U10's Finish Year On A High

Edenderry……7-21
Rhode………..1-03

Last Sunday the Edenderry under 10 footballers finished off a successful year with a resounding win over near neighbours Rhode in a one sided challenge game. Edenderry have won all their games, except one (a draw) in the Offaly under 10 competition, and they also won the Community Games when they defeated Rhode in the final.

Edenderry opened the scoring in the game when Shane Cummins delivered a good pass to Ryan O’Neill who turned and sent an excellent shot over the bar off his left boot. Cian Farrell then kicked four points in a row for ‘The Reds’. The first came when he jumped highest to win possession from a Rhode kick-out and he then sent the ball over for a point; the second came from a free; the third was a good solo effort, when he kicked a point after a good run; while the last came when Donie Groome set him up after some excellent work at midfield. Despite James Hickey seeing little action in the Edenderry goals, he was still very alert to get his fingertips to a good Rhode shot at the expense of a 45 metre free. From the resulting free a Rhode player kicked the ball short to a forward, who turned and kicked an excellent point. Cian Farrell responded with a point from a free, before Shane Cummins scored an excellent point when he kicked the ball over the bar as he was running away from the goals. Edenderry then won a 45′ which Darren Quinn kicked to Cian Farrell who turned and scored a good point. Shane Cummins scored another point, before Cian Farrell hit two points in a row, the first from a free, and the second was a brilliant long range shot after selling dummies to a couple of defenders. Just before the halftime break Ciaran Nolan grabbed the opening goal of the game when he tapped in from close range, after a good pass from Ryan Glynn.

Halftime, Edenderry 1-11 Rhode 0-01.

Edenderry started the second half the way they ended the first, with a goal. This time it was Cian Farrell who had the ball in the net, after a good solo run through the heart of the Rhode defence. Shane Cummins then added a goal and a point, before a mistake in the Rhode defence allowed Cian Farrell in for his second goal. Cian was in the right place at the right time when a Rhode defender dropped the ball from a good Ciaran Nolan delivery. Rhode then scored an excellent goal after a great run, but it was soon cancelled out when a Shane Cummins shot just snuck over the line for another Edenderry goal. Edenderry substitute Diarmuid Egan then kicked a very good point shortly after his introduction, before Cian Farrell scored two points in a row. Edenderry then scored their sixth goal of the game, when Sean Coffey coolly slotted the ball past the advancing Rhode goalie for an excellent score. Edenderry then scored three points in a row from Donie Groome, Conor Maher and Cian Farrell before Rhode converted a free for their second point. Edenderry added further points from Sean Maher, Darren Quinn and Cian Farrell before Rhode scored their last point of the game with an excellent shot. James Hickey rounded off a fine victory for ‘The Reds’ when he powered through the Rhode defence, and sent an unstoppable shot past the Rhode goalie after he switched from goals to full-forward.

This was a brilliant team performance from Edenderry with every player playing very well. James Hickey was commanding between the posts, while defenders Ciaran Lawlor, Bobby Reynolds, Gary Gorman, Aaron Mangan, Eoin Dunne and Cathal Farrell never gave the Rhode forwards an inch of space. Donie Groome and Darren Quinn were dominant at midfield; the forwards took some excellent scores, while Diarmuid Egan, Sean Coffey, Jack Staunton, Sean Maher, Ruairi Egan, Ciaran Breen, Conor Dempsey and Joshua Kavanagh all made great contributions when introduced. Edenderry would like to thank Rhode for the game, and we would like to thank David Cummins for refereeing. The club would like to thank Pat Mangan, Michael Kane and Gabriel Gorman who have done a brilliant job this year with this group of players.

Team: James Hickey (1-0); Ciaran Lawlor, Bobby Reynolds, Gary Gorman; Aaron Mangan, Eoin Dunne, Cathal Farrell; Donie Groome (0-1), Darren Quinn (0-1); Ciaran Nolan (1-0), Cian Farrell (2-12), Ryan Glynn; Conor Maher, Shane Cummins (2-3), Ryan O’Neill (0-1).

Substitutes: Diarmuid Egan (0-1), Sean Coffey (1-0), Jack Staunton, Sean Maher (0-2), Ruairi Egan, Ciaran Breen, Conor Dempsey, Joshua Kavanagh.

Referee: David Cummins.