It was honours even at avert calm and dry Murt Scott Park on Saturday morning, as our U16s played out a 6-goal thriller against Mastergeeha C. 

Ballyhar got off to the ideal start when inside 5 mins Anthony Cremin was released down the right and rifled a shot into the roof of the visitors net from a tight angle to make it 1-0. Both teams eventually settled into a battle that went end to end on many occasions, as Lee Crillio making great inroads down the left, Ross Lally was excellent in midfield, constantly trying to link up with Davin Quilter and Jim O'Dowd. Mastergeeha's defensive setup made it difficult to find a way through, and looked very capable of scoring on the counterattack. The game was full of great strikes, and both teams exchanged them before half time. First, Mastergeeha equalised with a fine strike from outside the box. Not to be outdone, Cremin again put Ballyhar ahead with another run and strike down the right. But the sides would go in level, when another shot from distance looped over O'Mahony in goal to make it 2-2. Cremin had 2 more chances to regain the lead before halftime but just lacked a bit of composure at the right time. H/T 2-2

The 2nd half was a war of attrition for Ballyhar, as 2 forced changes led to Ballyhar losing some momentum. First, the very effective Lee Crillio pulled up injured just before halftime with a groin strain and didn't return. Then Jim O'Dowd had to come off injured following a bad clash with 2 Mastergeeha defenders that bizarrely led to him getting a yellow card. Thankfully, Cremin bagged his hat-trick moments previous, giving Ballyhar the lead. 3-2 But to be fair to Mastergeeha, the U15 Premier side seemed to grow in confidence, and were now tearing into every challenge. Ballyhar struggled to match their intensity, despite some massive work put in by Lally, Clifford, Long Cremin and Costelloe. The subs introduced tried to played their part, but Mastergeeha got theie equaliser and could have even taken all 3 points with a few efforts going just either side of the posts. 

In the end it was frustrating for rhe lads who put in great work across the 80 mins, yet it was also hard to argue that a draw was the fairest result. Best for Ballyhar were Ross Lally, Marcus Clifford and MOTM Anthony Cremin