Revised

U-11 Match Report Sunday 11th June 2023

Ballyholland vs Saval Ogs

Saval Og’s played against a strong Ballyholland team in perfect conditions on Sunday morning. Led out by Captain Aaron McGahan, Saval played against a slight breeze in the first half and the Harps men started the stronger. In fact, it took a couple of minutes before Saval settled into their groove, by stringing some nice passes together, taking a couple of great points and hey presto, they suddenly started to believe in themselves.

Full blooded battle cries from Managers Jemma Quinn and Cathal Grant certainly helped the kids self belief and the players stirred to life and started to dominate the middle area, through the hard work of Mollie Quinn, Cillian McClorey and Joe Murtagh. The half back line of Patrick Hamilton and Ryan Hillen, started to overpower their opponents and they drove the team forward into the other half, causing no end of problems for their opponents throughout the game! Caolan “the Poacher” Toner, along with his compatriots Matthew “the Viper” Davidson and James “the Hound Dog” O’Neill were looking very lively in the full forward line and their hard work and endeavour resulted in some great goals and points for the team in green.

Saval were looking the stronger of the two, however in the morning heat, the Green Machine started to wain somewhat and Ballyholland began to up the auntie in the 2nd half. However, Odhran Sands and the ever reliable Halle Grant, were a constant thorn in the Ballyholland side and against the odds rose to the occasion (as usual) and snuffed out numerous Ballyholland attacking onslaughts! During the match, the platform provided by Darragh McDaniels long and astute kick outs, meant Saval were able to get the ball quickly into green forward line and consequently some great goals and points were taken by Mollie Quinn, Ryan Hillen, Joe Murtagh and Cillian McClorey.

In the warm conditions, the introduction of the ‘pups’, Conor Campbell and Sean Hughes, in the 2nd half, added further vibrancy into the Saval attack, with Conor winning the ball against the odds and kicking over a great point over the bar!

At the end, Saval may have been pipped by 1 or 2 points, but it was an amazing effort by the players and showcased Gaelic football at its finest! Well done everyone! ⭐️

Btw…. Jemma has promised to give up her Sunday afternoon ☀️ and instead spend 5/6 hours on YouTube learning the Haka… she hopes to stage rehearsals on Thurs after training 😉