Our U14 squad put in a fantastic performance on Saturday morning to book their place in the Cup competition despite missing numerous players on the day.
Killarney Athletic B showed they had come to compete early on, putting the Ballyhar defence of Aaron Looney, Darragh O'Sullivan, Eoin Cremin and Brendan Flynn under constant pressure. With Adam Quirke in goals, always quick off his lines to help clear up any long balls that came through. Luke Bartlett ran tirelessly in midfield, with the silky Jack Duggan pushing Ballyhar forward on every occasion and Tiarnan O'Connor doing a great man marking job on the opposition captain. Neither team created many chances in the 1st half. H/T 0-0
The 2nd half started much the same as the first, but the Ballyhar forward line of Daniel Ryan, Charlie Curran, and Ruben O'Leary Griffin started to find more space. Ryan had 2 long-range efforts, with one looping over the keeper but the wrong side of the post. Then, on 55 mins, Ballyhar won a free kick on right, which was floated into the box by Ruben. The dropped around the far post with Eoin Cremin managing to get the crucial strike to find the net for Ballyhar. 1-0 That gave the lads great confidence, and when the fresh legs of U13 players; Liam Smyth, Ciarán Ferris, and Darragh McLaughlin sprung from the bench the game swung more in our favour. As Athletic pushed for an equaliser, the counter attacks were more frequent, and when Ryan was put through down the left he never hesitated, and struck a long range efforts that went under the keeper and into the net for 2-0. Credit to a gutsy Athletic team, who were never out of the game and created some good chances, but the Ballyhar defence stood firm once more and held on for a well-deserved victory.
F/T 2-0
Best for Ballyhar were Brendan Flynn, Jack Duggan, and Luke Bartlett. A special thanks to the U13 players for stepping up today and best wishes to Athletic B in the Shield competition.
