Ferbane / Belmont added the Under 16 title to their Under 14 that they won last Saturday and in doing so ensure back to back Under 16 titles as well. Ferbane / Belmont are really becoming a dominant force again which is always good from a County perspective too. This Final was played in front of 1500 spectators in O Connor Park at 11:30am on Saturday, and they large crowd were entertained, albeit no so much from a scoreboard point of view. Ferbane / Belmont opened the scoring after 6 minutes with a point from full forward Michael Butler, only to be cancelled out a minute later by Shamrocks full forward Johnny Mc Evoy. Dean Hogan added a second for Ferbane/Belmont, then star forward and Under 14 hero of last week Colin Kenny got hi first score of the game with a fine effort. Patrick Dunican replied for Shamrocks, but F/B added 3 more before the break from Michael Butler, Colin Kenny and Christain Brazil to leave the score line 6 points to 2 at the break. Shamrocks did have 6 wides in the first half to F/B’s 1 which was a telling difference on the scoreboard at the break.
F/B were first to score again in the seconf half with a free from Michael Butler and then the game had a 12 minute spell without a score, with F/B starting to clock up the wides in the second half. Eventually James Guilfoyle got a fine point for Shamrocks to narrow the gap back to four but within a minute F/B ‘s Michael Butler who had a fine game at full forward added another. Shamrocks were now starting to enjoy large amounts of possession but failing to convert on to the scoreboard. Frees from Patrick Dunican kept their interest alive but F/B always looked like they would keep their winning margin. In the final few minutes F/B goalie George Murray had to pull off three fine saves to deny Shamrocks goal scoring opportunities, but F/B weathered the late rally to secure the Under 16 Football title for the second year running on a score line of 10 points to 6.
Offaly GAA Coiste Na NOg Chairman Joe Higgins presented the cup after the game to the winning captain, and there were great celebrations followed. Offaly GAA congratulate Ferbane / Belmont on winning the Under 16 title again, and commiserate with Shamrocks. They also thank match referee Pauric Pierce and his officials, and all the people behind the scenes in O Connor Park who prepared everything for the final.
Ferbane / Belmont team
1 George Murray, 2 Robbie Robinson, 3 Shane Mooney, 4 Stephen O Rourke, 5 Gavin Maleney, 6 Jack Egan, 7 Brian Gilligan, 8 Darragh Keeneghan, 9 David Kelly, 10 Colin Kenny, 11 Merrick Daly, 12 Christian Brazil, 13 Ronan McEvoy, 14 Michael Butler, 15 Dean Hogan.
Shamrocks team
1. Mark Condron , 2. Damien Guinan, 3. Graeme Healy , 4. Eóin Larkin , 5. Conor Condron , 6. Alan Heffernan , 7. Derek Walsh , 8. Ryan Daly, 9. Johnny O’Toole, 10. David O’Toole , 11. Jack McNamara, 12. Patrick Dunican , 13. Glenn Mooney , 14. Johnny McEvoy , 15.Brendan Looby
In the Under 16 Hurling Semi Finals Kilcormac / Killoughey recorded a 2-15 to 2-6 win over Coolderry/ Lusmagh and Shinrone defeated Birr 2-9 to 1-8. This sets up a fantastic finale between Kilcormac/Killoughey, who have also qualified for the Minor Hurling Final and Shinrone, who have reached the Minor B Final.
