Match Reports by Seamus Sheahan.
The Killacolla Gaels U15 footballers created a little bit of history on Saturday by winning out the County Feile B football competition.
The competition played in less than 24 hours saw the boys compete in 6 games with over 3 hours 20 mins of football. To say it was physically demanding is an understatement given the temperatures we saw over the weekend. For those who wouldn’t know, the games are a blitz format with 15 mins a half, except for the final which is 20 mins a half with water breaks.
The team travelled to Ballybrown on Friday evening with no major expectations of getting out of a group which put them up against Monaleen , Na Piarsaigh and Ballybrown. The league campaign played in June and July had not gone well, but something seemed to click into gear on Friday with wins over Monaleen & Na Piarsaigh in the first two group games . Monaleen was the first game of the day and like most of the games played was a tight affair and the hard fought 1 point victory gave the whole squad and management a lift and a bit of encouragement for what lay ahead Killacolla Gaels 2-5 Monaleen 1-7. Na Piarsaigh who had beaten Killacolla Gaels by a cricket score in June were the opposition for Game 2 and to be fair everyone would have been happy with the team giving a good account of themselves. But the boys gave more than a good account, and they put in a monumental performance against a very very good outfit from the City winning out again on a 1 point margin Killacolla Gaels 0-4 Na Piarsigh 0-3.
What came next was an education for us all as no one had planned for what lay ahead on Saturday. The emails and fixture lists from the county board were pulled out and everyone started going through the scenarios. One thing we did know was we needed a result on Saturday morning Vs Ballybrown who were playing for pride after losing their 2 games on Friday. A whirlwind of activity kicked off with parents and supporters rescheduling appointments, changing work rosters, organising lifts, cancelling on birthday parties and golf outings and saying a few prayers for a good run on Saturday. There was even a dilemma whether or not a few of the families would make it to Ballyagran on time or not for their confirmation day.
Saturday morning was an early start with cars from Castletown, Rockhill, Bruree and Ballyagran faced for Ballybrown in the morning fog for an 8.30am warm up. Some cars even had to double back for boots and gumshields which were missed by sleep covered eyes. Both teams gave it everything with Killacolla coming out the right side of a 3-3 to 0-2 scoreline.
Then it was onto the N69 and back to Rathkeale for a Q/F with South Liberties/ Crecora. As we travelled the fog lifted and the sun came out in all its Glory. Met Eireann certainly got it right with the day turning into a cracker.
The Q/F With South Liberties/ Crecora was another titanic battle with Killacolla again edging it by a single score to win Killacolla Gaels 3-1 South Liberties/ Crecora 2-1. Unfortunately we didn’t keep a list of who scored what in each game but as with every teenager , I’m sure they know themselves who scored what.
Then it was semi-final time against a cracking Galbally outfit who this team have had fantastic battles with over the past couple of year. At this stage of the day the coaches step counters had hit 20,000 steps so we can only imagine what the players distances were as every game was end to end and relentless . Every line of the field was covering huge amounts of ground and by now the legs were well sore. The management did their best to keep the boys doing stretches and recovery between games and it was showing on the pitch in the performances from every player numbers 1 to 23.
Believe it or not Killacolla Gaels Were down by 7 points at some stage in both the Semi-final and final but belief in the game plan and sticking too it brought the results.
The semi-final was another game which set the pulses racing. It was none stop and end to end with both sides playing attacking football which resulted in a Killacolla Gaels 3-5 Galbally 3-3 victory.
Meanwhile our final opposition Bruff were on the main pitch in Mick Neville park beating Drom/ Broadford handsomely on a score-line of 6-5 to 2-7. Interestingly Drom/ Broadford had beaten Killacolla Gaels as recently as the previous Monday so the boys knew themselves that nothing short of 100% would do.
There was a 2 hr break to the final with everyone taking the chance to rest in the shade of the ball wall in Mick Neville while taking in the isotonic & electrolytes drinks, ham and chicken rolls , applying the sunscreen and changing into the dry socks. We even had to administer first aid for a few wasp stings but that wasn’t going to stop the boys taking the field for the finale. There then was still of course the question of would the boys and girls make it on-time to their conformation as the afternoon turned into evening.
With the final due to kick off at 3pm the boys took the field 20 mins before to settle into some warm up routines and what looked like some very strange yoga poses. Warrior poses 1,2 & 3 looked more like an awkward camel but whatever they did worked and gave the boys the energy to go at it for the sixth time in less than a day.
This Bruff team are serial winners and have tasted lots of success over the past few years so the task was never going to be easy. Killacolla had to dig deep to pull this one out of the bag especially given that they were 7 points down early on but they somehow managed to do it with a wonderful display of skill, courage , guts and above all team work. There was great scenes at the full time whistle with supporter, players and parents alike sharing hugs and congratulations with their families. There may have also been the odd tear of joy in the eyes.
We’re also happy to report everyone got their Confirmation and were indeed outside the church to celebrate with their team mates as they passed on the way home after the game..
The Squad
Bobby Dowling, Morgan Hughes, David O’Brien, Aaron Deane, John Hayden, Niall Tobin, Paidi O’Gorman ©, Adam Hourigan, Liam Carroll, Cian McDonagh, Owen Barrington, Paul Murphy, Ben Sheahan, Aaron Lyons, Tomas O’Riordan, Jack O’Kelly, Jack Fitzgerald, Bryan Horgan, Luke Hourigan, Niall O’Brien, Thomas Sexton, Michael Frawley (inj).
Scores for the Tournament ; Niall Tobin 1-2, Ben Sheahan 0-1 , David O Brien 1-0, Paidi O Gorman 1-0 , Cian McDonagh 4-3 , Paul Murphy 4-8, Owen Barrington 4-6
Management ; Joachim O Kelly, Seamus Sheahan, Brian Sexton, Owen Tobin & Mark Dowling (goal keeper coach)
