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Tue 29th Sep 2009
Year 12 Herald Cup
Red High 2-15 Castleblaney 1-7
Red High started like a house on fire in the opening minutes of this fierce contest played in perfect conditions in Saval. An early point from Seán Morgan settled the Red High early, with Deaglan Arnold and Matthew Stratton winning ball from the Castleblayney kickouts. A goal looked eminent and when the lively Josh O’Hare burst through before playing a sliderule pass through to Joe Milligan who finished with aplomb. With Arnold and Mckibben dominating midfield Red High coasted through the opening 15 minutes with further points coming from, Arnold, Mullen and Crilly. Matthew Hardy was proving to be a handful or the opposing defenders as he slotted over 2 points. With Mckibben and Murdoch making driving runs deep into the opposition half before scoring and creating scores, Red High eased into half time with a comfortable lead.
HT
The second half began with a flourish as Crilly blasted home a second goal for Red High and points from McKibben, Hardy and Morgan. Although this was soon undone as Castleblaney mounted some serious pressure on the Red High defence. A mixture of poor passing and overcarrying saw Castleblaney come more and more into the game. It was only thanks to Turley, Gilchrist, Russell, Murdoch and Bell that the score was kept reasonably low. The introduction of Anthony Tilly, Patrick Smyth and Daryl Kirton proved vital as they slotting in comfortably. The Blaney pressure seemed to have paid off when the referee awarding a dubious penalty 5 minutes from time, although Arnold pulled off a magnificent double save to deny the forward what looked like a certain goal. Further points from Morgan, Milligan, Mckibben and Hardy put the victory in the bag but not before Blaney had rattled the crossbar in the closing stages.
Special mention must go to Gilchrist, McKibben, Russell and Arnold for their excellent displays.
Not a bad performance overall, but a big improvement will be needed if they are to overcome a strong Bessbrook team in the next game.
Team: C Arnold, P Gilchrist, D Turley, T Russell, R Murdoch, R Mullen, J Bell, D Arnold, O McKibben, J O’Hare, S Morgan, M Stratton, M Hardy, J Milligan, C Crilly
Subs: A Tilly, P Smyth, D Kirton, S Murray, L Roberts, M Monan, M Keown
Submitted by: Declan Morgan
