 1- 04 - both O'Hara brothers scoring fine points in this phase one
of them following a crossbar rebound from a goal attempt by James - certainly
belonged to Harps giving them a four point interval lead interrupted only
briefly by the score of the evening, a cool 25 yard outside of the boot point
finish following a blistering 70 metre run taking him past three Harps
opponents from outstanding St Molaise midfielder Dean Carroll ... Half time
Eastern Harps 1-04. St Molaise Gaels 0 03.
A scoreless third quarter transpired - hugely entertaining
nonetheless - however Molaise despite losing midfielder Sean Snee to a second
yellow card, were first to strike reducing the margin to three. With Dean
Carroll, Robbie Ryan, Calum O Domhnaill, Luke Towey, Caoileann Carty and Aaron Shaw prominent St Molaise continued to
take the game to Harps who now had pulled a couple of forwards back to assist
their defence, allowing their captain Evan Lavin, at this point becoming more
influential, to carve out scoring chances not all of which were converted.
However points from James O Hara and Ciaran Hannon plus a neat free from Ciaran
Dorrian, who had worked hard with Cian Higgins and Sean O Connor in that Harps
half forward line, closed the game out for Harps even if the spirited Molaise
Gaels side notched three of their own in that final quarter to leave just one
kick of the ball between these two excellent sides at the final whistle.
TEAMS and SCORERS... EASTERN HARPS ... Alan Davey, Tomas
Taheny, Jake Stephenson, Bryan O Hanlon, Luke Taheny, Eoin Dwyer, Kaelum Byrne,
Evan Lavin, Jonathon East, Cian Higgins, Ciaran Dorrian (0 01) Sean O Connor,
Sean O Hara ( 0 01) James O Hara ( 0 03 ) Ciaran Hannon (1 02) Subs Used ..
Bryan Molloy, Gavin Gardiner, Aaron Burns
St MOLAISE GAELS ... Robert Kelly, Joe Spellman, Robbie
Ryan, Brian West, Evan Currid, Conor Feighney, Calum O Domhnaill, Sean Snee,
Dean Carroll ( 0 03 ) Darragh Kelly, Luke Towey ( 0 02 ) Caoileann Carty ( 0 01
) Aaron Currid, Aaron Shaw ( 0 01) Dion McCaffrey..Subs Used .. Oliver White,
Seamus Keogh, Sean Donlan.
Referee Marty Duffy.