The junior footballers didn’t have the best start to the championship, suffering a fourteen point beating at home to Tullamore. In truth the scoreline is a harsh reflection on what was a closer game than one might think, however goals proved crucial and overall Tullamore were the better side.
David Farrelly opended the scoring after two minutes when he pointed for Edenderry but Tullamore responded with a pointed free. Two minutes later Tullamore got in for a goal and quickley followed it with two further points. With thirteen minutes gone Tullamore got in for their second goal and were firmly in control of the game. Gary Blong hit back for the reds after some great play from David Farrelly and Peter O’Neill. There was twenty one minutes gone and Tullamore extended their lead to eight points which was quickly cancelled out by a Peter O’Neill pointed free after a foul on Pat Moloney. Once again Tullamore pointed to restore their eight point lead but just on the stroke of half time Peter O’Neill scored a great goal for Edenderry after some terrific work by John ‘Gooch’ Gorman. The half time score was 2-5 to 1-3
Edenderry 1-3
Tullamore 2-5
Edenderry started the second half strong and after three minutes Evan Kelly pointed after his shot was initally saved by the goalie. Unfortunately for Edenderry from here on in it seemed for every point they got Tullamore got a goal which proved to be their downfall.
Tullamore got their first goal of the second half after five minutes and quickly followed it up with a point. Peter O’Neill kicked two further points for the reds on the eight and eleventh minute, the latter from a free.
Inside the next seven minutes the game was effectively ended as a contest when Tullamore scored 2-4 without reply. Two late points from Peter O’Neill and Stephen Abbott reduced the deficit to fourteen points and the final score was 5-10 to 1-8
Full Time
Edenderry 1-8
Tullamore 5-10
In the end this was a heavy defeat for Edenderry and they will have a lot of hard work to do if they are to pick up points in their upcoming games against Ballinagar and the local derby with Ballyfore. There were some good performances on the night from Aaron O’Connell, Colin McNamara, David Farrelly, Peter O’Neill and in particular John ‘Gooch’ Gorman who worked tirelessly all night and set up most of Edenderry’s forward play.
On the bright side for Edenderry five minors made their championship debut and a total of six minors played. Pat Moloney also made his championship debut for Edenderry while it was great to see Colin McNamara make his first appearance since returning from work abroad.
Referee: Ciaran Groome
Man of the match: John ‘Gooch’ Gorman
Team Sheet:
Cormac Hurley, Padraig Foy, Adrian Bryan, John Blong, Aaron O’Connell, Colin McNamara, Stephen Murphy, Shane Connell, Peter O’Neill(1-4, 0-2f), John Gorman, Pat Moloney, Evan Kelly(0-1), Daniel Ryan, David Farrelly(0-1), Gary Blong(0-1)
Subs:
Stephen Abbott(0-1) for Daniel Ryan
Joe Murphy for Gary Blong
Andrew Forde for Evan Kelly
Brendan McCabe
Colin Dunne (inj)
