Junior (U/16) South Leinster Final – November 12th 2012
Roinn C1
Report by Cate Donohoe
Enniscorthy Vocational College v Coláiste Chill Mhantáin, Wicklow
EVC travelled to Pearse Park in Arklow on Monday Nov. 12th to take on Colaiste Chill Mhantáin in the South Leinster final (Roinn C1 – Junior hurling)
The final scoreline of 8-14 to 5-08 doesn’t do the young Enniscorthy side the justice they deserve. The game was played in a fine sporting manner and for long periods of the game there was very little to divide the sides. The Wicklow team settled quickly and had picked off 1-04 before Enniscorthy got into their stride. Shamrocks clubman Shane O’ Connor opened the Enniscorthy account with a fine long range point and this was soon followed by an opportunist strike from the diminutive Rickie O’Leary who also hails from the Shamrocks. Enniscorthy pressed hard as the half progressed and when Shane O’Connor added a goal it looked very promising for the Enniscorthy outfit. A point each from Rapparees clubmates, Aaron Dobbs and Dale Kirwan brought the half time score to 2-08 to 2-03 in favour of the Wicklow school.
As the second half got underway a super effort from Jeff Tobin (Ferns) brought Enniscorthy within two points of the leaders. Jeff followed this up with a well taken point and was very unlucky not to grab the lead for the Enniscorthy side when he saw his close range shot end up at the wrong side of the Wicklow goalpost. This early second half period of dominance was not to last as Colaiste Chill Mhantáin fought back with a brace of goals which seemed to knock the wind out of the Enniscorthy sails. They battled on however and added two more goals courtesy of Dale Kirwan and Nathan Breslin (Ferns). Kirwan added another point along with three fine efforts from Shane O’Connor, Rickie O’Leary and Oulart-The Ballagh’s Barry Leacy.
The Enniscorthy side battled hard throughout and will take consolation from the fact that all but four of the starting line-up will be underage for this grade in next year’s championship. It is also worth noting that 10 of the Enniscorthy panel are eligible to play in the U/14 grade in this year’s Wexford championship.
For Enniscorthy, Peter Cullen and the hardworking Adam Kirwan were impressive in the backline while Dale Kirwan and Aaron Dobbs worked hard at midfield. Rickie O’Leary and Shane O’Connor picked off some fine scores as did Jeff Tobin and second half substitute Nathan Breslin. The boys were accompanied by their mentors, Cate Donohoe & Keith O’Hara.
Panel: Ivan Meegan, Aaron O’Toole, David Brennan, Barry Leacy, Gerry O’Connor, Adam Kirwan, Peter Cullen, Dale Kirwan, Aaron Dobbs, Aaron Davis, Shane O’Connor, Ryan Murphy, Jeff Tobin, Rickie O’Leary, Nathan Breslin, Stephen Corrigan, Jack Somers, Tommy O’Rourke, Rhys Dunne, Aidan Murphy.
