Cumann Pheadair Naofa 3.7 V St. Pats 1-5. The U16 hurlers had a moral boosting win away to St Pats (an amalgamation of Ballyvarley & Ballela) side. With both teams eager to get their first win of the league campaign after defeats to the stronger Ards and south Belfast sides, it was to be a real battle of south Down pride to see who would come out on top of this real competitive hurling match.
With Cumann Pheadaír Naofa playing with the breeze in the first half it was the green & gold of St Pats that opened the scoring with a point from play. But with a man of the match performance from Thomas Magee at centre half back this proved to be the one and only time the blues were behind, his work rate throughout the 60 minutes ensured that his side would accept nothing less than a victory and 2 league points. At midfield Eoin Carr had an excellent day as did Ronan Cunningham when moved back to help out his midfield partner and it wasn’t long before the opening goal of the match came from the hard working Mike Lennon, which was quickly followed up with two Ronan Cunningham points, one from a free. A Mark McGivern goal just before half time ensured Cumann Pheadaír Naofa went in ten points ahead of their south down opponents, 3-4 to 1-1.
The strong performances of Mike Lennon, Ronan Cunningham, Thomas Magee & Eoin Carr in the middle third of the field saw Cumann Pheadaír Naofa close out the game with a well earned victory. With the first win of the league now under their belts, Adrian & Decky will want to keep up the momentum as the lads entertain Clonduff at Milltown inWednesday night’s re-fixtured game.
Scorers: Mike Lennon 1-1, Mark McGivern 1-1, Ronan Cunningham 0-4, Eoin Carr 1-0, Jake McNabb 0-1.
