Buckley and Fitzpatrick goals prove decisive as Moate U14s claim title

Two early goals proved to be the difference at Kilbeggan last Saturday afternoon as Moate All-Whites overcame St. Mary"s of Rochfortbridge in a tense Division 2 football championship decider. Just thirty seconds had expired when Jamie Madden"s shot for a point came back off the post and into the path of Moate All Whites full-forward Daniel Buckley. Buckley made hard work of it but eventually bundled the ball over the line. A flying start for Moate but there was to be no respite for St. Mary"s as, after a further 38 further seconds had elapsed, their net was bulging once again. This time it was Dylan Fitzpatrick who raised the green flag with an unstoppable strike that rattled the upright before going in. Two minutes later, a Jamie Madden free reinforced Moate"s dream start but a minute later St. Mary"s finally managed to reply when midfielder Ian Hyland - the Rochfortbridge side"s top marksman of the day - pointed on the run. Dylan Fitzpatrick restored Moate"s 6-point advantage on 8 minutes, but thereafter began a period of sustained Rochfortbridge pressure which saw them chip away at the Moate lead. Thomas Farrell got the first of five unanswered points through a converted free. It took until the 15th minute for the next score to arrive - a Hyland point after a good pass from Evan Gill. A minute later, Gary Morgan brought the lead back down to four when he raised a white flag but he could just as easily have gone for a goal, the full-forward perhaps not realising that he had so much time and space. Two further points from Hyland, including one from a placed ball, saw Rochfortbridge suddenly find themselves within two of their opponents. But points from Daniel Buckley and a free from Jamie Madden settled Moate down a bit and gave them a little breathing space as they took a 4-point lead into the break. Ian Hyland got the first score of a low scoring second half through a placed ball to reduce the gap down to three once again. But Moate still looked slightly stronger than their opponents and despite never really pulling away, they always looked comfortable and were able to tag on points when it mattered to keep St. Mary"s at arm"s length. Points from Jamie Madden and David Cramp did just that as Moate increased their lead back to five with 20 minutes to go. And it was a twenty minutes that belonged to Rochfortbridge as they piled on the pressure in search of a way back into this final. Two frees from Hyland put just three between the side once again but, in a frantic final 10 minutes, St. Mary"s seemed intent on going for goals when perhaps they would have been best served taking their points. An Evan Gill effort with 13 minutes to go was a prime example of this although, in fairness to the wing-forward, his shot was just a whisker away from the post. As time ran out, so too did St. Mary"s ideas and with two minute to go Eoin Kelly tapped over what proved to be the insurance score for Moate. There were four minutes of injury time played but there was no way back for Rochfortbridge, and referee John Lennon"s final whistle crowned Moate All-Whites worthy under-14 division two champions for 2008. SCORERS - MOATE ALL-WHITES: Daniel Buckley (1-1), Dylan Fitzpatrick (1-1), Jamie Madden (0-3, 3f), Robert Gorman (0-1f), David Cramp (0-1f), Eoin Kelly (0-1). ST. MARY"S, ROCHFORTBRIDGE: Ian Hyland (0-8, 4f), Thomas Farrell (0-1), Gary Morgan (0-1). MOATE ALL-WHITES: Tommy Ryan, Sean Bracken, Emmett Ryan, Louis Duffy, Rory Cunningham, Robert Gorman, Gavin Murray, Jamie Madden, John Corbally, Dylan Fitzpatrick, David Cramp, Joe Joyce, Eoin Kelly, Daniel Buckley, Dylan Ennis. SUB USED: Ivan Rattigan for J Joyce (41 mins). ST. MARY"S, ROCHFORTBRIDGE: Ronan Purcell, Cathal Taylor, Stephen Keegan, Leonard Gavin, Martin Daly, Luke Gallagher, Dean Gavin, Ian Hyland, Brian O"Sullivan, Ian Keelan, Paul Metcalfe, Evan Gill, Thomas Farrell, Gary Morgan, Eoin Duffy. SUBS USED: Corey Gavin for E Duffy (H-T), Patrick Geraghty for I Keelan (56 mins), Anthony McGuire for G Morgan (60 mins). REFEREE: John Lennon (Ballymore).