The minor footballers lost to Lamh Dearg in the Michael Dwyer Cup at the Falls Park on Sunday. In the first half we failed to master the heavy and wet underfoot conditions and struggled to take advantage of the strong  wind that blew towards the Norfolk end. Lamh Dearg on the other  hand had no such problems as they kicked two early points. They then capitalised on a couple of mistakes to net two goals before we got on the scoreboard with points from P McAuley and A Slane. Another Lamh Dearg goal before half time had us in real trouble as we trailed by nine.
The second half was a different story as we appeared to cope better playing into the wind. Our football improved and points from P McParland and  A Slane reduced the deficit. Then a text book goal put us right back in contention: a high ball was drilled into the 21 yard area and B Collins rose high above the defender, took possession and as he landed he fed a hand pass to B Clarke who cracked it to the back of the net. We had a few other scoring opportunities but time caught up on us and it is the Hannahstown team who now progress to the next round.
We were very rusty in the first half but a much improved second half performance saw us almost overturn Lamh Dearg’s first half lead and we also managed to keep them scoreless in the second half. On the day special mention must go to our man of the match E Gallagher who tirelessly worked over all areas of the pitch. He was ably assisted by B Clarke and T McGreevy.
