Under-14 Football Championship: Shield, Semi-final: Mullingar Shamrocks 2-6 Caulry 1-3
It looked ominous at half-time for Shamrocks in this Under-14 championship Shield semi-final. The heavily wind-assisted lead of five points seemed to be insufficient against this strong Caulry team that had already beaten Shamrocks rather convincingly earlier in the season. However, this team has been battling all season and during the second-half the young footballers worked really hard and played with great intensity to carve out a well-deserved victory. It was their best win of the season.
Zach Aherne scored two big first-half points, Seán Óg Hynes had two more and Andrew Shaw notched the all-important goal to deliver an interval score of 1-4 to 0-2. The second-half was full of intensive heavy-duty defending and a great goal-line save and clearance by Mark Flynn when a Caulry goal seemed inevitable was crucial. Daithí Ó Mairtín gave a master class in defending and sweeping in this half and Matthew Shaw was also seen to good effect as was William Adzangoa. Emmet Walsh was a towering mid-field presence. Shamrocks moved the ball well and retained possession under pressure and a great run by Matthew Clinton ended with a Zach Aherne goal that sealed the victory. Seán Óg Hynes added two more points in this half.
Shamrocks: Daniel Chukwuemekg; James McGrath, Keith Whaley, Mark Flynn; Ciarán Luby, William Adzangoa, Matthew Clinton; Rory O’Sullivan-Sexton and Emmett Walsh; Daithí Ó Mairtín, Brian Farrell, Andrew Shaw (1-0); Seán Óg Hynes (0-4), Zach Aherne (1-2), Johnny Joyce. Substitutes: Mark Shaw, Gianluca Hassett, Oliver McNamara, Matthew Moore, Niall Ouchbakou, John Caulfield and Shane Daly.