Aghada bowed out of this years U21 A football championship at the semi final stage, when O’Donovan Rossa beat them in Bandon last Saturday. Aghada put up a courageous performance against the favourites from Skibbereen, but their inability to convert possession into scores would prove their downfall.
Aghada got the first score when corner forward Paudie Wall was fouled and Stephen O’Keeffe popped over the resulting free. But from here on it was all Rossa’s. First they brought out a good save from ‘keeper Dereck Bowler, but a minute later disaster struck for the Aghada net minder, when he misread the bounce of the ball and Rossa’s were off the mark with a goal. By the quarter of an hour mark, the Skibbereen men had opened up a 1-3 to a point lead and were well in command. Either they took their feet off the pedal or the Aghada lads found theirs, but either way Aghada started to get themselves back in the game. They tightened up at the back where Billy Hennessy and especially David O’Hanlon would go on to have excellent games. Full forward Brian Morrissey was winning ball at will and on 18 minutes he linked up Stephen O’Keeffe for his and Aghada’s 2 point. Minutes later , wing forward Richard Good blasted home to the back of the net after Paudie’s initial shot had been saved. With 5 minutes to go to the break came one of the turning points. O’Keeffe had just kicked a super point to leave just 2 points between the sides, when Paudie broke through for another goal chance. One on one with the ‘keeper, but with Shane Scanlon well positioned beside him, he shot for goal , but saw the ‘keeper make a good save. From the rebound Rossa’s went up the field and pointed to put themselves 3 points clear. Still Aghada battled back bravely. Hard work by Paudie caused the Skibbereen defenders to spill the ball coming out of defence and wingback Eoin Cotter was on had to pounce for a point. Midfielder John Connolly had the last say of the half when he pointed from play to leave just the minimum between the sides going in at half time.
The first attack of the second half resulted in Bowler producing a stunning safe in the Aghada goal , but a minute later , Rossa’s pointed a free. A second placed ball followed before Aghada got their first of the second period, a Conor Hickey free after Morrissey had been fouled. It was Aghada who were on top at this stage with Tom O’Neill lording it at midfield, but up front scores were hard to come by. Then another turning point when Conor missed an easy free which would have reduced the gap to a single point. Conor did chip over a nice score from play on 20 minutes , but 3 points from O’Donovan Rossa gave them a four-point lead entering the final stages. Aghada now owned the ball, but a fisted effort from Shane Scanlon, which went inches wide, was as close as they got to reducing the deficit. In the end a brave Aghada effort but Skibbereen deserved winners on the day. No shame in this for these U21’s who gave us a great years entertainment starting way back in March.
Team & Scores –

D.Bowler,

S.Cashman,B.Hennessy,D.O’Hanlon

,E.Cotter(0-1),B.Crowley,A.Morrissey,

T.O’Neill(J.Connolly(0-1),

C.Hickey(0-2),S.O’Keeffe(0-3),R.Good(1-0),

P.Wall,B.Morrissey,S.Scanlon.

Subs Used: D.Morrissey,T.Wall.

When do boys become men, an age-old question?

I tell you when, they are 1-5 to 0-1 down at half time. Yes this was the score in this amazing u21 football final
Brian Morrissey opened the scoring in the 1st minute of the game with a point. Amazingly Aghada failed to score again in this half. After Morrissey’s point Youghal added two in as many minutes. Youghal again pointed on 6th minute to leave Aghada struggling. Every thing Aghada tried went wrong and when Youghal goaled on the 20th minute things looked bad for our lads. Youghal scored two more points before the short whistle to leave Aghada facing melt down. Yet Aghada had a lot of ball but could not hold on to it
Half time score Youghal 1-5 Aghada 0-1
Imagine the scene, a the halftime talk, come on lads cop you’re self on, get into it
Yes that is what they done, again Morrissey opened our account. A rejuvenated Stephen O’Keeffe pointed on the second minute then Goodie pointed we were back in the game big time. Declan Morrissey pointed a mighty free followed by two points for O’Keeffe. Now Aghada were on top and when Goodie got his hand to a ball that found its way to the net, what joy, now we were playing with fire. Around this time lion hearted Frank O’Brien had to leave the field having been the man up to then. What about young Paudie Wall just got a u16 medal last year came on for Frank end of story. Paudie played above his years and looked very comfortable at this level. Brian Morrissey finally got his chance and ended the match in the 54th minute with a great goal. Declan Morrissey pointed a free and befittingly captain Brendan Crowley had the last score to leave Aghada winners on the score line 2- 9 to 1-5.

