Our U16 lads were bitterly unlucky to come out on the wrong side of a 2 point game last evening away at a scorching Ballintubber. Down to the bare bones, with only 15 players available and many starters missing due to holidays, illness and other reasons; the odds were highly stacked against the men in green and white from the outset. The brave warriors that took to the field did not let this deter them as they went hammer and tongs with an impressive Ballintubber outfit in a thrilling encounter.
Charlestown got off to a steady start and kicked the first two points of the game from Paul Towey and Ruairi Cullen. However, Ballintubber replied in kind and found the net twice in the space of five minutes with cleverly taken scores. Ten minuets in, Charlestown trailed 2:01 – 0:02. Patrick Goldrick and Jack Mahon raised white flags with fine scores from long range and Towey again contributed with a couple of fine frees, further underlining his ability from the dead ball. As the game began to tighten up, Mahon found the net after some good play from Cullen and Eoin Goldrick. This put the ‘town into the lead for the first time on 19 minutes – 1:06 – 2:02.
The sides traded points for the next few minutes and Charlestown looked like they were going to take a three point lead with them into the dressing room at half times as Goldrick and Towey once again added scores. Ben Conway was particularly impressive at the back throughout the first half as he took up man marking duties on an impressive Ballintubber corner forward, with Conway often starting Charlestown attacks by winning 50/50 balls and breaking out of defence at pace. Unfortunately disaster struck in the last two minutes of the half as Ballintubber tagged on 1-1. The sterling defending of Dillon Curry, David Doherty, Aaron Doherty and Jack Brennan for the previous 28 minuets counted for little as Ballintubber edged into the slenderest of leads at half time.
The West Mayo team were clearly the better starters upon the resumption and added two further goals, each giving Declan Forkan no chance in goal after what could only be described as some naive Charlestown defending. The margin widened even further with both Ballintubber midfielders kicking tidy scores. With 15 minutes remaining, Charlestown trailed by 12 points, 1:10 – 5:10. As time ticked away, it looked to have become a question of how much our lads would lose by. Then, our leaders stood up to be counted.
Patrick Goldrick caught a long Paul Towey delivery in the small square and was taken to ground for a penalty. Jack Mahon stepped up and dispatched the ball coolly to the net to give the Sarsfields a glimmer of hope. A number of positional changes seemed to give Charlestown a further lift and the move of the game involving Goldrick, Towey, Cullen, Mahon and Micheal Durcan found its way to Ciaran Honeyman who finished aplomb and gave Charlestown real belief that this contest was still firmly in the melting pot. The scoreboard now read 5:10 – 3:10 in Ballintubber’s favour.
To their credit, Ballintubber won the resulting kickout and hurdled down the pitch to dispatch a goal of their own, meaning there was 9 points in the game with five minutes remaining. Once again, our lads pushed on in search of a lifeline and Ruairi Cullen cleverly toe poked home to reduce the arrears to 6. Brendan McCormack and Dylan Marren were introduced and contributed to Charlestown’s final major as the ball was smashed to the net to leave just three points between the sides in what could only be described as an enthralling spectacle. A Jack Mahon free meant that two points separated the teams as the clock neared injury time. This lead was cut to the slightest after another Towey free off the ground. As the clocked neared 60 minutes, Ballintubber led by one; 6:10 – 5:12.
Our lads had now cut what had seemed an insurmountable 12 point deficit back to just one solitary point and looked set to tie the game up. To the bemusement of the large travelling crowd, Aaron Doherty was wrongly adjudged to have fouled on the 45 metre line. It could only be described as a textbook near hand tackle that would have put his team on the attack and in search of an equaliser. Instead the Ballintubber free taker kicked a monster with the outside of the boot that dropped just over Forkan’s crossbar.
It looked all over for the ‘town who would surely have to score with the next play to take the spoils home. And this looked a strong possibility as a well worked move found Paul Towey who had just one defender to beat on the 20 metre line before being through on goal. The Ballintubber full-back executed a tackle that Paul O’Connell in his hay-day would have been proud of as he rugby tackled Towey to the ground and was shown a black card in the process. Unfortunately, his team was rewarded for his actions and dismissal as Charlestown could not find the net with the resulting free and the referee blew the full-time whistle, on a final scoreline of 6;11 – 5.12.
Charlestown will be left wondering what could have been had that cynical foul not been committed but it has to be said our lads had a number of good scoring chances throughout the match that could have been taken with a little bit more care and accuracy. It was trojan comeback by our lads who looked dead and gone midway through the second period. Their season now revolves around their final group game away to Castlebar next Tuesday (26th July) @ 7pm, with a County semi-final at stake for the winner.
Team: Declan Forkan, Ben Conway, Dillon Curry, David Doherty, Aaron Doherty, Jack Brennan, Paul Towey, Patrick Goldrick, Ciaran Honeyman, Jack Mahon, Eoin Goldrick, Ruairi Cullen, Micheal Durcan, Brendan McCromack, Dylan Marren.
