Feeney fires Athlone to strong win in U16 final over Killucan
Athlone 2-13 Killucan 0-3
An impressive 1-2 from Fiachra Feeney helped Athlone to a comprehensive win in the MJS Building and Development U16 Division 5 Football final over Killucan in a game which proved to be somewhat of a mismatch in Ballynacargy GAA on Saturday last. Athlone, boasting their first-team, had too much power and scoring for the seconds of Killucan, holding their opponents to nothing other than three frees. In contrast, the Shannonsiders scored everything from play and never looked like reneging on their early lead.
It took less than ten-seconds for Athlone to score. Midfielder Gabriel De Almeida won the throw-up, sprinted and scored in a flash. Before the opening minute had elapsed, Shane McEntee palmed the kickout down to teammate James Geoghegan to score and this was quickly followed by a third from Aaron Hardiman who operated in several positions throughout the day.
Three became four in as many minutes as wing-forward, Dara Geary, was on hand to tag on his first from Feeney’s break forward. In contrast, Killucan took until the tenth minute to register on the board. It came through their only scorer on the day, Jamie Leech, as he notched the first of his three from frees.
His second came soon after as both he and Feeney exchanged scores. The half could have seen several goals for Athlone but a combination of good defending from Seán Ayres and fine goalkeeping from Tyler Flynn kept the score down. They could only hold out so long though and just before the break Shane Killian fired home following the hard work being done by Dara Geary in the build-up. At the whistle, Athlone were in control with a 1-6 to 0-2 lead.
The dynamic duo of Geary and Feeney continued where they left off after the restart. Both young men getting a point each, all before the sole and final score for Killucan less than five minutes into the half. Although Brendan McKeogh’s side never dropped the heads despite the rising gap in the score, Athlone simply had too much in the tank. With Geary, Killian, De Almeida, and Geoghegan ruling the attack and Daniel Nugent holding the backline, they continued to power on. With a little over twenty on the clock to go, Geary found his range again.
The next play saw Athlone add their second goal and it was that duo, once again, who did the damage. Geary and Feeney swapping passes before the latter found the net. KIllucan pushed on and Oliwier Czaja, Brooklyn Greville, and substitute Adam Quinn all tried to make inroads forward.
Indeed, it was replacement Luke Dowling who forced Joel Idahaso in the Athlone goal into the save of the game. The number one, who had made many clearances through the game, managed to get enough on the shot from Dowling with his boot to see it wide.
As time played out, Athlone put the finishing touches to their performance with a few final points. The sheer numbers in the attacks meant it could have been any number of scorers but Eoin Whelan, Turlough Doherty with his first touch off the bench, and James Geoghegan were the ones on target.
The final whistle brought the celebrations as captain Shane Killian accepted the silverware from Westmeath Minor Board representative, Shane Briody.
Scorers – Athlone: F Feeney 1-2, S Killian 1-0, D Geary 0-3, G De Almeida 0-2, J Geoghegan 0-2, A Hardiman 0-1, E Whelan 0-1, T Doherty 0-1.
Killucan: J Leech 0-3f.
Athlone: Joel Idahaso; Adam Manning, Daniel Nugent, Thomas Tynan-Daly; Conor Lough, Aaron Hardiman, Philip Heavey; Shane Killian, Gabriel De Almeida; Dara Geary, James Geoghegan, Fiachra Feeney; Eoin Whelan, Oisín O’Connor, Shane McEntee. Subs used: Klajd Cepi for Manning (30+2), Finn McCormack for O’Connor (52), Turlough Doherty for Whelan (52)
Killucan: Tyler Flynn; Senan Brady, Seán Ayres, Jack Heffernan; Calvin Collins, Tom Leech, Charlie Looby; Brooklyn Greville, Thomas Mockler; Oliwier Czaja, Eoin Flanagan, Ryley Hennessey; Darragh Fitzsimons, Jamie Leech, James Duff. Subs used: Ruairí Heffernan for Collins (14), Luke Dowling for Fitzsimons (30+1), Adam Quinn for Duff (34), Calvin Collins for Hennessey (41), Adam Cully for Looby (53), Adam Carr for Brady (53)
Referee: Eoin Cawley (Bunbrosna).