Stryve U20 (B) Final
Tinryland 1-10 Ballon 0-12
Tinryland U20 footballers captured the Stryve U20 (B) title with a dramatic win over a gallant Ballon in an absorbing final at Netwatch Cullen park on Saturday 6th January. The new champions never led in this game until the 67th minute when Bobby Doyle slotted over the winner to put the icing on a great comeback with Ballon in front by 4 points at the 50th minute mark.
On a cold frosty evening with frost quickly setting in after the throw in it was Ballon who were well worth their 4 -point lead by the 12th minute after well worked points from Evan Corr, (2), midfielder Eoin Doyle and Fionn McCaffrey..
Tinrylands opening point in the 5th minute was scored by Alex Farrell after good play by Conor Carew and Mark Mullen with the hoops 2nd point coming after an excellent 45 from Conor Carew who was immense throughout. Tinryland continued to play second fiddle to Ballon at this stage and were 4 points in arrears coming up to the halfway stage of the 1st half when Ballon wing forward Callum Crawford scored a cracking point. The 2nd half of the first half saw further Ballon points from Shane Duffy after an error in the Tinryland defence while Duffy who was one of their best players closed the first half scoring after Tinryland had added on 2 further points via Luke Broderick who scored a wonderful point after great play by Sean Murphy and Conor Carew. Carew slotted over another 45 also to leave the half time scoreboard reading Ballon 0-8 Tinryland 0-5.
A stern half time team talk in the Tinryland dressing room seemed to have some effect when Bobby Doyle won a free in the 34th minute which was duly despatched by Conor Carew who has recently signed for Treaty United in the league of Ireland. Bobby and Conor teamed up 1 minute later to leave only the minimum separating the teams but Ballon responded with a Kevin Maher point to stretch their advantage back out to 2 points. That advantage stretched out to 3 points by the 40th minute when Evan Corr slotted over another Ballon point and when the same player scored another point in the 49th minute Ballon looked to be on their way to the title.
An injury to Tinrylands wing forward Kyle Holden held up proceedings for over 8 minutes and he was replaced by Matthew Brennan with Tinryland making a number of positional changes also. With 7 minutes of normal time remaining Conor Carew kept Tinryland in touch and when Mark Mullen scored another Tinryland point in the 55th minute Tinryland supporters dared to believe that we could salvage something with a long period of stoppage time assured. Ballon however would not lie down and their advantage went back out to 3 points in the 59th minute when Evan Corr converted a soft free. Tinryland supporters then were on cloud nine when Conor Carew rattled the Ballon net with as good a goal as seen in Netwatch Cullen park in recent times.
In the 8 minutes of stoppage time both teams had chances and for the neutral a draw would have been a fair result but it was Tinryland who grasped the nettle after Mark Mullen had been narrowly wide. One last chance fell to Bobby Doyle and this time the lively full forward now operating out the field showed his class by slotting over the winner which seemed unlikely 15 minutes before. After a few more Ballon attempts at an equaliser Tinryland were crowned champions to the delight of their supporters and the signs are good for the future of our great club which has been on the go since 1888.
Outstanding for Tinryland were the McGuire brothers Conaill and Cian together with Michael Hosey, Mark Mullen, Kyle Holden until injured, Bobby Doyle and the immense Conor Carew.
Tinryland: Conaill McGuire, Terry Cassidy, Cian McGuire, Vivian Nixon, Sean Murphy, Michael Hosey joint captain, Paddy Walshe, Mark Mullen joint captain 0-1, Luke Broderick 0-1, Jamie Walker, Conor Carew 1-6, Kyle Holden, Eoin Townsend, Bobby Doyle 0-1, Alex Farrell 0-1. Subs: Jody Doyle Hutton, Matthew Brennan
