U13 P2 Football v St. Finbarrs
Date: 12/06/18
Venue: Rostellan

On a warm, sunny evening in Rostellan, Aghada welcomed St. Finbarrs, fresh from their All Ireland Féile Hurling success, to Costa del East Cork for a Premier2 Football encounter. Warm ups were kept nice and simple bearing the temperate conditions in mind. Unfortunately, for the home side, last season's Billy Ahern Tournament winning captain Oscar Slye had to cry off just before throw in, and Seán O'Callaghan ably stepped in to the breach. This enforced change made no difference to the Aghada boys, who picked up exactly where they left off against Midleton recently. Both defences were on top in the early exchanges and players had to work tooth and nail for every score obtained. Goal chances were created, but both keepers using cat-like reflexes prevented any green flags being raised. Seán O'Sullivan showed great bravery in coming for a ball that he had no right to win, and came away with man, ball and all!
The halftime whistle blew with neither side having taken a backward step. The referee had it marked down in his notebook at 4 points each.
Water was taken on board , breathes were caught and management made a few positional changes before the second half got underway. The instructions given were simple; give your opponents nothing easy, support the man on the ball and be sensible when passing.
The second half began just as the first had finished, at a blistering pace, which meant that both benches would have to be called in to action, sooner rather than later. It was tit-for-tat all through the second half. If it were a boxing match, the Aghada lads would be slightly shading it on points. Credit has to be given to the 'Barrs lads for hanging in there on the ropes after their weekend exploits in Galway. Even though green flags were raised by Tomás Condon and Eric Cunningham, Aghada couldn't land the finishing blow. Barrs battled back with two goals of their own to run out eventual winners by 2-10 to 2-8.
Great credit is due to these young men from Aghada who never took their foot off the pedal from start to finish, and on another day would have been rewarded with full points. As much as no-one likes to lose, this will be a great learning experience which will stand to them in future contests. To see the disappointment of the players after the game only highlighted their commitment to the Aghada jersey.
Panel: Seán O'Sullivan, Alan O'Connell, Aaron Kearns, Reuben Flynn, Conor Geary, Eric Cunningham, Fionn O'Callaghan, Fionn O'Connor, Cian Hegarty, Seán O'Callaghan, Jack B Flynn, Nicky Bertocci, Lachlan McRae, John Walsh, Ronan Walsh, James Hurley, James Motherway, Tomás Condon, Oscar Slye