AGHADA HURLING AND FOOTBALL CLUB

After a great fight Aghada went out at the first hurdle in this years U-21 hurling championship. Again it was O’Neills who knocked us out in a good game of hurling played in Castlemartyr on last Tuesday week, the 12th of September. O’Neills, with the wind at their backs, were quickly out of the blocks and were by far the better team in the opening half. They had 3 quick points on the board, before Paudie Wall opened Aghada’s account with a fine score from play in the 5th minute. O’Neills then pointed a ’65, before Finbarr Day earned and pointed a free for Aghada on 8 minutes. That was the last score for Aghada for 15 minutes, as O’Neills added to their tally from play and placed balls. Leading 8 points to 3, the Ballymacoda men pounced for a goal on 23 minutes, and now Aghada faced a huge uphill struggle. They responded well, first Alan Creedon pointed and then Cian Fleming set up Mark Galvin for another 2 minutes later. Next substitute Tony Wall, on for injured midfielder Evan Kennedy, latched on to a clearance from the impressive Conor Rice, and pointed. Fr.O’Neills had the last say of the half with another point and at the break the scoreboard was 1-9 to 0-5.

Aghada got the perfect start to the second half, when Tony Wall was fouled while going through and Finbarr Day clung the resulting penalty to get Aghada back in the match. O’Neills pointed a free and then centre back Alan Morrissey pointed a monster from inside his own half. However as was so often the case in this second half, every time Aghada scored, O’Neills replied almost instantly. Paudie Wall earned a free which Day pointed, but again O’Neills replied with a free of their own. Wing forward Davy Condon, then scored from play, but again it was cancelled out by an O’Neills free. Condon then earned a free, duly pointed again by Day, but O’Neills again stretched their lead to 5 points with another from play and 29 minutes on the clock. It was six a minute later after an O’Neills free, and then ‘keeper Martin Day pulled off a super save to prevent a certain O’Neill’s goal. Still Aghada didn’t give up and Paudie had his second from play 4 minutes into injury time after a pass from Sean O’Donoghue. 2 minutes later Finbarr Day chased down an O’Neills defender, dispossessed him, and eventually finished to the back of the net and suddenly it was only a 2 point game. That was to be that however, as the full time whistle sounded at the resulting puck out. O’Neills were deserving winners, but great credit is due to the Aghada lads who kept battling right to the end. Aghada Team and Scorers –

M.Day,

R.Condon, S.Gilroy, L.Morrissey,

S.Morrissey, A.Morrissey(0-1), C.Rice,

E.Kennedy, A.Creedon(0-1),

D.Condon(0-1), P.Wall(0-2), D.Kearney,

F.Day(2-3, 1-3f’s), M.Galvin(0-1), C.Fleming.

Subs Used – T.Wall(0-1), D.Leahy, S.O’Donoghue.