<< Previous | Contents | Home | Next >>

Ballinameen - Roscommon U-12 Division 3 winners 1992. 

Ballinameen - Roscommon U-12 Division 3&nbsp;winners 1992.&nbsp; Front:&nbsp;L.&nbsp;to&nbsp;R.&nbsp;Alan Toolan, Marcus McDermott, Mark Ward,&nbsp;Ciaran Beirne, Padraig McDermott, Gary Hanly,&nbsp;Stephen Harrington, Aidan&nbsp;McGarry,&nbsp;Colin…

Front: L. to R. Alan Toolan, Marcus McDermott, Mark Ward, Ciaran Beirne, Padraig McDermott, Gary Hanly, Stephen Harrington, Aidan McGarry, Colin Flanagan, Gerard Shannon. 
Back: L. to R. Michael Lavin, Joseph Higgins, Liam McGarry, Padraig Brehony, James Lavin, Sean Cryan, John Harington, Alan Ward, Keith McGarry, Jason McDermott, John Murtagh, Keith McKeon

And to the joy of the underage sports enthusiasts, the sequel was equally as enthralling. Abbey Park, Boyle was the venue once again and the large crowd present saw the Cootehall side enjoy the better of the spoils in the first half. But for some defiant defending from Lavin, Cryan and Murtagh, Ballinameen might have been in trouble by half time. As it was, they only trailed 0-5 to 1-1. 

Gary Hanley opened their account with a point while Mark Ward scored the goal that left them just one point behind. While Gary Hanley looked most dangerous during the first half for the champions elect. Padraig Brehony turned out to be the star of the second half. He opened the scoring with a point after two minutes and followed it with a goal after a move involving McDermott and Ward. The StMichael's reply was swift as they managed two points before Brehony put Mark Ward through for his second goal of the game. It put his side four points ahead. Once again, they were looking like champions, before they suffered a bout of déjà vu as St. Michael's replied with a 1-1 to level the scores at 3-2 to 1-8. 

Ballinameen put into practice the 'once-bitten, twice shy' adage as their remedy was to be found in the free-taking skills of Gerry Hanley whose late point, following a foul on S. Harrington, snatched the title. It ended a marvellous sequel to an exciting and close battle. Playing a style of football not reflective of run of the mill Division three fare, Ballinameen were worthy recipients of the title, while credit must be given to the efforts of their opponents from the Cootehall district While winning is not always about scoring, players like Mark Ward and Padraig Brehony must be attributed with high praise in respect of their performances in front of goal. 

Between them they notched 3-1 while Gary Hanley scored the remaining two points. Overall Hanley as captain was the inspiration. Aptly enough he began and finished the scoring before lifting the cup on behalf of his team-mates As a unit they worked brilliantly and while the team structure at Under 12 may have more to do with population size than innovations, it certainly seems as if the underage fledglings from Ballinameen have the pedigree to go on and achieve much greater things. 

Ballinameen: A Ward, K McGarry, J Lavin, S. Cryan P. McDermott, J. Murtagh, K. Beirne, J. Harrington, G. Hanley (Capt.), (0-2), J. McDermott, A. McGarry, S. Harrington, M. Ward (2-0), P. Brehony (1-1 ), L. McGarry Subs.: K. McKeown, J. Higgins, A Toolan, C. Flanagan, G. Shannon, M. McDermott, M. Lavin.