St. Colmcille’s Under 12 footballers brought their Rebel Óg East Group 2 Football League campaign to a highly impressive conclusion on Sunday evening, producing a commanding display to defeat St. Michael’s by 5-12 to 1-05 at White’s Cross.
On a beautiful sunny evening, Colmcille’s wasted little time in taking control. The opening score was an excellent example of the quality of football they produced throughout the contest. Liam O’Donovan intercepted possession at the opposite end of the field and, following a slick passage of play through the lines, the ball eventually reached Zach Forde. Forde powered forward before driving a low finish into the St. Michael’s net.
Forde added a free shortly afterwards and when Ben Kennefick found the net just over two minutes later, Colmcille’s had established a significant early advantage.
St. Michael’s attempted to respond, but Colmcille’s continued to dictate proceedings. Noah Foley, making a welcome return to action sooner than expected following injury, looked as though he had never been away. He contributed two first-half points before later finding the net, while Luke Hegarty was also influential, adding a point before getting on the scoresheet with a goal.
Forde continued to punish St. Michael’s from placed balls and open play, while Colmcille’s movement and work rate repeatedly created opportunities. By half-time they had built a commanding 4-05 to 1-03 lead.
St. Michael’s never stopped competing, with Amar Solki particularly prominent. Their strongest performer on the night, Solki struck accurately from frees throughout the game, including a well-taken 45. Joey Tobin got the final touch on a scrappy goal following a goalmouth scramble, while Billy Donlon also registered a point. Casper O’Connell worked hard at centre-back and goalkeeper Casper O’Leary produced several good interventions.
Any hopes of a St. Michael’s comeback were quickly extinguished after the restart. Colmcille’s continued to press forward, with Foley, Hegarty and Forde all contributing scores before Kennefick produced another outstanding finish, driving the ball low and hard into the net for his second goal of the evening.
Late points from Forde, RJay Whitley and Cayden Ramsey completed the scoring, with Whitley and Ramsey both opting for points when goal chances presented themselves.
The final whistle confirmed an emphatic 5-12 to 1-05 victory and ensured Colmcille’s completed their league programme at the top of the table.
With the other teams still having two fixtures to play, the final outcome remains to be confirmed, but this was a performance that underlined the strength and consistency of this Colmcille’s group throughout the league campaign.
St Colmcille’s
1 – Cillian Buckley
2 – Liam O’Donovan
3 – Ollie Roche
5 – Ben O’Leary
6 – Donncha Harte
7 – Patrick Foley
8 – Michael Looney
9 – Zach Forde (1-05, 3 frees)
10 – Luke Hegarty (1-02)
11 – Noah Foley (1-02)
12 – Cayden Ramsey (0-01)
13 – Ben Kennefick (2-00)
14 – Darragh Quinlan
SUBS: Rjay Whitley (0-01), Brody Forde, Ollie Galvin
St Michaels
1 – Casper O’Leary
2 – Charlie Barrett
3 – Harry O’Keeffe
5 – Tomás Murphy
6 – Casper O’Connell
7 – Billy Donlon (0-01)
8 – Eugene Costelloe
9 – Blaize Sugrue
10 – Olli McKiernan
11 – Amar Solki (0-04, frees)
12 – Jack Haugh
13 – Joey Tobin (1-00)
14 – Charlie Riordan
SUB: Ed Keohane