MacCormaic does the damage for An Cheathrú Rua boys

An Cheathrú Rua 3-7

Renvyle 1-4

IT was a tale of two halves in the West Board U21 B Footbal Final in Oughterard on Sunday as An Cheathrú Rua turned a halt time deficit into a second half stroll as they powered their way to just a second ever title.

Aided by a early Nathan Leamy goal, Renvyle made it ultra competitive for the opening half as they matched the winners all over the park, but once Páidi MacCormaic found his shooting boots on the resumption it culmininated in a difficult half hour for the losers.

The former County Minor crashed home two quick goals to kill off the Renvyle challenge and his tally of 2-5 was a fair relection of his overall influence on the game.

As a result of gaining this supremacy, An Cheathrú Rua drove on relentlessy in the second half and while they were not over productive in the scoring stakes, their tally was still an impressive one in very difficult and heavy conditions.

However, it was all so different in the opening half. On just three minutes, Nathan Leamy gathered a Byron Lydon pass and gave Renvyle a dream start as he fired past James Ó Flatharta. They more than held their own in the early exchanges and only an overhit pass denied Nigel Breathnach the opportunity of another major score in front of goal.

An Cheathrú Rua were having their own early scoring difficulties, before they finally got off the mark courtesy of a Fiachra Ó Se point from a free and it took them 14 minutes before they found the range again.

In the meantime, great work by Barry John Salmon set up Leamy for another point as they led by 1-1 to 0-1 after nearing thr mid-way juncture of the half. Now high fielding was proving to be a difficut task in the conditions, but Mártán MacDonnacha and Cathal Action were an exception to the rule as they tried to inspire their respective sides to greater reward.

Full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune.