St Michael’s come out on top in U-14 replay

St Michael’s 5-9 Headford   1-4

Adversity often shows the true worth of any team and this was very much the case in this U-14 County Shield Final replay played under floodlights in Loughgeorge.

St Michael’s might easily have lost the initial encounter in Pearse Stadium, but given a second bite of the cherry the city side were determined to make the most of that opportunity. They also had to contend with playing most of the game with 14 men but made light of this inconvenience to record an emphatic victory in this the fourth meeting between these sides in as many months.

As in the previous final excellent teamwork and dogged determination were the hallmarks of St Michael’s triumph and Headford had absolutely no answer to these qualities or to the very evident superior physical strength of the city boys.

Time and again the sheer power of Conor Briscoe, Marcus Burke, Nathan Ward, Brian Harlowe and Gary Keane had the Headford boys on the backfoot and this ability to win primary possession laid the foundation for victory.

Clever and accurate distribution for the likes of Colm Tarpey and Eoin Day gave the Michael’s forwards an abundance of ball with which to craft scores. The mobility of the inside forward line, with Emmet McLoughlin and Gabriel Dossen particularly noticeable, dragged the Headford defenders all over the pitch leaving openings that Brian Ndego, Maciej Rydsewski and Adam Corbett availed of fully.

This was the third final won this season by St Michael’s U-14s with the highlight being the county championship.