What happened there was no wind to take about. Yet two different half’s. Aghada could do nothing right in the 1st half and then as if by magic it all fell together. With Thomas O’Neill and Declan Morrissey lording it at mid field the game changed. While Youghal mounted some rare raids into Aghada territory, The backline now with Billy Hennessy on top was equal to the task. But in the main the ball never left the Youghal half as Aghada played with pride,self-belief and some great football

team D.Bowler

S.Cashman, B.Hennessy,D. Hanlon

F.O’Brien, C.Scanlon, E.Cotter

T.O’Neill, D.Morrissey,(0-2)

J.Connolly ,S.O’Keeffe(0-3),C.Hickey,

B.Crowley (captain)(0-1),B.Morrissey(1-2),R.Good.(1-1)

Subs Used- P Wall for O'Brien (inj) 45m

D.Bowler

S.Cashman, B.Hennessy,P Wall

F.O’Brien, C.Scanlon, E.Cotter

T.O’Neill(0-1), D.Morrissey,

J.Connolly(1-0),S.O’Keeffe(0-3),C.Hickey,

B.Crowley(0-1),B.Morrissey(1-1),R.Good.(1-1)

Subs Used- Martin Day ,Tony Wall.

As per usual Aghada’s U21 footballers were the first team from the club into championship action. On Saturday last they took on Glanmire. The game was played in Rostellan (after no neutral ground was available) and the conditions were anything but ideal for football. Soft under foot conditions plus a gale force wind. The game however turned out to be an excellent contest with both sides playing super football despite the conditions.
Glanmire had the wind in the first half and started the brighter, but they had kicked 3 wides before Aghada had their first attack. Aghada’s first score was an indication of the type of display they were going to produce for the hour. ‘Keeper Dereck Bowler caught the ball in the Aghada goals and played it out to cornerback Davy O’Hanlon. From here Aghada worked the ball the full length of the pitch, using at least a dozen passes, before Stephen O’Keeffe was on hand to finish the move with a well taken point.
3 mins later, another good move saw Stevie get his and Aghada’s second, this time with his left peg. A minute later John Connolly put Brendan Crowley through for another score and after 10 minutes Aghada found themselves 3pts to nil up , against the wind and the run of play. Glanmire got their first score on 14mins, which was quickly cancelled out by Crowley’s second point. Then Glanmire were thrown a life line when they were awarded a penalty. A goal would have tied the game , but the resulting kick was blazed over the bar. A let off for Aghada. Indeed it was Aghada who struck for the first goal, when on 20 mins a move involving Conor Hickey and Brian Morrissey, resulted in Connolly crashing an unstoppable shot into the roof of the Glanmire net. A minute later Morrissey used the wind to his advantage when he curled a super shot over the bar. Glanmire responded in fine fashion. A long ball into the Aghada square , wasn’t properly dealt with and Glanmire scrambled home a goal, They followed this up with a point from a free and suddenly there was only 2 points between the sides. On the stroke of halftime however Glanmire were dealt a cruel blow when full forward Morrissey’s speculative shot dropped into the net for Aghada’s second goal. The half time score read Aghada 2-5 Glanmire 1-3.
Aghada came out for the second half with the wind at their backs and more or less put the result beyond doubt , thanks to a wonderful Brendan Crowley goal. After dispossessing the ‘keeper 30 yards from goal, Crowley( not widely recognised for his accuracy in front of goal) turned and lobbed the ball perfectly over the retreating defenders heads and into the net for a super goal. Glanmire's 1st score of the second half was a point on 14 minutes, but at this stage Aghada had 2 more points of their own. Stevie had pointed a free and Richie Good had put through midfielder Declan Morrissey for another well taken point. Glanmire then got their second goal to give them some hope, but Aghada were defending very well at this stage. Billy Hennessy was hardly beaten for one ball at full back , while outside him Colin Scanlon was defending extremely well at centreback. They were ably backed up by Stephen Cashman and Frank O’Brien.
Aghada now took over with and scored the next 4 points. 2 for Stevie from frees, a super score from substitute Martin Day, and one for Conor Hickey after being set up by birthday boy – Tom O’Neill. Glanmire mounted one last attack , but a shot for goal was well tipped over the bar by ‘keeper Dereck Bowler. When referee Billy Cody, who did an excellent job , making good allowances for the conditions, blew the final whistle, the scoreboard read Aghada 3-11 Glanmire 2-5. It was a day when nearly everything went right for Aghada, but they know that football isn’t always like this and that an even bigger performance is the minimum required to advance any further in this competition.
Team and scorers –

D.Bowler

S.Cashman, B.Hennessy, D.Hanlon,

F.O’Brien, C.Scanlon, E.Cotter

T.O’Neill, D.Morrissey(0-1),

J.Connolly(1-0),S.O’Keeffe(0-5),C.Hickey(0-1),

B.Crowley(1-2),B.Morrissey(1-1),R.Good.

Subs Used- M.Day(0-1),P.Wall.