Rathcrogue, Carlow
Rathcrogue , Carlow, Ireland.
December 18 2021
Stryve U20 Football Super League (B) semi-final
Palatine 2-10 Tinryland 1-5
A strong second half performance from the home side saw Palatine advance to the final of the U20 super league when they got the better of neighbours Tinryland in the semi-final in Bennekerry on Saturday evening 18th December. Seven days out from Christmas day this entertaining game was played in very calm conditions. Tinryland played their best football in the first half and soaked up a lot of Palatine pressure before racing into a 3-point lead by the 10th minute. Two opening points from Cormac O’Brien and another from Paddy Regan put the men in blue and white 3 up before Palatine responded with a point from sharpshooter Bryan McMahon in the 15th minute. Within 2 minutes Palatine were back on level terms following another McMahon point from a free and a beauty from their corner forward Cian Kelly. The closing stages of the opening half saw Palatine miss a golden goal chance after McMahon took a pass from Joshua Egan while at the other end Tinryland found the net when Aongus O’Shea crashed the ball past Dylan Doyle after a pass from Cormac O’Brien. Palatine had the final say of the half when McMahon converted a free to leave the interval score Tinryland 1-3 Palatine 0-4.
When referee Patrick Murphy re-started proceedings the home side showed a lot more urgency and they reduced the Tinryland advantage to the minimum with another Joshua Egan point. Relentless Pal pressure saw Tinryland goalie Daniel Donegan forced into making a wonderful save but as the pressure mounted the home team hit the front for the first time in the 37th minute when full forward Padraic Kelly crashed the ball past Donegan. With their tails now up the young men from Cnoc Arda extended their lead out to 5 points with 3 further points from McMahon. Tinryland lifted the siege with their first point of the 2nd half with a well taken score from Jody Doyle-Hutton who was introduced as a sub shortly before hand. McMahon struck again with another successful free in the 58th minute before the icing was put on the cake when their corner forward Joshua Egan scored his team’s 2nd goal of the game in the 58th minute. Tinryland managed one more point one minute later from Paddy Regan before Egan closed the scoring for Palatine deep into stoppage time. Outstanding for Tinryland were Matthew Gleeson, Michael Hosey, Cillian Fagan, Jonah Dunne, Cormac O’Brien, Aongus O’Shea, Paddy Regan and Seamus McCullough. Palatines top player was centre forward Bryan McMahon who finished with a personal tally of 0-7 and he was ably assisted by Finbarr Kavanagh, Jacob O’Brien, and Joshua Egan.
Tinryland: Daniel Donegan, Matthew Gleeson, Daire Brophy, Cian McGuire, Mark Mullen, Jonah Dunne, Michael Hosey, Cormac McElligott, Cian Nicholl, Paddy Regan 0-2, Cillian Fagan, Brian McGrath, Seamus McCullough, Aongus O’Shea 1-0, Cormac O’Brien 0-2. Subs: Jody Doyle-Hutton 0-1, Luke Broderick, Stefan Hillebrand.