Thursday night saw the U12s of Liatroim travel to Milltown to take on Warrenpoints’ mighty blues. Liatroim started the game well when they scored two points, one a free from thirty metres in front of the goals. Cumann Pheadaír Naofa replied with an Oran Murney point when he collected the sliotar out on the side line twenty metres from goal, he took his three steps, rounded his marker and slotted over the bar, a fantastic inspirational point. Liatroim then got the stroke of luck that was to give them the breathing space they wanted, having been matched all over the field and once more finding their opponents in blue well able to cause an upset, if allowed to hurl. A long ball in to the heart of the blues defence saw a Liatroim forward find the smallest of room and even though his stroke was poor it took a sharp deflection that saw it end up in the Cumann Pheadaír Naofa net. Liatroim were now playing the sliotar in long in an effort to bypass the excellent catching of Oisín Ruane at half back who wasn’t giving his marker an easy time. Although going in at half time down by five point the blues were still in the game and were looking forward to another 25 minutes’ action.
Disaster struck when Liatroim forged further ahead with two very quick goals at the start of the second half and when the Sliotar was delivered long into the heart of the Liatroim goalmouth it took Jarlath Donnelly to keep the scoreboard ticking when he instinctively doubled on the sliotar as it hoped invitingly in front of him, only to see it whistle over the bar, much to the Liatroim keeper’s relief. Cumann Pheadaír Naofa once more threatened the Liatroim keeper when Ben Lock pulled on a loose sliotar outside of the square only to see it agonisingly go wide of the post. With time up it was Liatroim who once more triumphed over the blues, but much praise was heaped on the young hurlers who did everything but score more than their opponents. The boys now look forward to a trip away to Bredagh next week.
