Down U-19 Championship final
Mayobridge 3-10 Castlewellan 1-11
By Peter McGrath jnr
MAYOBRIDGE’S great underage run of success continued as they claimed the U-19 Patrick Dinsmore Cup with a five point victory over Castlewellan on Sunday afternoon.
The game began with a distinctly wintry feel in a cold and wet Atticall but the drab weather wasn’t reflected in the football as both sides played in as enterprising and entertaining a manner as it was possible to do.
The Bridge forward line, inspired by Patrick Woods at full forward, got into their stride quicker, notching four of the first five points with Woods responsible for three of their four.
Their other point came from a classy Corey Clerkin curler while Castlewellan’s sole response came from a Sean O’Neill score. A long kickout from Aodhan King was caught by Luke McCabe who punted it forward to O’Neill who did the rest.
Mayobridge could have been even further ahead when Conor O’Keefe dropped a shot short and Woods directed it goalward but, having beaten the keeper, he was somehow denied by the acrobatic outstretched leg of Oisin Moore.
Woods was the man who helped the Bridge go four up though after Ciaran McPolin won the ball back and released Conor Colhoun who brought it forward and found the full forward who was able to apply the finishing touch.
Free kicks from Ryan McKibben and O’Neill had Castlewellan back within two but a Corey Clerkin free kept the Bridge in control.
The men in green were starting to take over and generally dominated around the middle. That platform, and the primary possession they were securing, allowed them to continue to pile forward.
Initially they were wasteful with the ball but, as they began to tidy up their use of possession, Sean O’Neill swung over off his left foot and Chris Cope narrowed their deficit to the minimum with about five minutes of the first half remaining.
In those five minutes, the sky blues kicked again however, and scores from the weaker foot of Conor Colhoun and a timely score from Ben Kelly who chose to end a patient spell of play by going direct and having a shot meant Eoghan Woods’ side led by three at half time.
In the full report read how Daniel Carr and Darragh Poland made important contributions for the Mayobridge team.
