from the Evening Echo (May 12th 2012)

DESPITE White’s Cross getting punished with two goals in the opening nine minutes, they still found the class to book their place to the third round of the Sportsturf Solutions Junior A Football Championship following a hard earned win over Bishopstown  last night at  Ballinlough

It was obvious the Town had a prepared well for this game but when White’s Cross put their best football together they looked a formidable unit.

 Playing with the aid of a strong wind, White’s Cross opened their scoring account from the boot of Conor Buckley in the fourth minute. Two minutes later Bishopstown responded with a fortunate goal when White’s Cross’ reliable  keeper Billy Sheehan dropped a tame shot as Diarmuid Vaughan drilled the ball to the net from close

Conor Buckley and Dylan Burke responded with points for White’s Cross but they were punished again in the ninth minute with a second green flag.

Once again, poor White’s Cross . defending allowed Vaughan get in behind the full from back and finish with precision from close range;

Credit to White’s Cross, they played some wonderful football for the remainder of the half but Bishopstown looked comfortable at the break despite trailing 0-12 to 2-2.

Eoin Costello reduced the deficit further in the 34th minute but when the going got tough, the tough got going. The one player who inspired White’s Cross when  the game threatened to run away from them was full-back Eoin Murnane who showed remarkable grit in his defending and attacking skills. Despite Bishopstown giving their all, their better-balanced opponents were not to be denied and were worthy six points winners.

On a night when we witnessed a good competitive game it’s worth noting that in the past year White’s Cross have had two key players struck down with illness.  Denis O’Regan and James Cooney were both in attendance and the good news is they are thankfully on the the road to a full recovery which surely puts a game of football into perspective

White’s Cross: C Buckley 0-6 (0-2f), D Burke 0-3, B O’Sullivan 0-2, K Keeffe 0- 2 (2f) E Murnane  E Buckley , M Kelleher D Murnane  (0-1 each )

Bishopstown: D Vaughan 2-0, B Healy 0-3, E Costello, B Coffey (0-1 each).

WHITE’S CROSS: Billy Sheehan; Sean Murnane Eoin. Murnane, Sean. O Gorman, Donal Kelly , Cian Smith, Cormac Manning , Murt Kelleher  , Michael Osborne, Dylan  Burke, Conor Buckley, Edwin Buckley Donncha Murnane , Ken O’Keeffe ,  Bryan O’Sullivan

BISHOPSTOWN C Duggan, N Murphy, P Kilbane, E McCarthy, C Jones,  R Ryan, B Kirk, C Luttrell, B O’Connell, D Vaughan, J Murphy, Eoin Costello, B Coffey  A Motherway , J, B Healy Subs N : Murphy T Creed (41 for ). R Ryan (26), S Power for N Murphy (41) Referee: J Daly (St Vincent’s).