Shamrocks 1-9, Fr O’Neills 1-3
Shamrocks made their first ever trip to Fr O’Neills beautiful pitches in Balymacoda and made it count with a hard earned win over the home side.
18 players and plenty of parents/drivers mobilised themselves for the long trip and everything went off to a tee. Shamrocks played against the wind in the first half and controlled matters but really didn’t have the return on the scoreboard that they deserved, through some sloppy shooting, fumbled ball and the Fr O’Neills keeper who was very competent inside. Harry Andrews poked home an early goal and Derry Howard finished off a good team move. Shamrocks led 1-1 to 0-1 at HT.
Fr O’Neills were a transformed team after the break and scored a cracking goal with their first attack to draw level. For a 5 minute period there after, they were the better team, mostly through midfield dominance. Shamrocks weathered the storm somewhat and started to get a few points at the other end – Harry Andrews from 2 frees, Cian O’Flaherty, Eoin O’Flynn and the two subs Ferdia Hayes and Josh Bartlett all got on the scoresheet to push Shamrocks over the line.
A special mention to all the parents and grandparents who volunteered to drive. It was great to see a convoy leaving Shanbally to tackle the Tunnel traffic! It was a real team effort and all players got on the pitch at one point or another. Shamrocks are now top of the table and play Carrigtwohill in their next game on Saturday week.
Panel: D. O’Brien, M. Foy, M. Sisk, A. McSweeney, F. Herlihy, D. Carroll, H. Andrews, S. Darcy, E. O’Flynn, C. O’Flaherty, D. Howard, D. McCormick, A. Maye, A. Clarke, J. Bartlett, F. Hayes, J. O’Leary, J. O’Keeffe.
