It was an extremely disappointing end to the U13 A season when they crashed out of the Cup to a young Castleisland team on Saturday. Facing an U12 Premier team was never going to be easy, but when luck also goes against you, it makes it even harder.

Castleisland flew out of the traps and put the lads under pressure from the start, so It took a while for Ballyhar to settle, with players playing too deep and isolating our forwards against a wall of green. Killian O'Sullivan made massive ground down the right all game, getting in some great crosses, but unfortunately, they just couldn't convert. Then just as they were getting a foothold in the game, disaster struck. A soft free kick was given to the visitors on 20 mins, which was floated into the box. Ballyhar failed to deal with it, and the ball ended up rolling under stand in keeper Fionn Clifford to give Castleisland the lead. Ballyhar had to react, and 8 mins later, they looked to have found that breakthrough when Alex Finn was brought down inside the box for a penalty. He stepped up to take it himself, but it agonisingly struck the post and went wide. H/T 0-1

Now, it was time for Ballyhar to pile on the pressure, as they camped inside the Castleisland half. Adam Fleming, Patrick O'Connor, Callum Templeman, and substitute Jack Duggan passed and probed for openings, but Castleisland had 10 men behind the ball, who fought hard to block every effort. Some great crosses were put in by Templeman from the left and Fleming from the right, but the Castleisland keeper and his defenders held out. Then on 40 mins, a long clearance caused 2 Ballyhar defenders to get in each others way, and the pacy Castleisland forward took full advantage, sprinting 20yrds and slotting it home to make it 0-2, again against the run of play. Ballyhar continued their dominance, while Castleisland continued their defending. 5 mins after that, Patrick O'Connor swung in a cross, which found the head of Jack Duggan ghosting in at the back post to pull 1 back. 1-2. It now felt like an equaliser was coming, but credit to Castleisland who kept fighting, and when another long ball forward caused confusion again for the Ballyhar defence, stand-in keeper Clifford raced from his goal to help clear the ball only for his kick to ricochet off his own player and into the Ballyhar net for a very unlucky goal. 1-3 Killian O'Sullivan kept battling till the end and, with time running out, scored a consolation goal right on the stroke of full-time. F/T 2-3

It was a difficult lesson for the lads to learn, on a day of total dominance, but Castleisland had the heart, determination, and the bit of luck they needed to knock the lads out of all cup competitions. With a very small squad, losing regular keeper Noah Browne to injury was massive, but credit to Fionn Cliford for putting his hand up and going in goal. Thanks also to U12 players - Jack Duggan & Ruben Griffin for stepping up all season and Callum O'Connor, who also did well for us. Lots to learn for next season and plenty of good experience gained.